Aircraft landing with unstabilised approach in bad weather to attract punitive action: DGCA chief

PTI, Jul 3, 2019, 12:41 PM IST

New Delhi: In a stern warning to airlines, the DGCA director general said on Wednesday that all aircraft should refrain from landing with “unstabilised approach” while experiencing adverse weather conditions and initiate a go around, non-adherence to which will invite punitive action.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had in a communique on Tuesday asked airlines to make available sufficiently experienced crew in the cockpit and that crew rostering should factor in fatigue element associated with the operations during adverse weather conditions.

The circular, titled ‘Monsoon Operations’, comes as the main runway at Mumbai airport continues to remain shut after a SpiceJet plane from Jaipur veered off it while landing and got stuck in the adjacent grass area.

“We have also instructed heads of flight safety of airlines to include in their safety briefings to pilots, an express instruction to refrain from landing with unstabilised approach while experiencing adverse weather conditions and initiate a go around,” Director General of Civil Aviation Arun Kumar said in his message.

He also said that safety cannot be compromised at any cost.

“All concerned are requested to strictly comply with the instructions. Non-adherence shall invite appropriate punitive action,” he said.

A senior official at the DGCA told PTI that it is probing the incidents of planes overshooting runways.

Earlier in the day, a SpiceJet flight veered off its path on the runway while landing at Kolkata airport, damaging four lights.

On June 30, another SpiceJet plane from Bhopal veered off the runway at Surat airport due to heavy rainfall and wind. On the same day, an Air India Express flight mover away from the taxiway after landing and got stuck in soft ground at the Mangalore airport.