Construction dust, oil deposits turn airport runway slippery when it rains

V Ayyappan | TNN 

Sept 20:

Chennai: Landing in Chennai airport can be tricky for pilots during rain as rubber, dust and oil deposits make the runway slippery, they say. Though oil and rubber deposits are found on runways at all airports, Chennai has a peculiar problem — there is also dust from the construction area on the secondary runway that settles down on the main runway. 

    Digging and levelling of earth and dumping of mud are happening almost round-theclock as work is on to connect the main and secondary runways and to extend the secondary runway across the Adyar river. The exercise is part of the Airports Authority of India’s (AAI) effort to enhance the aircraft handling capacity at the airport. 

    Once the dust settles on the runway and there is a downpour, the combination of water, dust, oil and rubber makes the runway slippery. A Jet Airways pilot reported that he found braking action minimal while landing from the Hotel Trident end of the main runway just after rain, in July. 

    Though AAI makes arrangements to remove oil and rubber deposits before the monsoon in October and November, unexpected rain can make it difficult. “If rainfall is light, water evaporates because of the heat. But there is water if rain is heavy,” says a pilot with Air India. 

    AAI claims that dust from the construction work is controlled by the frequent sprinkling of water. But former pilot, captain A Ranganathan, disagrees. “We can always see a pall of dust over the runway and operational area,” says the expert on air safety . “On a slippery runway, pilots will require three times more distance than what is needed to land normally,” he adds. 

    According to another pilot, a large aircraft requires 1,200 to 1,600 feet additional length of runway to land when the surface is slippery because braking becomes ineffective. “Water remains as a film over the rubber and dust. There is also the risk of water ingestion into the engine,” he says. 

    AAI officials say they remove the rubber on the runway regularly. But Ranganathan says that Chennai airport does not have a highpressure rubber remover machine. “The equipment is a grinder-type old machine that cannot remove rubber deposits uniformly,” he points out. 

    According to the Airport Service Manual of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), airports that exceed 31 turbo-jet aeroplane landing capacity are more critical for friction deterioration caused by rubber accumulation from increased landing activity. The AAI does not follow the ICAO stipulated schedule to remove rubber deposits, Ranganathan says.

Thermal sensors at airport to screen passengers for H1N1

TIMES NEWS NETWORK 

Sept 19:

Chennai: Four thermal sensors were installed at the international arrival terminal of Chennai airport on Friday to screen passengers for symptoms of H1N1 flu. 

    “These sensors will help to find out passengers who have unusually high body temperature, a sign of the illness. A white patch will appear on the silhouette of a passenger shown on the screen if his or her body temperature is high,” airport acting director T Ramgopal said. 

    More than 5,000 passengers arrive from different countries at Chennai airport everyday. The machines would scan the pas

sengers as they walk out towards the exit after completing arrival formalities at the airport. Teams of doctors from the Central Government Health Scheme and other doctors from state cadres have been roped in for screening people at the international airport. 

    Airport officials said manual checking of passengers would continue in spite of the installation of sensors. “Passengers detected by the sensors will be isolated for further checks and will be quarantined if they show symptoms,” an official said. 

    Need for sensors was felt after manual screening alone proved porous. An assurance to install thermal sensors at airports was given in May by Union Cabinet secretary K M Chandrasekharan during a meeting of all state chief and health secretaries through videoconferencing.

ICF to make 56 coaches for Kolkata Metro Rail

V Ayyappan TNN 

Sept 17:

Chennai: After a gap of more than 20 years, the Integral Coach Factory (ICF) has bagged an order to make coaches for Kolkata Metro Railway. Sources said the premier coach factory of Indian Railways has received an order to make 56 coaches for the metro which is a unit of Indian Railways. The coaches would be used to form seven eightcoach rakes. 

    ICF had manufactured and supplied coaches for Kolkata Metro when services started in 1984. “We supplied rakes that are used to operate 36 trains. The new order has come because the coaches supplied by ICF has shown impeccable performance all these years. We have never received any complaints of fault or breaakdown of the rakes so far,” said a senior railway official. 

    It is learnt that railway minister Mamata Banerjee wanted ICF to make coaches to augment the capacity of Kolkata Metro Railway. 

    Hence, an order was placed with the ICF a couple of days ago.

S Rly to restore height of side upper berths in sleeper coaches

FAIR DEAL

V Ayyappan | TNN 

Sept 16:

Chennai: After removing side middle berths this year in its sleeper compartments following complaints from passengers, Southern Railway has now issued instruction that the height of side upper berths that were earlier raised to accommodate the middle berths be lowered to the previous position. The Railway Board has also issued instruction to all the railway divisions. 

    Though side middle berths were removed after they were not well received (made the coaches too cramped), the height of the upper berths was not brought back to the original level. Many passengers, especially women, find it extremely difficult to climb up to these berths that are perched close to the roof. 

    “The board has told us to float a tender for the exercise. A contractor will be selected soon. The berths will be modified when the coaches are taken for periodic overhaul in workshops,” said Southern Railway chief public relations officer A J Accamma. Sleeper coaches are sent for periodic overhaul once in 18 months to the Carriage Works and Loco Works in Perambur. 

    Around 142 sleeper coaches are used by Southern Railway. Since the tendering process usually takes time, the railways have already begun the exercise at train care centres and in its workshops. 

    A senior railway official said that such a largescale modification could be carried out only in workshops because the extra berths were fixed by welding additional metal pieces to the coach body. 

    In 2008, Indian Railways spent Rs 75 crore and installed side middle berths in 5,000 sleeper coaches to get the better of a shortage of coaches across the country. 

    “There were widespread complaints that the side middle berth was making it cramped inside coaches. It reduced space especially for passengers who used side upper and side middle berths,” said a senior railway official.

Jet Airways resumes services as pilots return to work

DISPUTE RESOLVED

TIMES NEWS NETWORK 

Sept 14:

Chennai: The services of Jet Airways resumed after the airline’s pilots reported for duty on Sunday following reconciliation between the National Aviator’s Guild and the management. 

    However, the airline had to cancel as many as 19 flights, including 11 departures, connecting Chennai, because of the lack of passengers. The number of cancellations was high when the strike was on. 

    All international flights and majority of the domestic flights from Chennai were operated as per schedule. 

    International flights like those to Colombo were among the first to depart from the airport in the morning. 

    Domestic flight schedules are expected to become normal from Monday. A few of the services to Bangalore, Delhi, Mumbai and Hyderabad were cancelled because of a variety of reasons, including lack of bookings and the lack of aircraft due to the ripple effect caused by disruption in schedules over the last couple of days. 

    Most of the services are operated by aircraft that come from other destinations. If one service is cancelled at least four or five others will be affected. 

    Although the bookings started in the morning, not many passengers turned up to book tickets for Sunday’s services at the airport. Since, the strike was resolved only late on Saturday night not many people knew about it. The staff manning the counteres, however, discouraged passengers from cancelling their tickets. 

    All striking pilots reported to the airline’s doctor and got a certicate sating that they were fit to fly. 

    “I reported to the doctor in the morning. He certified that I am fit to fly,” said a pilot. 

    Captain Balaram, one of the four sacked pilots who have been reinstated, told reporters here that the deadlock was resolved after management gave an assurance that it would not take any unilateral decisions in the future. 

    “The committee that has been set up with five pilots and five representatives from the management will discuss other issues, including the situation that lead to the forming of union,” he added.

Flights to state’s districts hit as Jet cancels 23 ATRs

END IN SIGHT?

TIMES NEWS NETWORK 

Sept 13:

Chennai: Jet Airways pilots and mangement might be close to reaching an agreement, but the imbroglio severly inconvenienced many a passenger on Saturday as the airline cancelled almost all of its services operated using the ATR aircraft. This was despite non-striking expat pilots being available to operate the aircraft. 

    With ATR services being cancelled following instructions from Jet Airways head of operations in Mumbai, 48 flights connecting Chennai airport, including 22 departures, did not take off. 

    Around 23 ATR flights arriving to and departing from Chennai were cancelled. It was the first time that the airline’s services from Chennai to Madurai, Coimbatore and Kochi were affected. In the past five days, the airline had used expat pilots to fly on these sectors. 

    Passengers heading to Madurai, Coimbatore, Bangalore and Kochi were left stranded as flights to the cities were cancelled. P Subramanian, who wanted to travel to Madurai, could not get a ticket. “Passengers cannot travel by train because Chennai-Madurai trains are always full,” he said. 

    Pilots staying away from duty termed the cancellation of ATR services as a desperate effort to create sympathy in favour of the management. “We have come to know of instances when services were cancelled even though pilots were available to operate flights,” a pilot said. 

    Airport officials said that the situation remained more or less same as in previous days of the strike. Other airlines operated additional services to destinations where there was a great demand for tickets. However, airlines ignored the directive from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and kept charging higher than normal fares. 

    Meanwhile, Jet pilots here have started sending feedback on a proposal put forward by the management. “Representatives of the union have started to circulate a proposal among pilots because the officer-bearers cannot take a decision by themselves,” said a pilot. It is learnt that the proposal contains a point that implies an indirect dissolution of the union. 

    “A majority of the pilots do not want to disband the union. So, we have sent our opinion against scrapping the union. But we feel the management may have realised by now that pilots are united. So we hope that it will be fair in dealing with employees in future,” he added. 

Short-haul flights from city cancelled

PROTEST CONTINUES

Jet Airways Calls Off ATR Flights Late Evening

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Sept 12:

Chennai: Flying out of Chennai just got more difficult, with Jet Airways cancelling even the ATR flights late on Friday night. All Jet flights from Chennai to Madurai, Kochi, Coimbatore and Hyderabad were cancelled following a late evening instruction from the airlines’ head of operations in Mumbai. The airlines was operating ATR flights for such short hauls using expat pilots.

Jet Airways has 14 ATR aircraft making an average of 50 flights across the country everyday. “Even though the expat pilots were willing to fly and the flights were booked to the full, instructions were given around 10 pm to cancel these flights. There appears to be a bigger design to put passengers in further trouble and put the entire responsibility of the situation on the pilots,” said a Jet Airways pilot on condition of anonymity. ATR flights are also operated to places like Rajahmundry and Tirupathi, where bigger aircraft cannot be a substitute.

Meanwhile, Jet Airways pilots continue to stay away from duty , reporting sick. As many as 31 services, including 15 departures, connecting Chennai with different destinations were cancelled. However, the airline managed to operate its international services except the flights to Kuala Lumpur and back from Chennai. Fares remained on the high side though the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had tried to crack the whip against other airlines inflating ticket rates, taking advantage of the situation.

Though seats were not available, the average fare ranged from Rs 9,000 to Rs 29,000 for Chennai-Delhi; Rs 16,000 to Rs 10,000 for Chennai-Mumbai; Rs 2,000 to Rs 11,000 for Chennai-Hyderabad; and Rs 1,800 to Rs 8,000 for Chennai-Bangalore sector. Last minute travellers found it difficult to fly because all airlines were flying full on Friday, as was the case in the last three days. “Passenger flow into the airport has not changed in the last couple of days. We are still getting 17,000 domestic passengers and 10,000 international passengers. The numbers have not declined because other airlines are making up for the cancelled services,” said an Airports Authority of India (AAI) official.

Most of the pilots reported before the company’s doctor here when the first 48 hours expired after they reported sick. The pilots told the doctor that they are not feeling fit to fly. Most of them submitted medical certificates and documents to prove that they were suffering from ailments.

Air India pilots extend ‘moral support’

Striking pilots of Jet Airways have started to receive moral support from their counterparts in other airlines.

The Indian Commercial Pilots Association (ICPA), the 40-year-old union of pilots belonging to erstwhile Indian Airlines, has shot off a letter of support to the National Aviators Guild (NAG) saying it appreciated the stand taken by the striking pilots of Jet Airways and that “it is very unfortunate that airline managements in our country do not appreciate the important role played by pilot unions in promoting safety.” ICPA regional secretary Captain Sabu said “unions were important because pilots are often under pressure from the operators to flout norms. This can be avoided if union is there.” The ongoing strike pilots has kindled renewed interest among pilots of other airlines about the existing work and remuneration conditions. TNN

Metro Rail floats bids for rolling stock

ON TRACK

Will Shortlist Companies To Manufacture And Supply Snazzy EMUs

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Sept 12:

Chennai: Plans for installing a state-of-the-art Metro Rail system in the city is on track. After kick-starting construction of an elevated viaduct along the 100 feet road from Koyambedu, Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) has now invited prequalification bids to shortlist companies to manufacture and supply snazzy stainless steel or aluminium electrical multiple units (EMUs). CMRL has specified that it would require 168 coaches or 42 train sets of fourcar configuration.

“Each four-car EMU will have two motor coaches and two trailer coaches. These fourcar trains will be designed and manufactured by providing the option of upgrading them into six-car trains in the future depending on partonage,” said an official.

The coaches will have modern operational equipment — a three-phase alternative current drive, regenerative braking, among others. “We will select companies who can design, manufacture, test and supply rolling stock — coaches — for operating the services based on their technological expertise. The shortlisted companies will be allowed to bid for the final tenders to supply the coaches,” the official said.

Bombardier Inc is currently supplying rakes for Delhi Metro Rail Corporation. The pre-qualification applications should be submitted before the CMRL before September 28. The invitations for bidding will begin in November. “Only the companies or contractors shortlisted from among the pre-qualification applicants will be allowed to quote for the

project,” the official added.

CMRL has specified that “the manufacturer should also train personnel for operation and maintenance and also supply spares and maintenance tools. As Chennai Metro is a new project, we are striving to have more modern and updated technology than the one already existing in the country,” said a senior official.

As the project received financial support from Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Chennai Metro Rail is keen to have high quality levels at all stages of construction and operation.

So, CMRL insists that design and manufacturing of car body, bogie and traction equipment should be done by the applicant and should not be sub contracted.

Pilots on duty are a stressed lot

V Ayyappan | TNN

Sept 11:

Chennai: With roughly 40% of Jet Airways pilots staying away from work on the third consecutive day, the ones who reported for duty were clearly a stressed out lot, putting in more hours at work and sparking concerns about air safety.

Desperate to minimise cancellations and avoid inconvenience to passengers, the airline was making the most of pilots who were willing to fly. However, experts believe that violating stipulated rest hours for pilots could have lead to a possible compromise on air safety.

A Jet Airways first officer who landed from Mumbai at 9 pm on Tuesday was rostered to fly a Singapore service at 1 am on Wednesday. But he had to remain at the airport till 3 am when the Singapore flight was cancelled. He was eventually dropped off at a hotel. But he was called in again to fly a 10.45 am service to Dubai.

Such incidents give rise to suspicion among experts that rules for rest hours were being flouted. “A pilot should get 18 hours rest prior to operating an international flight. In this case the pilot had to operate the flight to Dubai after barely a couple of hours of rest,” said Captain Mohan Ranganathan, a former pilot and air safety expert. A Jet official denied the allegation and said they were adhering to rules even when trying to maintain schedules in spite of the pilots’ strike. But if the protest had continued for a few more days, the airline would have faced a problem in maintaining schedules in the weeks ahead. Many pilots would have ended up exhausting their monthly flying hour quota. Under Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) rules, an expat pilot should fly only 100 hours per month while the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) allows an Indian pilot to fly 125 hours per month.

An expat pilot refused to comment on the situation because “I prefer to work as per my contract and do not want to put our position in danger.”

Ranganathan suspects that DGCA rules regarding duty schedules may have been violated in several instances in the last three days of the strike. “Jet Airways is forcing its pilots to fly faster on the Chennai-Brussels route to avoid taking an additional pilot onboard. Airlines should take an additional pilot if the ‘block time’ – the total time a pilot will be on duty – exceeds 10.25 hours,” he added.

Replacement of bigger aircraft with ATRs in recent times has proved to be a blessing for the airline in these circumstances because most of the ATRs that fly to short routes are operated by expats. Jet had introduced smaller ATR aircraft on most domestic sectors except long routes like Chennai-Delhi and Mumbai-Kolkata when airlines cut their capacity by 60% due to the slowdown.

Airlines cash in on Jet lag, fares soar

Air India’s Chennai-Delhi One-Way Fares Skyrocketed To Rs 29,000 While Jet Airways Pilots Continued To Report ‘Sick’

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Sept 11:

Chennai: As Jet Airways pilots kept away from work for the third consecutive day on Thursday, ticket prices on other airlines soared, with domestic one-way fares touching an alltime high of nearly Rs 20,000, on average, in Delhi, Hyderabad and Mumbai sectors. Jet Airways cancelled 22 domestic flights and four international flights connecting Chennai airport.

While the airfare touched

Rs 29,000 for Chennai-Delhi, it was Rs 16,978 for a ticket to Mumbai and Rs 13,000 to Hyderabad. The windfall can’t be more obvious when the Chennai-Delhi fare is compared to the ‘fly Singapore offer’ of Singapore Airlines, which is priced around Rs 15,000.

“Seats are not available for the lastminute traveller. Fares are shooting up everyday because of disruption of Jet Airways schedules. Fares are higher on the most popular routes such as Chennai-Delhi, Chennai-Hyderabad and Chennai-Mumbai. Prices are high for tickets to Kolkata because only two airlines are flying there right now,” said a senior official of the Airports Authority of India (AAI).

Most of the 39 Jet Airways pilots based in Chennai did not report for duty. They have

decided to keep away till the stalemate with management is resolved. “A couple of first officers on probation and three captains reported for duty. The ATR flights are operated using expat pilots while bigger aircraft are operated by bringing cockpit crew from Mumbai,” said a pilot. Jet Airways issued refunds for cancelled flights and transferred passengers to other airlines — Kingfisher Airlines and SpiceJet — following an understanding to transport stranded passengers. The Jet Airways imbroglio has resulted in a boom time for the other airlines. All of them operated flights with 100% occupancy, something never experienced in the recent past.

Several passengers were struggling to get flight tickets on Day 3. “I need to travel to Mumbai urgently to attend to an emergency, along with my five relatives. But there are no tickets in any of the flights,” said Yashwant, who has been hopping from one airline counter to another at Chennai airport. He added: “We are wondering whether we should try trains; we need to reach there fast. Air India has a few seats in tomorrow’s first flight to Delhi. But there is no guarantee there will be tickets from Delhi to Mumbai.”

Air India’s other services to Delhi are packed for Friday. The few seats that are available in the first flight are priced at Rs 6,700, almost double the normal fare. Kingfisher operated additional flights to most destinations because demand was high. Before the Jet Airways pil o t s struck work, the load factor on a domestic flight was about 60%; fares were also cheaper. A Chennai-Delhi ticket cost only Rs 3,000. “Sometimes, people would even walk in, buy a ticket and get on board a flight. The scene has changed drastically in the past three days,” said an AAI official.

Other airlines make a killing as Jet protest leads to seat scarcity

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Sept 10:

Chennai: The continued protest by Jet Airways pilots, which has grounded a majority of the airline’s flights countrywide, hit passengers in Chennai badly on Wednesday. Around 31 flights, including 16 departing flights, were affected as pilots, not giving in to pressure from management, did not report for duty at Chennai airport. The airline could not operate services to Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Kolkata and Colombo.

Air India operated a special flight on the Chennai-Bangalore-Colombo sector for the Indian cricket team after Jet Airways cancelled its Chennai-Colombo service. Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambir, Rahul Dravid, Ishant Sharma, Amit Mishra, Dinesh Karthik, Abhishek Nayar, Ashish Nehra, Yusuf Pathan, Praveen Kumar, Gary Kirsten Venkatesh Prasad and Robin Singh boarded the aircraft at Chennai airport. The team was travelling to Colombo for the Tri-Series Championship.

However, regular passengers had a tough time finding seats in other airlines, especially to Mumbai, Kolkata, Delhi and Hyderabad. Fares shot up as Air India, Paramount Airways, Kingfisher Airlines, Indigo and SpiceJet flew with seats full, something domestic airlines have not seen in the recent past.

Fares touched Rs 17,000 on Air India’s evening flight to Mumbai; Rs 10,000 on Indigo’s evening flight to Kolkata, Rs 8,000 on Paramount Airways service to Delhi, and Rs 12,515 on Paramount Airways night flight to Hyderabad. Sources said that available tickets were sold for higher fares close to departure time.

“There was over-capacity in the market during boom time. But airlines cut capacity by 60% after the industry encountered rough weather due to slowdown and high fuel costs. The absence of Jet Airways has drastically reduced seat capacity on all routes. So, the other airlines are having a good time, ” an airline official said.

Several Jet Airways passengers obtained refund and booked tickets on other airline flights to Delhi, Mumbai and other places. “People have stopped booking tickets on Jet, preferring other airlines instead. Earlier, f oreigners would ask us to book only on Jet Airways, but not now. Seats are not available on any airlines even on Thursday,” said Kumar Asirvatham, managing director, Albatross Travel and Tours.

Jet Airways counter staff at Chennai airport had a tough time pacifying agitated passengers. A group of passengers who did not want to cancel tickets was seen arguing the staff, insisting on tickets for another flight. However, the staff expressed helplessness because seats were not available on any other airline. Said a senior Jet Airways official: “We are transferring passengers to Air India and SpiceJet depending on availability of seats.”

P K Vivek Chandran, an advocate, had to spend Rs 10,000 to travel to Delhi because tickets were not available for any of the direct flights from Chennai. “I tried Kingfisher Airlines but they told me that the morning and evening direct flights from Chennai to Delhi were full. They offered an option of flying via Bangalore. I had to take it because I have to be in Delhi today,” he said.

For short routes, such as Chennai-Bangalore and Chennai-Kochi, passengers banked on trains. “I decided to take the Shatabdi Express to Bangalore,” said M K Ajith Kumar, vice president, Hi Tours.

Meanwhile, Jet Airways continued to apply pressure on its pilots in an attempt to restore services. “The airline’s HR officials and doctors visited some pilots’ homes at 2am. This is an intrusion of privacy. We are being threatened with arrest and dismissal,” said a pilot.

Jet pilots’ strike hits Chennai flights

GROUNDED BY WHIRLWIND PROTEST

28 Flights Connecting City, Including 6 International Services, Cancelled

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Sept 9:

Chennai: Plans of leisure and business travellers as well as those of foreign delegations went awry when domestic and international schedules of Jet Airways were disrupted after several of its Indian pilots reported sick as the management had not reinstated two pilots who were dismissed for forming the National Aviators Guild.

Altogether, 28 flights connecting Chennai, including six international flights, were cancelled on Tuesday.

However, passengers were not stranded as such in Chennai. “We used our SMS service, call centres and website to inform passengers of the cancellations. Personnel of the airline were also posted at the airport to update passengers about the status of flights,” said a Jet Airways officer.

K B Ramachandran, a businessman, missed his meeting in Australia after his Chennai-Kaula Lumpur flight got cancelled. After waiting for more than four hours, he booked an Air India flight to Kaula Lumpur to catch his connecting flight to Australia.

The airline could not operate services to and from Colombo, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore. The Chennai-Brussels service was the only international service the airline operated on Tuesday. The airline had to cancel most of its domestic services those connecting Chennai with Delhi, Mumbai, Kochi, Hyderabad, Bangalore and other cities because pilots did not report for duty here.

Barring a few pilots, a majority of the 39 Jet Airways pilots based in Chennai had reported sick on Monday. More schedules may be disrupted on Wednesday as many of the pilots have extended their sick leave by another day because negotiations with the management have not been fruitful.

According to a Jet Airways statement, “Wide body, longhaul flights are currently operating as normal, being operated by foreign pilots who have been pulled out from leave and are on standby. All JetLite flights were operated as per the normal schedule.”

Sources said that the airline was using pressure tactics to discourage pilots from reporting sick. A couple of pilots who joined recently reported for duty in Chennai.

TROUBLE IN SKIES

The airline could not operate services to and from Colombo, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore

Sources said that the airline was using pressure tactics to discourage pilots from reporting sick

More schedules are likely to be disrupted on Wednesday because many of the pilots have extended their sick leave by another day

W E AT H E R I N G THE STORM

With monsoon clouds spreading, flying could occasionally be a heart-in-your-

mouth experience. Here’s the lowdown on what an aircraft uses to tackle rough weather

V Ayyappan | TNN

Sept 7:

Agreen light flickered on a monitor inside the cockpit of a Boeing 737 cruising at 20,000 feet. For Captain Anuj, it meant ‘storm clouds ahead, brace for turbulence’. He had two options before him — ask the air traffic controller (ATC) permission to deviate or brief the crew and fly through. The ATC replied in the negative and he had just one go — increase the throttle and dart through the clouds. The plane rocked, trembled and finally settled down to a shiver after a few minutes.
Such tense moments are often played out inside cockpits of flights criss-crossing the country during monsoon. And passengers on the Kolkata, Kozhikode, Mangalore, Mumbai, Port Blair and North-East routes often experience such turbulence. Wary of putting the aircraft through prolonged strain of flying through storm clouds, pilots often fly at near-full throttle.
For airlines staff, monsoon — spreading from June to September — is a time to brace up for the unpredictable. It’s a time when airlines tweak their schedules and arrange for more fuel, pilots brush up their lessons and aircraft maintenance engineers ensure that the aircraft is fit to weather turbulence, heavy rain, strong winds and even lightning.
Aviation experts may still be thrashing it out as to what caused Air France's A-330 aircraft to crash in the Atlantic Ocean soon after flying into rough weather, but pilots, aircraft engineers and officials here say that all possible steps are being taken to make flying safer during monsoon months.
Though modern jet aircraft are designed to weather adverse conditions, the directorate general of civil aviation (DGCA) ensures that airlines take all steps to ensure safe flying during the rainy season. In April, the aviation regulator issued a revised 'operations circular' and 'maintenance circular' to all airlines listing out the mandatory steps that pilots and aircraft maintenance engineers should follow from June to September, when almost all of India experiences monsoon rainfall. “The moment we take over an aircraft we check whether four instruments — wipers, auto braking, antiskid system and thrust reverser — are in working order. These are important for flying in rainy season. The captain has the privilege to even reject the aircraft if the instruments are not working,” said a senior Jet Airways pilot. Every airline has its own rules for operating during monsoon, based on the DGCA's circular.
‘‘Flying can be tricky in bad weather. The radar at the nose of the plane — Radome — helps us detect storm clouds. At night we go by what the radar says. All new commanders get training to fly on turbulent routes, for at least 200 hours. Airlines send them along with an experienced commander on a rough weather route. Only, if they handle the aircraft well they will be given command of aircraft during monsoon,’’ a captain with Air India said. Lightning is another risk during the monsoon. Aircraft has to penetrate storm clouds to reach cruise altitudes and also while descending to approach an airport. It’s at this time that aircraft is prone to lightning strikes. But since the outer skin of most airplanes is made of aluminium, which is a good conductor of electricity, the secret to safe lightning hits is to allow the current to flow through the skin from the point of impact to some other point without interruption or diversion to the interior of the aircraft. Manufacturers make sure that there are no gaps in the outer surface of the fuselage made of aluminium. “Most large aircraft have 14 to 17 lightning conductors. These get burnt if the aircraft is struck by a lightning and are often replaced. One or two of these devices singe if a lightning strikes an aircraft. “Once I had to replace seven such devices. The lightning must have been quite strong, still it did not interfere with the flight," said an aircraft maintenance engineer who retired from Air India.

AUTO BRAK

ING
Of course, everybody prefers to get dropped at the right spot, not on the field off the runway. Located in the brake assembly inside the landing gear, auto brakes ensure uniform braking immediately after landing on a rain-drenched

runway. Hydraulic brakes are a big no under rainy conditions. Auto brakes cut down the speed of the aircraft at the rate of two feet per second and als

o keep

s the wheel rolling, eliminating the risks associated with hydraulic braking. There are two types of auto braking — slow and medium. If the runway is short, pilots use medium-level braking and if there is enough length, pilots go for slow braking. But not every time do pilots apply brakes whi

le landing — especially if the runway is long enough.

NOSE SECTION
Sniff out the trouble before the aircraft flies into any. The nose cone conceals the radar, which can detect thunderstorms. It forewarns the pilot on what's in store inside a thundercloud — density, water content, turbulence,

etc. The radar beams signals to a cockpit gadget, which flashes colours — black, green, yellow, red and magenta — depending on the cloud intensity. Normally pilots don't fly straight into a cloud showing magenta or red, but if a pilot is forced into one, guys hold tight onto your seat!

WIPERS
Just like the two in front of your car. A clean windshield is crucial and wipers help clear the ice and mist formation over the windshield. If the system fails, under extreme circumstances, wipers can be operated manually by pilots. Before taking off into a monsoon cloud-laden sky, wipers find priority in the check-list of

engineers, and the more meticulous pilot himself does a double-check . (After all, he is flying it)

ANTI SKID SYSTEM

Prevents skidding of wheels while landing on runways that with water or oil slick on them. The device, located in the main wheel brak

e assembly, is crucial in avoiding tyre bursts as a jumbo aircraft touches dow

n around 240 kmph. When auto brakes are applied, antiskid system keeps an eye on the wheels to see if they are skidding. On an inkling of doubt, releases the wheel immediately. The plane rarely skids if wheels are rolling.

STATIC DISCHARGERS

When flying at 15,000 to 17,000 feet, lightnings are, of course, a tad closer. But an aircraft has 14 to 17 lighting conducting devices. These static dischargers conduct

lightning and pass it out through the tail section of the aircraft. It's normal for two or three such devices to face the heat (read get singed) while conducting electrons. Lightning just skims through the skin of the jumbo, thanks to the composite materials used for bodybuilding, and the design. The metal is thicker over the fuel tank to prevent the heat from igniting fire.

THRUST REVERSER

This device reverses the thrust of the engine during landing to cut down the aircraft speed. Bigger aircraft uses ‘bucket’ type thrust reverser. It is part of the mainframe of an aircraft but located in the trailing part of the engines.

TTDC to launch sailing near Muttukadu

ADVENTURE SPORTS TO GET A FILLIP

V Ayyappan | TNN

Sept 6

Chennai: The East Coast Road (ECR) is likely to become a hub for adventure sports as the Tamil Nadu Tourism Development Corporation (TTDC) is planning to soon introduce sailing along the coast near Muttukadu. The boathouse and backwaters at Muttukadu provide the prefect setting for sailing.
Sailing off Muttukadu will be introduced as a private-public partnership venture, as paragliding in Yelagiri and parasailing in Mudaliarkuppam.
“We are working out a plan to introduce sailing in the backwaters of the Muttukadu Lake and also along the navigable stretch of the Buckingham Canal. Muttukadu is a popular tourist spot and gets more than 4,000 visitors every weekend. So, sailing will be an added attraction,” said a senior TTDC official.
Tourism minister Suresh Rajan and senior officials had inspected the Buckingham Canal last year to study the possibility of using it for tourism promotion. “We are trying to identify those interested in sailing. They can pursue the sport on designated spots along the coast at Muttukadu,” said an official.
Facilities for parasailing and waterskiing were introduced in Mudaliarkuppam on ECR in July. Two boathouses, one in Muttukadu and the other in Mudaliarkuppam, have high-speed water scooters and kayaks. On Monday, two water scooters were introduced at the Muttukadu boathouse run by the TTDC.
Last year, the TTDC conducted a boat race in Muttukadu, in association with the Madras Boat Club. The event drew a large crowd.
Yelagiri became popular for paragliding after a group of 40 paragliders from various parts of the country teamed up with the TTDC in 2008. The annual event this year will be conducted in September in association with the Yelagiri Adventure Sports Association (YASA).
The association has got two stretches of land in the hills for use depending on the wind direction. More pilots are expected to take part this time and tourists will be taken along by the pilots on the paraglider.
An adventure tourism complex is also likely to come up at Mamallapuram, near the Tamil Nadu Hotel resort.

Post war, Lanka sees rise in tourist flow from South India

PARADISE ISLE

V Ayyappan | TNN

August 25

Chennai: K Palaniappan, an industrialist, had to shelve a business collaboration when the insurgency broke out in Sri Lanka in the latter part of the 1970s. He had not had a chance to visit the island nation since then. This August, he grabbed the first opportunity he got to visit the country and travel to tourist spots popular long before the war.
Tourist traffic to post-war Sri Lanka has increased exponentially, led by Indians waiting to visit the ‘Paradise Isle’. The number of travellers from south India, including from Chennai, Tiruchi, Bangalore and Hyderabad, increased by 25% to 30% in June and July 2009 compared to previous years, following a promotional drive in India and abroad by the Sri Lankan tourism board to attract leisure and business travellers.
According to Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (STDA) statistics, total tourist arrivals to the country have almost doubled since April and May 2009 when the war was at its peak. Tourist arrivals to the island nation touched 42,200 in July compared to the 24,800 who visited in May and the 30,200 tourists who came in June.
Even during the war, flights from Chennai were full, but a majority of the 600-plus seats available daily were occupied by traders and ‘kuruvis (couriers) ’ who returned with dutyfree liquor. That is not the case anymore. "As the war is over, tourists can now visit different destinations other than Colombo. We visited Kandy, to see the famous Murugan temple,” said Palaniappan, proprietor of Precision Scientific Company, Chennai, who travelled with a group of his Lion's Club friends to celebrate Independence Day there.
The profile of the traveller has broadened to include leisure travellers, corporate travellers, and people travelling on incentives provided by their companies or dealers. “Even private entertainment events organised by Indian companies are being held in Sri Lanka,” said Sri Lankan Airlines manager for TN and Karnataka, Sharuka Wickrama. There is also widespread interest from entertainment and corporate circles to hold events in Sri Lanka.
Encouraged by the renewed interest, Hi Tours has tied up with Sri Lankan Airlines to offer a special package for Rs 9,999 per person on a twin-sharing basis for three nights and four days in Colombo with onward and return flights on Sri Lankan Airlines till October. “The package includes breakfast, half-day city and shopping tour, arrival and departure transfers and stay in three star hotels in Colombo,” said Hi Tours vice-president M K Ajith Kumar.

Flight with 141 lands with burst tyre

Full Emergency After Singapore Airport Informs City ATC On The Situation

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

August 23

Chennai: The Chennai airport was put on a “full emergency” after an Air India flight to Chennai carrying 141 passengers had a tyre burst while taking off from Singapore. The flight landed safe at 11.15 am.
“Nose wheel problem, due to technical”, radioed the pilot of IC 556 Air India A320 flight to Chennai air traffic control (ATC) as it neared Indian airspace at 9 am. “Assistance required?” asked the traffic controller. But the pilot declined. It seemed like a normal exchange between a pilot and ATC when an aircraft experiences technical problem. But on Saturday morning, traffic controllers suspected that there was something more to it and declared a full emergency around 11 am.
Despite having a burst tyre, the aircraft made a safe landing at 11.15 am. Fire and rescue services personnel, a medical team and engineers monitored the aircraft as it touched down.
The engineering team found that one of the rear tyres was completely damaged. “The aircraft landed from the St Thomas Mount side on the main runway and vacated the runway after five minutes. As there are four sets of tyres in the rear, the burst did not affect the landing. All the 141 passengers of the flight are safe,” said acting airport director Ramgopal.
“We declared full emergency and followed the standard operating procedure laid out to meet a crash-like situation. Five crash tenders were positioned at pre-determined spots along the main runway to douse flames if the landing gear caught fire. A medical team was ready to treat the passengers in case of an evacuation, and hospitals were also alerted. Luckly all went well,” he said.
Though several aircraft report technical snags before landing, air traffic control decided to go for a full emergency because Singapore airport informed them that that the remains of tyre was found on the runway as soon as the IC 556 took off. ATC of Changi airport too informed the pilot that they suspected a tyre burst.
Generally tyres burst during take off or landing, but aircraft do not have mechanisms to detect or warn pilots when tyres get damaged. “We have to infer that tyres have been damaged from different set of signs that we get from the aircraft during take off or landing. In Boeing 737, the sensors inside the well of landing gear can detect high temperature on the tyres and will automatically pull down the retracted landing gear. In Airbus aircraft sensors can detect and warn high temperature in landing gear. Pilots use these signs to suspect that there is something amiss with the landing gear,” said a pilot.
An investigation has been ordered into the incident.

WHEN GOOD OLD MADRAS TOOK WING

1914: A English Engineer Takes Off From Island Grounds. 1936: A Tamilian Flies Down From Karachi

V Ayyappan | TNN

August 21

Chennai: What does Island Grounds remind you of? If you say exhibitions, fairs or political rallies, ask a veteran like K R A Narasiah. The marine engineer and author would tell you that Island Grounds was the place where Chennai’s aviation history began. Then Madras, the city saw the first aircraft

take off from this patch of land in the early 20th Century.
It was in 1910 that d’ Angeli, a hotelier in the city, got Simpson’s, the leading coachbuilder here, to make an aeroplane and displayed it to the public. He had tested the aeroplane in Pallavaram.

It is believed that during the ticketed show, he even took a person from the crowd on the plane as a passenger. Island Grounds was also the place were J W Madley, a water works engineer, assembled an aeroplane and flew it over the Red Hills reservoir to inspect works in 1914. He also shot a couple of aerial photographs of the reservoir.
This incident seemed to have kindled among prominent residents of Madras an interest in flying, which was getting popular among the rich across the world. Madras had welcomed a set of aviators who arrived in 1911 to show off the aircraft they had brought to India as a marketing initiative.
“An air plane cost Rs 7,500 in those days, which many of the rich Indians including businessmen and Maharajahs could afford,” Narasiah told a mesmerised gathering at a Madras Day event on Thursday.
Thus, the first flight in Madras took place on February 15, 1911, when J Tyck flew in a Bleriot airplane to the amusement of several hundred people. Men wheeled out the machine while Tyck sat inside the aeroplane wearinghis oilskin coat, goggles and cap. Eight men held the plane till its engine revved up. When they let go, it darted forward some 20 yards and rose gracefully into the air. It made a straight flight for some three quarters of the length of the ground and descended because the weather was poor.

There were anxious moments as a strong gust of wind caught the plane as it was descending and swayed it dangerously. But Tyck managed to land safely. That was the first flight in Madras. The next day, he flew once again, this time he reached a height of 2,400 feet. Governor of Madras Lawley witnessed the feat. Later, Vlasto, a pilot, initiated discussions that led to the founding of Madras Flying Club in 1930, said Narasiah. “It had 71 founding members, 14 of them Indians. The Indians included A A Annamalai Chettiar, who had a pilot licence from the UK. This flying club became a pioneer in the south. When the state council of Ceylon built an aerodrome at Ratnamala nearColombo, the first flight to land there was flown by Tyndale Biscoe chief flying instructor of Madras Flying Club, in 1935,” he added. Later, Captain V Sundaram, who got the first commercial pilot’s licence, flew from Karachi to Madras on Oct 26, 1936. He also flew from London to Madras along with his wife Usha who was also a pilot licence holder.
Tamil Nadu also had the first private flying strip in the country. It was built by A S Annamalai Chettiar at Chettinad after he bought a plane from the UK.

AAI seeks more land for secondary runway

V Ayyappan | TNN

August 18

Chennai: Construction of the Chennai airport’s secondary runway across the Adyar River is progressing fast and the Airports Authority of India (AAI) has requested the state government for 35 acres of additional land to install approach lights at the head of the runway.
The residents of nearby Kolapakkam, fearing their houses will be acquired, are preparing to oppose this move.
The state government had handed over about 136 acres of land to the AAI and work on extending the secondary runway began. “The state government has started the survey of the area to acquire it without disturbing residential areas. The airport will require a vertical stretch of land because the lights need to be installed at the head of the runway,” said airport director K Natarajan.
The land requirement would fall under the purview of the early allocation of land made by the government, he added. But, “this time we need only a vertical stretch,” Natarajan said.
Meanwhile, at a panchayat meeting, the residents of Kollapakkam village decided to start protests. “If the 35-40 acres are acquired the village will go. Around 300 residents may lose their houses,” said a resident.
The government seems to be looking at acquiring the land without affecting the people,” a government official said.
Work on extending the 2,035-metre secondary runway by 1,400 metres is expected to be completed by next year. AAI officials expressed confidence that they could manage to use the runway without approach lights also if there was increased threshold at the end of the runway.

City airport is the first to have walkalator in the country

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

August 16

Chennai: The country’s first walkalator (horizontal escalator) inside an airport opened for passenger use at the international arrival and departure terminals of Chennai airport on Saturday.
The conveyor belt that transports people to the aircraft will reduce the distance they have to walk inside the terminals. The two walkalators, each 50 metres long, were opened in the corridor that connects international and domestic passenger terminal buildings. Passengers scheduled to board a Chennai-Abu Dhabi Air India flight were the first to use the walkalator in the departure terminal after a passenger, Lakshmi, cut the ribbon and inaugurated the facility.

Similarly, passengers who arrived by an Air India Kuwait-Chennai flight first used

the walkalator at the arrival terminal.
“The remaining units of the walkalators will be ready in two months. When they are completed, the walkalators will connect bay 30 to bay 28,” said airport director K Natarajan.
The facility is being installed at a cost of Rs 7 crore, as part of efforts to enhance passenger amenities and optimise use of infrastructure in the airport. There are five aerobridges in the international terminal and three in the domestic terminal.

AAI moots pre-departure screening for passengers

V Ayyappan | TNN August 14 Chennai: The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has suggested that domestic air passengers be put through pre-departure screening to prevent the spread of the A(H1N1) influenza. The proposal was put forward on Thursday at a meeting of airport health officers, Union government’s health officers, immigration officials and AAI officials at the Chennai airport on the preventive steps taken at the airport. “I suggested that pre-departure screening was ideal because passengers with flu symptoms could be prevented from flying and infecting others en route. This is more logical than testing and quarantining a passenger after he has flown,” said airport director K Natarajan. However, if it is implemented across the country, departing passengers may have to report earlier than usual. “If three or four flights arrive at the same time, there will be a pile-up of passengers inside the domestic arrivals when all queue up for screening. So, pre-departure screening is the best way,” Natarajan said. Health officials had earlier hinted that the ministry might take up screening of domestic passengers at airports. When the influenza broke out in the US and the UK, Union home minister P Chidambaram suggested that infected countries should screen passengers before they flew to India. But, it was ignored. “But we can always tell airports here to screen domestic passengers before they board flights,” said an official. Though Southern Railway began screening passengers of trains from Mumbai after Maharashtra declared a pandemic, neither the Union health ministry nor the Union civil aviation ministry has decided on screening domestic airline passengers. Meanwhile, passengers from infected areas like Pune, Mumbai and Delhi is concerned over the lack of screening at airports. “I stayed in Pune for 20 days and flew to Chennai on Thursday. But, I am surprised to see that airport is not screening passengers though the flight has come from a place were 13 persons have died of the flu,” said Shajahan, a passenger.

Ladies special train service flagged off on local routes

Will Operate During Peak Hours On MRTS, Suburban Sections

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

August 13

Chennai: Women com

muters in the city can henceforth enjoy hassle-free travel daily. Union home minister P Chidambaram on Wednesday flagged off the Chennai Beach-Tambaram ladies special suburban service at the Tambaram railway station. He also flagged off two other ladies special services — on the Chennai Beach-Arakonam route and on the Mass Rapid Transit System’s Chennai Beach-Velachery section — through video-conferencing.
These services come at a tim

e when the number of commuters travelling on the suburban sections has been growing tremendously. Southern Railway, in fact, experimented with such a service on the Chennai Beach-Tambaram sector a couple of years ago but soon withdrew it. Southern Railway general manager M S Jayanth said: “Every day, 4.5 lakh commuters travel by trains on the Chennai Beach-Tambaram route. When the service opened in 1932-33, 11,600 people used it daily. Patronage for MRTS had also increased with 75,000 commuters using the Beach-

Velachery services everyday,” he added.
He said the number of commuters was increasing in such a way that 20 counters and 100 employees would be required to cater to the everyday ticketing needs of commuters in the suburbs.
“We are planning to popularise smart card-enabled Automatic Ticket Vending Machines (ATVM). Machines from which commuters can buy tickets by inserting cash will come up on all suburban routes. The sale of smart cards has touched the 65,000 mark. It was 5,000 when the machines were introduced a year ago,” said Jayanth.

Nine-car rakes are presently used to operate ladies specials. Chidambaram said he would request railway minister Mamata Banerjee to increase the number of coaches to 12. A nine-car rake can accommodate 4,000 people and a 12-car coach 6,000.
Railways had posted women ticket checkers and a woman guard as a symbolic gesture in the inaugural services. But, Chidambaram said that “the staff should be regularly employed in the services.”
Schedule of ladies special services: Tambaram-Chennai Beach — 8.37 am; Chennai Beach-Tambaram — 5.57 pm; Arakonam-Chennai Beach — 7 am; Chennai Beach-Arakonam — 5.50 pm; Chennai Beach-Velachery — 9 am; Velachery-Chennai Beach — 5.05 pm.
‘We need more such specials’
Chennai: On the first day, the the ladies special saw moderate rush of its patrons.
The women passengers were delighted about the special trains on the suburban network, but they also wanted the railways to attach more coaches for them in the regular suburban service. “I am happy that the railways have reintroduced the ladies special trains which were there a couple of years ago on the Tambaram-Chennai Beach route. But just two of them may not be enough,” said K Vidya, a passenger residing in Tambaram.
The special trains are likely to benefit those who travel point-to-point, for instance on the Tambaram-Beach section where the normal trains are usually so crowded that women find it difficult to board them from Pallavaram, St Thomas Mount and other stations.
Vijayalakshmi Rangamani, a commuter, said, “We can’t board regular trains as it come jampacked at the Thiruninravur railway station.”
But men TOI spoke to were not too happy as the railways had converted a regular service to a ladies special instead of introducing a new one. TNN

Passengers refuse to derail their travel plans

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

August 11

Chennai: It was life as usual on Monday at railway stations and at Chennai airport. Despite H1N1 claiming its first victim in the city, there was no indication of people having changed travel plans. Trains to Mumbai were full as usual and airlines, too, experienced the usual flow of passengers to domestic destinations.
“We have to do our work and passengers are travelling as usual. The train is full and there is a long waitlist, too,” said a travelling ticket examiner (TTE) on duty on the Chennai-CST Mumbai Express before the train departed from platform number three at the Central railway station. The state health department and the Southern Railway medical department have given masks
to TTEs and train superintendents, including for distribution among passengers showing preliminary symptoms of the influenza.
But railway employees were not seen using them. Doctors and sanitary inspectors assigned to screen passengers on platform number one (slotted to receive trains from Maharashtra) did not have enough masks. “We have just enough for our use,” said a sanitary inspector on duty on the platform. “We have to serve passengers in spite of the risk involved. But we do not travel all the way to Maharashtra. A fresh team takes over from Andhra Pradesh,” said a TTE.
“We do not have masks. But we have all decided to cover our faces with cloth when the train reaches Pune and Mumbai,” said a pantry car staff.
Visible precautionary measures seem to be missing among passengers. “I had come here on official work and am now returning. I am not concerned about travelling to Maharashtra. I hope to buy a mask from a railway station there before the train reaches Pune,” said Shivaji Rao Podwal, a passenger in the train. A railway official, however, said that travellers could become more cautious in a day or two.
The state health department has decided to allow railways to stock Tamilflu in trains. The Travel Agents Federation of India (TAFI) has started an online awareness campaign, using social networking sites.
Circulars are being sent to all members educating them about precautionary steps that should be taken to prevent the spread of H1N1 flu.

S Rly yet to start fumigating trains

August 10
Chennai: Though there are reports that the H1N1 flu is spreading in the state, Southern Railway is yet to start fumigating the three trains operated to Mumbai — Chennai-CST (1027) Mail, the CST-Chennai (1041) Express and the Dadar-Chennai Egmore (2163) Express.
Flu-prevention measures, that were put in place based on the instructions from the state health department, still revolve around screening passengers. Rakes that come from Mumbai are cleaned in a routine way and are then readied for the return trip. The coaches of the rake are washed if they are taken to the yard.
The rake of the CST-Mumbai Mail that arrives at Chennai Central at 5 am is not taken to the yard because it goes back as the Chennai Central-Mumbai Express at 11.45 am. “The rake remains on the platform and a basic cleaning exercise is taken up there. For fumigation to start, the rake will have to be taken to the yard, which will be time-consuming,” said a railway official.
According to Geethalakshmi, head of the department of microbiology at the Madras Medical College, fumigating is the best way to disinfect trains. “Theinfected secretions can survive anywhere. So, the coaches should be fumigated after giving it a foam wash. The wash is important because organic matter should be cleaned away.”
Southern Railway chief medical director Dr A Elangovan said “We have given instruction to fumigate the trains if any of the passengers tested positive for H1N1 flu.” Meanwhile, the medical department of the railway zone has sought permission to treat patients infected with flu at the Railway Hospital in Perambur. “We have identified a special ward at the hospital and have also asked the director of public health to permit us to treat patients,” said Southern Railway chief medical director Dr A Elangovan. TNN