Assess risk before operating flights in bad weather conditions: DGCA to airlines

In the wake of multiple incidents of planes overshooting runways due to bad weather conditions, airlines were on Tuesday asked by aviation regulator DGCA to carry out risk assessment before operating in such situations. In a communique, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) asked the 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 services continue to remain suspended at Mumbai airport after a SpiceJet plane from Jaipur overshot the runway while landing and got stuck in the adjacent grass area. The DGCA said, "Aircraft operations during monsoon season poses challenges, which of late have resulted in a number of occurrences."

"Crew should be well aware of the aircraft limitations and of take-off/landing performance calculations during the adverse weather operations," it stated. It further said that while adhering to the minimum cockpit experience, which has already been laid down by the DGCA, the airlines should carry out their own "risk assessment" before operating flights during adverse weather conditions.

While approaching to land at any airport during such conditions, a plane's cockpit crew should be encouraged to go-around in case the "approach becomes unstabilised" or if there is any condition that has reduced the "visual references" to enable a safe landing, the circular 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 veered off the taxiway after landing and got stuck in soft ground at the Mangalore airport.

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