The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has suspended two officials of the Tirupati airport for playing a “proxy role” — putting the lives of 70 passengers on board an aircraft at risk.
A recent incident of a fireman stepping into the shoes of an air traffic controller in the absence of the regular staffer and the failure of the supervisor to bring the concerned to book had created a stir even as attempts to hush it up failed.
The axe fell on Deputy General Manager (Air Traffic Control) A.V. Janardhanan and Junior Executive (trainee) Sandeep for negligence of duty.
It was on January 9 that Sandeep failed to report for duty at 7 a.m. and two flights from Hyderabad were scheduled to land within an hour. When Mr. Janardhanan came to know of the crisis, he directed fireman M. Basha to rush to the ATC tower to handle the radio transmitters. He also gave technical details over mobile phone to Mr. Basha, who did the proxy job on Sandeep's behalf.
Posing as the ATC official, the fireman gave instructions to the Jet Airways ATR-72 flight, which fortunately had a smooth touchdown. Another ATC official arrived to take control of the operations before the arrival of the second flight — a SpiceJet plane carrying 106 passengers.
An inquiry was ordered into the issue, after it was reported to the AAI's Chennai office, which administers the control centre of the Tirupati airport. Director of the Tirupati airport, R.S.D. Cruz said he had received information from the AAI headquarters in New Delhi that two officials had been suspended.
