Civil Aviation Development & Discussion

[mnag]

I had similar experience when our corporate jet had a similar close encounter with a commercial jet near san jose in california and autopilot took over forcing our flight to ascend quickly. What is needed to have similar thing deployed in india? Is it very expensive system?

[SSridhar]

Mid-air collision averted over Trichy
http://www.zeenews.com/news631793.html

Both the pilots are said to have reported the incident, with DGCA sources saying a probe has been ordered into the incident.

The Hindu report says

The Airports Authority of India (AAI) officials said Air India flight IC-671 from Chennai to Madurai was flying at nearly 28,000 feet between Tiruchi and Madurai. The pilot was instructed to descend to 16,000 feet to a different track and resume the normal track after that to separate his aircraft from another flying above it.

However, the pilot did not follow the instructions of the ATC Tower and even before reaching 16,000 feet, he came on the normal track, sources in the AAI said.

At that time, a smaller Jet Airways aircraft was on its way to Chennai from Thiruvananthapuram. Both were flying very close.

However, the ATC alerted the pilots of both airlines to take corrective steps..

If this is true, then the Indian Airlines pilot is at fault.

[chetak]

The other suspicious item is the report that the "Black box" has either not been found, or is severely damaged and will have to have Special Procedures to recover the data (translation: send to Amreeka, c/o Boeing).

Again, this is nonsense. The plane didn't crash at transonic speed to the ground - it came sliding off a cliff and bumped down 300 feet. Then caught fire. The Black Box is designed to survive actual crashes from altitude, meaning immensely worse impacts, and to survive fire for a long time.

So the purpose in sending the Black Box outside, can only be to cover up the fact that it was a mechanical failure of the airplane, which would make Boeing hugely liable.

Black boxes are frequently milked of their data at regular intervals by maintenance or flight safety personnel and this data is decoded centrally by the airline so as to keep track of any departures from normal limits of flight and engine related parameters.

When ever there is a controversy, like in the AI accident, the blackbox goes back to the manufacturer for decoding. Every thing is done in the presence of representatives of airlines, DGCA, plane and engine manufacturers and any other concerned party. The proceedings are videotaped in case of any lawsuits or whatever.

Hardly any scope for CTs. Every represented party hopes that he is not to blame therefore the proceedings are closely and suspiciously watched by all so none derives any unfair advantage.

[nachiket]

I had similar experience when our corporate jet had a similar close encounter with a commercial jet near san jose in california and autopilot took over forcing our flight to ascend quickly. What is needed to have similar thing deployed in india? Is it very expensive system?

You are talking about TCAS(Traffic collision avoidance system) I suppose. It is installed in every commercial jetliner flying today and does not need to be "deployed" separately in India. The problem is when two aircraft get too close the instructions given by the TCAS system may conflict with the instructions given by the ATC. In most countries the aviation authorities have a rule that if such a case occurs the pilot must give precedence to the TCAS instructions over the ATC. I expect the same to be true in India.

There have been mid-air collisions before because one of the pilots followed the TCAS while the other followed the ATC's instructions. A notable case is collision between Bashkirian Airlines Flight 2937 and DHL Flight 611 over Überlingen, Germanby in 2002. The Air Traffic controller was later murdered by by a guy who lost his wife and two children in the accident.

[mnag]

Thanks Nachiket for the info

I had similar experience when our corporate jet had a similar close encounter with a commercial jet near san jose in california and autopilot took over forcing our flight to ascend quickly. What is needed to have similar thing deployed in india? Is it very expensive system?

You are talking about TCAS(Traffic collision avoidance system) I suppose. It is installed in every commercial jetliner flying today and does not need to be "deployed" separately in India. The problem is when two aircraft get too close the instructions given by the TCAS system may conflict with the instructions given by the ATC. In most countries the aviation authorities have a rule that if such a case occurs the pilot must give precedence to the TCAS instructions over the ATC. I expect the same to be true in India.

There have been mid-air collisions before because one of the pilots followed the TCAS while the other followed the ATC's instructions. A notable case is collision between Bashkirian Airlines Flight 2937 and DHL Flight 611 over Überlingen, Germanby in 2002. The Air Traffic controller was later murdered by by a guy who lost his wife and two children in the accident.

[chetak]

There have been mid-air collisions before because one of the pilots followed the TCAS while the other followed the ATC's instructions. A notable case is collision between Bashkirian Airlines Flight 2937 and DHL Flight 611 over Überlingen, Germanby in 2002. The Air Traffic controller was later murdered by by a guy who lost his wife and two children in the accident.

The Air Traffic controller was later murdered by by a guy who lost his wife and two children in the accident.

Maybe this aspect should be highlighted in the Indian press

[Kannan]

I had similar experience when our corporate jet had a similar close encounter with a commercial jet near san jose in california and autopilot took over forcing our flight to ascend quickly. What is needed to have similar thing deployed in india? Is it very expensive system?

TCAS, not autopilot. You can read a manual here:
http://www.sisadminov.net/tcas/docs/cas ... tguide.pdf

Surprisingly simple tool, every jet transport aircraft already has it, its resolution advisory (RA) supercedes ATC instruction, which may be what the article linked is trying to say when it mentions the pilot ignored ATC.

[Dileep]

Isn't it (supposed to be) drilled into the head of the pilot to obey TCAS over all other inputs?

[nachiket]

The Air Traffic controller was later murdered by by a guy who lost his wife and two children in the accident.

Maybe this aspect should be highlighted in the Indian press

I'm not sure what you are trying to say.

[SSridhar]

I had similar experience when our corporate jet had a similar close encounter with a commercial jet near san jose in california and autopilot took over forcing our flight to ascend quickly. What is needed to have similar thing deployed in india? Is it very expensive system?

In the recent Trichy air-miss also, it was TCAS that saved the situation.

[SSridhar]

The Second Airport for Chennai at Sriperumbudur again getting revived

A meeting to consider a techno-economical feasibility study on ‘dual airport operation' in Sriperumbudur and Chennai will be held here on Wednesday.

It will explore the possibility of operating simultaneously the existing airport at Tirusoolam and a new airport at Sriperumbudur.

Giving the details to TheHindu, D. Devaraj, Regional Executive Director, Airports Authority of India (AAI), Southern Region, said a six-member team from International Civil Aviation Organisation and Louis Berger Group Inc, USA, the organisation which is to conduct the study, officials from the AAI and State government will attend the meeting.

Mr. Devaraj said later, the team, along with AAI and State government officials, would make a field visit to Sriperumbudur on Thursday and collect data. The AAI had provided Rs.2.5 crore ($5,59,799) for the study, which would be completed in six months.

Mr. Devaraj said the AAI had requested the State government to allot nearly 4,500 to 5,000 acres at Sriperumbudur to create a second airport, which would have two runways besides shopping malls, hotels and other facilities.

Sale of land frozen

Already sale of land in certain blocks in Sriperumbudur taluk had been frozen. Under an earlier proposal, the State government had identified nearly 4,500 acres, spread over 42 villages in Tiruvallur and Kancheepuram districts, for the second airport.

Kiloy, Siru Kiloy, Mambakkam and Vadamangalam in Sriperumbudur block in Kancheepuram district and Thiruppandhiyur, Kottaiyur and Vayalur in Kadambathur block in Tiruvallur district were some of the villages identified for acquiring land for the project.

Earlier, the Civil Aviation Ministry was against proceeding with the idea of a second airport at Sriperumbudur on the ground that it would not be possible to keep two airports operational at the same time given the traffic projections.

The expenditure involved in land acquisition and in establishing a mass rapid rail link between the two airports could not be justified, it was felt.

[chetak]

The Air Traffic controller was later murdered by by a guy who lost his wife and two children in the accident.



I'm not sure what you are trying to say.

nachiket ji,

Probably the same thing that the guy who lost his wife and two children in the accident was trying to say. Or said rather forcefully.

[Kannan]

Isn't it (supposed to be) drilled into the head of the pilot to obey TCAS over all other inputs?

It is now, but it wasn't an issue addressed by ICAO till after Ueberlingen. Probably wasn't the poor controller's fault at all.

[saip]

Sky Wars in India: On Advertising scale

http://www.chillnite.com/sky-wars-in-in ... sing-scale

[negi]

Aircraft's nose-wheel comes off

BHOPAL: Three dozen passengers of a Hyderabad-bound Jet Airways flight had a miraculous escape here on Wednesday when the nose- wheel of the aircraft came off just as it was taxiing towards the runway.

Airport director J.P. Alax said: “The nose-wheel came out. The takeoff was aborted by the pilot. The aircraft is still in the parking bay, and men and machinery will arrive soon to solve the problem.”

[negi]

Mumbai Air Traffic Control goes blind for 21 minutes

For 21 minutes on June 15, the Air Traffic Control at the Mumbai airport lost all contact with 19 aircraft either in the air or readying for take-off after a power cable got snapped during digging near the runway, in a major technical breakdown fraught with danger.

A 4-member probe team from Airports Authority of India (AAI) has already completed its investigation into the blackout incident and submitted its report to the Member (Operations), sources said.

"There was a total blackout and the radar screen at the ATC went blank for 21 minutes precisely, making the controllers almost blind-folded," sources said.

[nachiket]

The Air Traffic controller was later murdered by by a guy who lost his wife and two children in the accident.



I'm not sure what you are trying to say.

nachiket ji,

Probably the same thing that the guy who lost his wife and two children in the accident was trying to say. Or said rather forcefully.

The only problem is, the ATC wasn't really the one at fault. If you watch the Air Crash Investigations episode of that tragedy on NatGeo, you'll realize that it was a combination of several factors that caused it (much like it is in nearly every aircraft accident). Of course, I'm not saying that the murder can be justified even if the ATC was the only one responsible for the accident.

[Marut]

Apna DGCA has finally moved it's a$$.

Expat pilots to undergo med tests in India

chetak-ji, your comments and inputs will be appreciated.

[SSridhar]

Mumbai Air Traffic Control goes blind for 21 minutes

For 21 minutes on June 15, the Air Traffic Control at the Mumbai airport lost all contact with 19 aircraft either in the air or readying for take-off after a power cable got snapped during digging near the runway, in a major technical breakdown fraught with danger.

When we design non-stop critical applications in a data centre, we ensure redundancy through multiple sources and multiple paths. We also test the design (with suitable precautions of course) at periodic intervals to ensure continued compliance. Then, there are audits which independently verify the accuracy of results and our assurances and inform the management if everything is fine as claimed.

From the above ToI report, it appears that there was only one source of primary power. Then, the UPS also tripped which probably means that it had not been maintained properly and tested periodically.

[Kannan]

Apna DGCA has finally moved it's a$$.

Expat pilots to undergo med tests in India

chetak-ji, your comments and inputs will be appreciated.

Moving to address a problem that does not exist.

[SSridhar]

New Coimbatore terminal to be opened today

[shyamd]

^^Karunanaidhi is supposed to fly in to check out Cbe airport terminal tomorrow. I still think 700 passenger capacity is not big enough for the growth that coimbatore airport has had, but I am sure it is a big improvement to the current situation.

[chaanakya]

On Mangalore plane Crash(update)


Pilot Error Seen Likely in Fatal India Landing

According to people knowledgeable about the crash probe, the tentative conclusion by investigators is that pilots failed to adhere to widely accepted safety rules about breaking off an approach if the plane is losing altitude too quickly, has too much speed just before landing or is likely to touch dangerously far down the runway. The lack of scorched rubber or other evidence of extreme braking on the runway supports the idea that the plane tried to lift off again. Information retrieved from the plane's flight-data and cockpit-voice recorders, however, indicates some confusion and hesitation, these people said.

Bill Voss, president and CEO of the Alexandria, Va.-based Flight Safety Foundation, suggested over the weekend that the makeup of the crew could have contributed to a breakdown in cockpit discipline or communication. The dramatic growth of Indian aviation has "resulted in an influx of expatriate pilots with language and cultural challenges," according to Mr. Voss. India's regulators "have been trying to compensate for this," he said, with special mandated training to alleviate approach and landing hazards.

New terminal to be opened in 10 days

MANGALORE: Director of the Mangalore airport Peter Abraham has said that the new integrated terminal building of the airport will be opened for passenger traffic in the next 10 days.

Speaking to The Hindu on Tuesday, a month after the May 22 crash of the Air India Express flight from Dubai, Mr. Abraham said that the opening of the new terminal was scheduled for June 1. But the circumstances that prevailed in the aftermath of the crash prevented us from opening the terminal, he said.

The date of commissioning would be decided by the local authorities in consultation with the regional headquarters of the Airports Authority of India at Chennai. The only aspect that was currently holding up the opening was the construction of a standby road, which would take another week, Mr. Abraham said.

The 360-m road, which would provide an alternate passage to the airport, is being built at the south-east end of the airport, abutting the now-abandoned Dakkan Hotel. Built at a cost of Rs. 35 lakh, this road will connect the airport to the Bajpe main road, via the Kenjar gram panchayat. This road will be used in emergencies only. Otherwise, it will remain closed.

ILS functional

The Instrument Landing System at the airport has been repaired and reinstalled. The ILS could not be used after the plane crashed into one of its crucial components on May 22. The ILS was re-commissioned on June 16, Mr. Abraham said.

Salvaging the wreck

There is still no clarity on when the wreckage of the plane will be removed from the crash site. While Mr. Abraham said that it was the responsibility of the airline to conduct the salvage, Station Manger of Air India Chellam Prasad said that the airline did not have the written clearance from the Airports Authority of India to go ahead. Mr. Abraham said that the airline was free to build a temporary shelter, next to the old engineering office near the new terminal building, whenever it wished.

People still wait for AI crash investigation report

The authorities, particularly the Union Civil Aviation Ministry and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) were expected to release a preliminary investigation report however nothing has been released to the media as yet.

Investigators are of the opinion that crash was due to pilots landing too far down a hilltop runway and trying to get the plane airborne again however it was too late by then. The preliminary conclusion emerged were failures by the pilots to follow basic safety rules during the final approach added with cockpit confusion after touchdown.

Mangalore black box taken to US

Chandan Nandy, Bangalore, June 21, DHNS:

A month after an Air India Express Boeing aircraft crashed at Mangalore International Airport, officials forming part of the Court of Inquiry (CoI) have taken the black box and the cockpit voice recorder to the instruments’ American manufacturer.

Sources in the Civil Aviation Ministry told Deccan Herald over phone that a three-member team, headed by Air Marshal (retd) Bhushan Nilkanth Gokhale, who heads the CoI, S N Dwivedi, who is Director of Airworthiness in the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), and is also secretary to the CoI, and an operations expert Capt Ron Nagar, left for the US a few days ago.

The team is expected to return to Delhi on July 1 along with transcripts of the cockpit voice recorder and retrieved data from the digital flight data recorder (DFDR), also known as black box. The DFDR was recovered from the crash site on May 25 but DGCA said it was in a “very, very bad condition”.

The sources said once the data from the chip inside the black box is recovered, the CoI will take a view on having them analysed by the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) or Boeing, which is the manufacturer of the aircraft. “That decision will be taken once the team returned and preferred to have the data analysed by either the NTSB or Boeing,” the source said.

DGCA sources said the CoI felt it necessary to take the black box to its manufacturer because “the DFDR was badly burnt from the outside”. A senior official said that since the equipment, but not the chip contained inside it, is not crash-proof, the CoI took the decision to have the data retrieved from the chip.

“The chip will have to be played on another identical instrument, a process which can be done by the black box manufacturer,” a DGCA official said.

DGCA officials close to the CoI investigation said there is a possibility that the crash may not entirely have been because of pilot error.

Once Air Marshal Gokhale returns from the US, the CoI will “listen” and “correlate” the tapes of the Mangalore Air Traffic Control (ATC) and the pilot. “Correlating the two sets of tapes will establish whether the crash occurred because of pilot error or a combination of factors,” sources said.

[Singha]

TV says delhi T3 is nearing completion. 34 mil pax, 78 aerobridges, 180 checkin counters, 5.5 mil sq ft, 4500 cars parking lot,
14 baggage belts (each can handle 2 flights I think) .....TV claimed 5th largest in the world

I think they should have kept more baggage belts to ease the pushing and shoving that indics love to do . bangkok suvarnabhoomi has 50 baggage belts in a giant single hall.

wiki stats would put it around 20th @ 35 mil
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World%27s_ ... statistics

[harbans]

It's good to have airports which can handle higher passanger capacities. But to play this number games is a bit of a stretch. As a country we have too few Airports. Look at London, it has at the minimum 6 major airports servicing it. There's an airstrip every 10 miles in UK or Eastern US or California. Most you can spot have ILS and other modern aids and good connectivity. 'Decentralization' of major airports should also be a priority than singularly focussing on 2 runway strips for servicing mega cities like Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai etc.

That slso will help lightnen traffic loads on connecting arterial roads. However alongwith that additional air corridors must be opened up. On a similar vein i had commented on the Roads thread earlier the need to open more connecting corridors between sectors say like Gurgaon-Delhi-Noida etc. Building grand is great but alongside it's also good to build up additional updateable connectivity, airstrips, air corridors or at the minimum start up procedures to acquire land, planning, will to decentralize load on these 'grand' terminals, expressways.

[harbans]

On the Mangalore crash, what i see is that from Dubai the Runway has a pretty good neat approach. No hills, just around 300 ft asl, PAPI (precision approach path indicators) that show visually whether the Aircraft is coming in too high or too low. For a 737-800 the pilot can start decent procedures way out and steady the trim and descent with plenty time to spare without having to work on bank corrections all on purely visual approach. Using auto Brakes and spoilers, 8000 ft is a pretty good landing strip. 737-800 has actually 4 setting levels for the Auto brakes and 2 is good enough and mostly used for such strips. One could land possibly with 4000 feet runway under higher Autobrake levels since flaps go 8 stages. The later stages of flaps causing more drag than lift.

So with PAPI and a very decent approach it's quite difficult for the pilots to make a mistake, specially experienced ones. I'd also assume they'd be using GPS than VOR for navigation over the ocean. The 737-800 can autonavigate both on VOR and GPS (the Autopilot works on both). Since there was minor intermittant drizzling, it's sort of out that the Sun coming up beyond the hills dazzled the pilots in some way..so then how do experienced pilots who've done umpteen landings on the same strip possibly under much higher wind sheer and rainy conditions make the mistake of landing 3000 feet plus..seems for a time they did assume the autobrakes, spoliers and brakes would do the trick in 5000 feet left? So there's a possibility that they increased flaps to maybe 40 at a higher speed that caused the aircraft to float after which they were doomed if they did not take off. Getting past 3k of runway indicates a high approach speed and flaps not extended to 30 and pitch possibly in the negative or N1 around 60 or higher.

Now to get into that state, these experienced pilots would certainly have been aware much before they approached decision height. Every second of their approach the PAPI would have been telling them they are too high. The GPS, DME whatever approach they used would have been telling them from miles that they are far exceeding the 3:1 glide ratio..yet they went ahead. Me thinks they might have been approaching completely on auto-pilot mode with GPS inputs, and changed to visual approach very late. BTW, reverse thrusters are applied during 'power idle', very low N1 conditions post landing. There is a possibility that the experienced pilots were trying an approach a little different from the mundane..and it went wrong.

PS 1: Just a train of thought, and not necessarily this is what happened. I'll bet my bottom dollar that these pilots in blinding fog using completely manual procedures could land at Mangalore each time bang 100 feet past runway start.

PS 2: For those that are criticising the airport, it's really welcome as any enhancement to safety is a plus plus..but if one wants to see really dangerous landing strips then La Paz, VE 67 AP, few in Kashmir..Mangalore looks really a babe to land on.

[Ameet]

India Shows Off New `World-Class Hub' at Delhi Airport

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-07-0 ... rowth.html

[SSridhar]

The aging Chennai Airport radar in the limelight again

Air traffic controllers hope that the problem will be solved with the airport getting a new radar soon.

A dozen times 'a new radar soon' has come and gone. Per this earlier post, the radar should have been installed by end-2009. Then it was April, 2010. To this day, there is nothing happening.

[amit]

India Shows Off New `World-Class Hub' at Delhi Airport

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-07-0 ... rowth.html

Interesting point:

The facility took only 37 months to build. That’s faster than the 45 months China took to complete the terminal in Beijing that opened in time for the 2008 Olympics.

Hopefully things are finally moving. If I'm not mistaken the new terminal in Delhi will be the 3rd biggest in the world after Beijing and Dubai.

[Surya]

hope it has a international standard transit \transfer desk.

[VenkataS]

India Shows Off New `World-Class Hub' at Delhi Airport

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-07-0 ... rowth.html

The facility took only 37 months to build. That’s faster than the 45 months China took to complete the terminal in Beijing that opened in time for the 2008 Olympics.

Hopefully things are finally moving. If I'm not mistaken the new terminal in Delhi will be the 3rd biggest in the world after Beijing and Dubai.

GMR gets all the credit here. They have been very impressive with their infrastructure projects, building them on time and to international standards. They also built the Hyderabad airport, a greenfield airport with 12 million PAX, in record time (31 months I believe for all the facilities including terminal, apron, runway etc). Even the approach road they built to the airport in Hyderabad which is about 7 kms long is good (one of the best roads in Hyd). And they have been maintaining the place very well as well, Hyd airport has won many awards.

If their track record in Hyderabad is anything to go by, I think Delhi airport will be a great success. The new terminal along with the new metro link to the airport are going to change a travellers perception of Delhi/India in the future.

[Abhijeet]

According to a report in Business Today I read recently, fuel costs account for about 40% of the total operating costs for airlines in India, as opposed to a global average of 20%. This is due to, as expected, very high taxes on aviation fuel.

Passenger taxes are also very high. An infant ticket from India to the US we booked recently had the base fare as Rs. 7000 and the taxes at Rs. 15000 for a total cost of Rs. 22000. There must be something wrong when taxes are more than twice what the airline itself is charging you.

[amit]

GMR gets all the credit here. They have been very impressive with their infrastructure projects, building them on time and to international standards... If their track record in Hyderabad is anything to go by, I think Delhi airport will be a great success. The new terminal along with the new metro link to the airport are going to change a travellers perception of Delhi/India in the future.

I agree fully with that. Some time last year I went to Hyderabad on some work and passed throught the airport. I personally thought that the terminal, even though it's smaller than many of the international airports I've passed through, was as good as any in terms of passenger comfort, amenities and ambience. The baggage handling staff and system was also very efficient. In fact I can say it's better than most US airports that I've landed as well as many European ones.

Actually I flew into Hyderabad from Calcutta - was on holiday and just had some work that I needed to finish in Hyderabad - and I can tell you it was a bit of a strange feeling landing in Hyderabad, getting out, taking the car and driving out of that 7 km stretch that GMR built. I felt as if I've landed in the foreign country!

Was brought back to reality after getting on the "normal" roads leading to the city. However, there also the infrastrucutre is far better than in the Kamunist ruled West Bengal!

I'm really looking forward to landing in Delhi after the new airport is inaugurated. Maybe I'll go on my annual pilgrimage to Calcutta via Delhi. Haven't got up on a Rajdhani Express for a long time as well. And now I can book my Rail tickets online!

[rajkumar]

Passenger taxes are also very high. An infant ticket from India to the US we booked recently had the base fare as Rs. 7000 and the taxes at Rs. 15000 for a total cost of Rs. 22000. There must be something wrong when taxes are more than twice what the airline itself is charging you.

Its the same here in the UK. I recently booked a flight to Hyderabad and the fare was £300 but the tax cames to an additional and additional £450!!!!

[Singha]

ET

Praful Patel levels obstructionism charge against Jairam Ramesh
3 Jul 2010, 0209 hrs IST,ET Bureau


NEW DELHI: After the coal minister, it was the turn of civil aviation minister Praful Patel to level the charge of obstructionism against environment minister Jairam Ramesh.

In an interview to a private TV channel, Mr Patel said that there was an urgent need for the airport in Navi Mumbai as the Mumbai airport had reached a stage where it cannot take on any more traffic.

“We can’t be overly obsessive about environmental issues...we can’t give priority to 50-100 acres of degradation over a large infrastructure project. I am equally concerned and passionate about environment but the Mumbai airport is at a stage when it cannot handle more traffic,” Mr Patel said.

The environment ministry, which countered the aviation minister’s charge, is view that Mr Patel’s “impatience” is not justified. The environment impact assessment report for the Navi Mumbai airport was submitted only on June 24.

“It has only been eight days since the environment impact assessment report was submitted. It is too much to expect that the project be cleared when half the issues have not been addressed. Even if the project were perfect with no issues, a clearance within eight days would have been too much to expect,” an environment ministry official said.

The report had left questions unanswered about compliance with the coastal zone regulations, the impact of diversion of two rivers and the clearing of 400 acres of mangrove forests.

The report has been sent back to the state for more details and clarity. Earlier this week, Mr Ramesh had said that that the EIA report had thrown up a number of unanswered questions.

The environment minister has been viewed as the villain of the growth story. Recently, in a letter to Mr Ramesh, coal minister Sri Prakash Jayaswal said that the environment ministry’s classification of forests as “go” and “no go” would lead to a shortage of 600 million tonnes per annum.

India’s production projections are at 1000 MTPA, while 1,500 MTPA is required to meet the growth plans. This would mean a higher quantum of coal import, and higher costs. Earlier, power minister Sushilkumar Shinde too had raised the issue of delays in environmental and forest clearance, leading to delays in projects.

For its part, the environment ministry says that they are “doing their dharma”. Part of the problem, sources said, has been the fact that clearances have been freely given out in the past, and the problem that is being faced now is because the environment ministry is demanding compliance.

[Rishirishi]

ET

Praful Patel levels obstructionism charge against Jairam Ramesh
3 Jul 2010, 0209 hrs IST,ET Bureau


NEW DELHI: After the coal minister, it was the turn of civil aviation minister Praful Patel to level the charge of obstructionism against environment minister Jairam Ramesh.

In an interview to a private TV channel, Mr Patel said that there was an urgent need for the airport in Navi Mumbai as the Mumbai airport had reached a stage where it cannot take on any more traffic.

“We can’t be overly obsessive about environmental issues...we can’t give priority to 50-100 acres of degradation over a large infrastructure project. I am equally concerned and passionate about environment but the Mumbai airport is at a stage when it cannot handle more traffic,” Mr Patel said.

The environment ministry, which countered the aviation minister’s charge, is view that Mr Patel’s “impatience” is not justified. The environment impact assessment report for the Navi Mumbai airport was submitted only on June 24.

“It has only been eight days since the environment impact assessment report was submitted. It is too much to expect that the project be cleared when half the issues have not been addressed. Even if the project were perfect with no issues, a clearance within eight days would have been too much to expect,” an environment ministry official said.

The report had left questions unanswered about compliance with the coastal zone regulations, the impact of diversion of two rivers and the clearing of 400 acres of mangrove forests.

The report has been sent back to the state for more details and clarity. Earlier this week, Mr Ramesh had said that that the EIA report had thrown up a number of unanswered questions.

The environment minister has been viewed as the villain of the growth story. Recently, in a letter to Mr Ramesh, coal minister Sri Prakash Jayaswal said that the environment ministry’s classification of forests as “go” and “no go” would lead to a shortage of 600 million tonnes per annum.

India’s production projections are at 1000 MTPA, while 1,500 MTPA is required to meet the growth plans. This would mean a higher quantum of coal import, and higher costs. Earlier, power minister Sushilkumar Shinde too had raised the issue of delays in environmental and forest clearance, leading to delays in projects.

For its part, the environment ministry says that they are “doing their dharma”. Part of the problem, sources said, has been the fact that clearances have been freely given out in the past, and the problem that is being faced now is because the environment ministry is demanding compliance.

BR members who use the terminal, please comment. Pictures are really welcome.

Parameters:
Car park
Access from carpark to terminal
Check in counters layout
signage
Toilets
look and feel of the building
shopping and service
internet connection
public transport to the airport
shopping area in the departure lounge
finding departing gates
Staff attitude
cleaning
etc

[James B]

Cross post from Nukkad

These are the full versions of walk the talk with Mr G M Rao:
His life story - Started his career as a PWD engineer, his father left him with Rs 3 lakh and 1 acre land. He entered several businesess including making ear-buds and a brewery. Finally joined Vysya bank just prior to the economic reforms, and turned it around by investing in infrastructure. Did several development projects, including India's second ever IPP.

Now has built the Hydrabad airport (Rajiv Gandhi) and Delhi airport (Indira Gandhi), is building an airport in turkey, and modernizing the male airport. He now owns the Delhi IPL team.

Part 1: http://www.ndtv.com/news/videos/video_p ... ?id=147948 21mins.
Part 2: http://www.tubaah.com/details.php?video_id=148088 19mins.

[Singha]

the hindu: - GMR has proven that given the money and permits, we can deliver world class infra as fast as east asia.

Delhi's Terminal 3 has many firsts
Vinay Kumar

With all foreign carriers shifting their bases from the existing Terminal 2 to the new, swanky Terminal 3 of the IGI Airport in Delhi on July 14, the first fully integrated terminal is all set to become operational ten days from now.

Inaugurated by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday, the plush T3 will see Air India’s flight AI-102 docking in straight from New York on July 14. It will take off from T3 later. The shiny glass and steel structure has 78 aerobridges, more than Singapore’s Changi airport, and 168 check-in counters and is fully equipped to receive the super-jumbo Airbus A-380, world’s largest passenger aircraft.

While inaugurating the T3 building, Dr. Singh said that an airport “is often the first introduction to a country.” He stressed that airports should be receptive to the comfort of passengers even as they meet the highest standards of efficiency and safety. “They should employ the most modern of technologies but also exude cultural warmth,” he said.

“This is a demonstration of what India is truly capable of achieving,” a beaming Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel who had taken charge of the Ministry in 2004, said.

He did not lose the opportunity to point out that it was the vision and dream of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi to have a vibrant and energetic civil aviation sector. “When 10 per cent of India’s population starts flying, we will need six times the size of present infrastructure in civil aviation sector,” Mr. Patel pointed out giving a hint at the potential which the sector holds. Praising the GMR group for completing the project in record time, he said the GMR group was much sought after for taking up international projects.

GMR Airports chief Kiran Grandhi when asked about reports that UAE carrier Emirates may fly in A-380 aircraft to T3 later this month as a symbolic gesture, said the airline has not yet formally informed the authorities about its plans.

Domestic operations from T3 would start from July 30-31 after Air India and private carriers Jet Airways and Kingfisher Airlines shift out of Terminals 1A and 1D, officials at the airport said. IndiGo, SpiceJet and GoAir would continue their operations from the existing Terminal 1D, officials added.

Spread over 4 km, 80 per cent of T3 is made of glass supported by metal frames. The nine-level terminal building would be used for 90 per cent of the entire passenger movement at the IGI Airport.

Comfortable lounges, nap and shower rooms will add to passenger comfort in the airport which will have a mix of restaurants, bars, cafes and fast food outlets in around 20,000 sq meter of commercial space.

Besides three functional runways catering to T3 terminal, it will have 92 automatic walkways and a multi-level air-conditioned car park to accommodate 4,300 cars, both first in India. There is a 100-room transit hotel and business lounge inside the terminal itself.

Around 800 Flight Information Display Systems have been used for live flight information and 8,000 speakers installed for public address system. Most modern technology has been put to use for check-in process and baggage retrieval at the new terminal, which can handle 12,800 bags in an hour.

Common User Passenger Processing System and an advanced 5 level in-line Baggage Handling System with explosive detection technology would be operational to ensure quicker processing and higher security.

Besides 95 immigration counters, the new terminal boasts of numerous escalators and walkalators, including one claiming to be the longest in Asia at 118 m. About 3000 security cameras have been installed to keep an eye on every nook and corner of the airport premises.

Almost 20,000 square metres of retail area offers duty free stores have been set up by the famous Irish duty-free chain Aer Rianta International. Passengers would get an experience of a huge mall inside the terminal itself with all top brands ranging from Gucci and Versace to L'Oreal and Dior having their outlets selling items ranging from apparel, cosmetics, perfumes, jewellery, watches to tobacco and liquor.

Famous food and beverage brands like Pizza Hut, KFC, Costa Coffee, Copper Chimney, Flavours, Cafe Ritazza and The Food Village are also opening their shops at both domestic and international areas of the terminal building.

The high speed Metro train, connecting T3 to the city centre, would allow passengers to check in their luggage at the city station and bring them straight below the airport terminal with boarding cards in hand. All they will have to do then would be to proceed for security clearance.

T3 will be one of the few green airports in the world, having eco-friendly features like energy-efficient buildings, high-performance air-conditioning, use of municipal waste to generate electricity, rain water harvesting, waste-water treatment and reuse of treated water.

Designed as per the Indian Green Building Council's rating system, T3 will have a high level of green cover with landscaping of 70 acres outside and 10,000 square metres inside the building.

Numerous varieties of plants, trees and shrubs are being planted. While most of the plants are indigenous, few exotic varieties of orchids have been sourced from Thailand and Mexico. Over 9 lakh plants will provide a green cover for the airport and the landscaping will have a large number of fountains and soothing lighting.

[Singha]

there is sure to be a NatGeo-south asia feature on it this year.

[Singha]

eye candy on T3

http://picasaweb.google.com/amitfascinates/DIALT3#
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthrea ... 6&page=245