Civil Aviation Development & Discussion

neerajb · Post by **neerajb** » 02 Dec 2010 09:26

I don't understand why the co-pilot was pushing the control column with 200 pounds force even while the captain was trying to pitch up? Was he pinned between the seat and the control column even after the captain intervened?

Cheers....

Vasu · Post by **Vasu** » 03 Dec 2010 11:22

Some people are paying more than 20 thousand for a one way ticket from Mumbai to New Delhi and no ripples here!?

This is a slow controversy brewing in the aviation sector, with many airlines, including the so-called LCC's, charging three to four times the regular fare between sectors. If you're flying on short notice, you've had it. If you have to reschedule a flight, you've had it then too. Flying on a sunday? You're dead.

I first noticed this trend during Diwali, when the fares for that week were through the roof, because many people would be traveling on Thu/Fri and Sunday. Apparently its way more prevalent than that.

Earlier this week, airlines submitted a list of maximum fares permissible on a route, something like an MRP for airfares. The routes, I think, were divided by distance. If the distance is over 1400 Km, say for example Delhi to Chennai, the maximum an airline will be allowed to charge is INR 40,000!

Imagine, Delhi-Mumbai one way at 40K, I can make a round trip to Malaysia and Thailand in that money!

High
fares smack of a cartel: Praful

The stage is set for the first ever showdown between "greedy" airlines and the government over the issue of fleecing passengers by charging exorbitant fares. The aviation ministry has refused to accept the astronomically high maximum fares submitted by airlines on Wednesday in the price ranges given for domestic flights of different distances.

Aviation minister Praful Patel told TOI that the matter could be referred to the Competition Commission of India (CCI) if airlines don't charge reasonable fares.

The fares submitted by airlines were highlighted in these columns on Thursday. A low cost airline gave Rs 40,000 as the highest one-way fare for over 1,400-km flight that includes Delhi-Chennai/Bangalore. Another full service airline capped maximum fare at Rs 35,000 for a one-way journey on such flights.

While the ministry and DGCA have taken a tough stance on the exorbitant fare issue, industry insiders question the authority under which they are doing so. "Airlines are free to set their fare range depending on cost and demand-supply situation. Fares can be raised even beyond this limit if needed and we just need to inform the DGCA and the public within 24 hours of doing so. What is the fuss about?" said an airline CEO.

The issue snowballed into a major controversy when last month some airlines were found charging anywhere up to Rs 30,000 for a one-way Delhi-Mumbai ticket. The DGCA found that fares on certain other sectors had also skyrocketed due to a sudden increase in demand while supply of seats did not increase at the same pace.

On their part, airlines say passengers will get reasonable fares if they book in advance. "Spot fares or day before travel fares will be high in peak travel season.

The airline industry is acting like a greedy drug dealer, first you get us hooked to cheap fares, now you raise the prices, making it out of reach for most junkies.

neerajb · Post by **neerajb** » 03 Dec 2010 12:28

Though not defending the upper ceiling but I do feel that gov should fix some minimum cutoff depending upon the route/operating costs. Airlines tend to cut corners in order to stay afloat in terms of maintenance/crew salaries/aircraft fleet which has a direct impact on flight safety. To stay in the game airlines try to match the fares with the rest of the competition and safety suffers.

Regarding the MRP, it has no meaning. Fares are decided by statistical data ( at least for full fledged carriers) and market forces will make sure that irrespective of the MRP set, one won't be able to sustain MRP fares. Actually setting the fares is a combination of statistics and experience which is very important for any airline's operations.

Cheers....

Abhijeet · Post by **Abhijeet** » 03 Dec 2010 13:29

Airlines in India pay much higher prices for fuel than world norms (I had posted a link a while back that said that fuel costs as a percentage of operating costs for Indian airlines are twice the world average). Taxes on air fares are also very high. All airports are congested, preventing more flights from operating. Airlines have to beg the government to be allowed to expand overseas, and then only if they don't step on the toes of Air India in high capacity sectors like the Middle East.

The result of all this is high prices. But of course, instead of trying to reduce taxes, fuel prices or capacity constraints, the government will take the easy way out of forcing the producer to sell their product artificially cheaply.

If there is a cartel, they should certainly be found out and disbanded. And I would be happy to pay low fares as much as anyone else. But having an MRP is a silly, knee-jerk reaction.

Vasu · Post by **Vasu** » 04 Dec 2010 09:23

neerajb wrote:Though not defending the upper ceiling but I do feel that gov should fix some minimum cutoff depending upon the route/operating costs. Airlines tend to cut corners in order to stay afloat in terms of maintenance/crew salaries/aircraft fleet which has a direct impact on flight safety. To stay in the game airlines try to match the fares with the rest of the competition and safety suffers.

Regarding the MRP, it has no meaning. Fares are decided by statistical data ( at least for full fledged carriers) and market forces will make sure that irrespective of the MRP set, one won't be able to sustain MRP fares. Actually setting the fares is a combination of statistics and experience which is very important for any airline's operations.

Cheers....

Yes, in a perfect world statistics and demand/supply drive the prices, but in such a competitive environment, there are strong incentives for the airlines to collude to keep prices high to stay afloat. Even the Ministry has said it will look at cartelization allegations. The second option is to start working with, instead of against each other, something which Kingfisher and Jet did.

As far as cutting corners go, airline travel follows very strict safety norms, and it is upto the governance of the land to ensure that no matter how many corners airlines may want to cut, it must stay above the minimum required levels.

Linking higher airfares to better flight safety is misleading.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 04 Dec 2010 11:31

with all the carriers running at a loss, it is a 5 min affair to form a unofficial cartel and not buck the price trend. afterall, who wants to owe 100 more cr to the PSU oil suppliers?

at present the biggies like Jet and KF owe 100s of crores each...one can say the airline industry is running on Govt goodwill. if the oil PSUs demand a full clearing of pending dues there will be no flights tomorrow.

in this env, the GOI has leverage to prevent the cartel fixing of prices which they'd like to do to reduce losses.

ideally the airport landing and parking charges payable to AAI be reduced and taxes on aviation fuel also be reduced (aviation fuel will be a tiny fraction compared to the diesel and LPG subsidy)....due to high prices most intl carriers prefer not even to refuel in india.

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 04 Dec 2010 22:13

Tu-154 plane crash lands , 2 dead 83 injured

"According to the latest information, 83 people were sent to hospitals after the Tu-154 plane accident," a spokesperson for the Health Ministry said.

The aircraft departed for the southern Russian city of Makhachkala from Moscow's Vnukovo airport at 2.07 pm Moscow Time (11.07 GMT). Several minutes after the take-off all three engines of the plane had failed and the jet made an emergency landing at Moscow's Domodedovo Airport.

Russia's Federal Air Transport Agency, Rosaviatsia, said that along with the engines, Tu-154 also had its power sources and navigation equipment failed.

So with all 3 engine failure they managed to glide the jet ?

neerajb · Post by **neerajb** » 09 Dec 2010 12:13

EXCLUSIVE – Qantas QF32 flight from the cockpit

http://www.aerosocietychannel.com/aeros ... e-cockpit/

Cheers....

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 12 Dec 2010 11:24

Spicejet’s Q400s

Indian low-cost carrier SpiceJet has ordered 15 Bombardier Q400 NextGen turboprop airliners and taken options on an additional 15.

“India is witnessing substantial growth, and predominant growth is expected from cities and industrial towns which remain underserved,” said Kalanithi Maran, Chairman of the Board of Directors for SpiceJet. “We are focused on catering to these markets which require an aircraft that could increase the reach to over 60 airports that could not be served by the larger jets and establishing our footprint in these markets. After an evaluation of all the aircraft in the 60- to 80-seat category, we have selected the Q400 NextGen airliner.”

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 12 Dec 2010 15:59

I saw the garrett turboprops used by dornier228 in a museum today in cutaway form, with its gearbox. its TINY - weight 160kg and not bigger than a medium suitcase or genset used in shops yet it develops 700+ hp power.

vina · Post by **vina** » 13 Dec 2010 14:44

I saw the garrett turboprops used by dornier228 in a museum today in cutaway form, with its gearbox. its TINY - weight 160kg and not bigger than a medium suitcase or genset used in shops yet it develops 700+ hp power.

. Ah, you finally discovered the power density of gas turbines with your own eyes . Grand Mullah Poobah Enqyoobuddin had talked about this in the relevant thread in one of the sermons.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 14 Dec 2010 08:24

the diameter of the turbine section was smaller than a mans thigh. the gearbox was actually bigger than the turbine itself.

the form factor looked suitable to use a on cruise missile or UAV imo. we should try reverse engineering such products

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 15 Dec 2010 14:46

Confirming news , Sukhoi is building 130 - 145 seater Superjet ( Superjet NG ) as a follow on to 100 Superjet. It will have all composite wing and a new engine.

via Air International

Superjet-NG Part-1
Superjet-NG Part-2

rsingh · Post by **rsingh** » 16 Dec 2010 02:37

Last week I had to go to India.Delhi T3 is superb. Some Gora log were clearly pissed off. You can always feel when gora log are jealous

. En plus I speak French. One lady (looked like male+lipstick) tried to be snob with SDRE police lady at security check. That was fun to watch. Then a British guy threw his bag on the floor and asked the security guy to check it himself. Pandu asked the guy to shut up and do as everybody else or miss the flight

. I had fun.

PS: That carpet sucks

Gagan · Post by **Gagan** » 16 Dec 2010 07:15

Does the T3 handle domestic traffic also?

sum · Post by **sum** » 16 Dec 2010 09:25

Gagan wrote:Does the T3 handle domestic traffic also?

Yes, KF and Jet operate from T3. All the low cost are still from 1D.

Came through T3 2 weeks back and ran into a huge IA contingent lounging around in the T3 waiting for a AI J&K flight ( i think since saw lots of RR folks)..Couldnt speak to them though since was already late and had to run to reach the gate on final call ( due to the huge size of the terminal) !!

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 16 Dec 2010 09:57

furriners who try to act smart should be put in a special glass holding cell in middle of terminal while their 'papers are checked'. and this is letting them off lightly. you'd be body tackled and put in irons in places like sher khan.

nachiket · Post by **nachiket** » 19 Dec 2010 18:35

Further equity infusion required in Air India: Patel

NEW DELHI: With a mounting debt burden, Air India would require additional equity even after the government infuses Rs 1,200 crore in the next few weeks, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel has said.

"Further equity infusion is required. The Committee of Secretaries had also recommended an infusion of Rs 5,000 crore," he told PTI when asked whether more equity infusion would be required after the government grants the ailing national carrier Rs 1,200 crore in the next few weeks.

The black hole continues to gobble up taxpayer money without anything to show for it.

Vasu · Post by **Vasu** » 21 Dec 2010 11:56

rsingh wrote:Last week I had to go to India.Delhi T3 is superb. Some Gora log were clearly pissed off. You can always feel when gora log are jealous . En plus I speak French. One lady (looked like male+lipstick) tried to be snob with SDRE police lady at security check. That was fun to watch. Then a British guy threw his bag on the floor and asked the security guy to check it himself. Pandu asked the guy to shut up and do as everybody else or miss the flight . I had fun.

PS: That carpet sucks

I've been hearing a lot about the T3 carpet for some reason. Come on, it looks great, you could puke on it and nobody would notice it! (i mean it in a good way for the T3 - the carpet won't look dirty in a while)

rsingh · Post by **rsingh** » 22 Dec 2010 02:25

First of all to have carpet on the floor which is to be used by millions passenger per year is not very smart idea. I landed on 8th Dec only to find a large vast area under water. water leakage from Gents toilet had covered an area around 100 msq. 15 pandus and babus were guiding 6 SDRE worker who were trying to push the water to some direction. You can imagine carpet under water

.
Secondly pattern on carpet torture your mind. It look like those cheap shoddy fake velvet stuff sold for the rikshaw seat covers.

Surya · Post by **Surya** » 22 Dec 2010 02:29

rsingh and singha

they are getting some doses of it

When i was in mumbai last month, a furriner made some noise about all the questions. he said i have never been asked such questions.
pat came the immigration guys answer " There is always a first time"

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 22 Dec 2010 08:39

singapore changi airport has carpet in some deep purpleish shade. but most airports go for tiles I agree. you can get good vitrified tiles made in india really cheap when ordered in such a large volume. instead they imported this carpet from england.

h.jay.s · Post by **h.jay.s** » 22 Dec 2010 09:39

Was in T3 last week and the carpet did not pose any issue at all.

I would have preferred the blue color as in Changi. But lo and behold, Changi T1 is sporting the same brown carpet now

Only issue I noticed was there are plenty of bumps and big scratches on the pillars which might have been caused by the cleaning machines- too high and too big for hand carry baggage.

ravar · Post by **ravar** » 23 Dec 2010 13:42

India's regional aircraft could be a jet

India's first indigenous regional aircraft, the RTA-70, could be powered by turbofan engines, with the government viewing it as a stepping stone to larger aircraft.

NAL also sees possible demand for 150 military variants to replace the Indian air force's Antonov An-32 fleet.Avionics are likely to be produced locally, and include an indigenous fly-by-wire control system to save weight.

...estimates the aircraft could be in service as soon as 2017...

Recently, in Mathrubhumi daily (Malayalam edition), Sri. Madhavan Nair (ex-Chairman, ISRO), currently one of the members of the task force set up for RTA, gave a timeline of 4 years for the first flight IIRC.

Dileep · Post by **Dileep** » 23 Dec 2010 14:46

I heard that RFIs are out for components/subsystems of RTA

vina · Post by **vina** » 23 Dec 2010 15:52

I heard that RFIs are out for components/subsystems of RTA

Hmm. So they are actually serious about it and not some random babus having some day dreams.

In that case, they better get in the users right away and by that I dont mean Indian Airlines/Air India kind of critters who couldn't write a spec on what they would want out of a plane if their lives depended on it, but the likes of SilkAir /SIA ,Lufthansa, Qantas, BA and other decent airlines who buy in bulk to see what kind of offering they would want and more importantly Steven Udvar Hazy/ILFC kind of guys in on it right away and see where the product would fit into the market and who would buy it.

Nothing new here. The usual thing which any manufacturer like Airbus/Boeing/Embraer/Bombardier would do. If the business case is a baboo driven is 120 planes for IAF, govermund will make IA/AI buy 50 and the private guys will get 4000000, then sorry, the entire commercial aspect will be still born and reek of public sector sloth and failure. And oh.. get some Tata/LT/Mahindra to co-invest and drive the project. HAL will simply take until kingdom comes for that.

Point is , unless you have a world class aircraft, carefully targeted at a global market at a price point that reflects India's cost and engg advantage, pushing a me too / ill considered project into the Indian market alone will not be sustainable.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 27 Dec 2010 08:27

Navigating Airports - Business Line

Airports around the world, and indeed in India, are beginning to look and feel alike. They all share some common features — large expanses of air-conditioned space, soaring rooflines, and passengers trying to make their way across endless walkways, queues and shopping areas. Senior citizens, foreign visitors, families and first-time travellers scramble to find the right departure gates in time.

Is this really the ideal vision for the Indian airport of the future? As India begins to spend serious money on expanding existing airports and building new ones, we need to take a totally new and holistic approach towards designing and building airport terminals — by giving priority to the interests of the paying customer i.e. the passenger.

New airports in India – such as Bengalore, Delhi and Mumbai - have gone in for ‘size' with a vengeance, flaunting huge terminal buildings, bright lights, and large areas devoted to shopping.

Since Indian airports in the earlier era used to be cramped, smelly and poorly-lit, the travelling public has reacted very positively to these erminals. However, as traffic picked up, fundamental design issues have become more evident.

The current status

Take the new Bangalore airport, for example. The departing passenger queues up to enter the terminal, gets into the large check-in area, checks in, and has to make an abrupt right turn to reach either of the two narrow escalators at either end of the hall. Why was the departure area not built at the first floor level itself, with the departing passenger getting dropped off by her taxi or bus at that level through a sloping drive-way ramp?

Having travelled up the escalator, the passenger has to make a right turn again, and queue up for the x-ray and security check.

As anyone who has stood in this queue for 15 minutes at 6 a.m. will tell you, this area is already a huge bottleneck. There is no space in the layout for adding more x-ray machines, even if you wanted to.

A fundamental principle used in the manufacturing world is “line balancing” – where the “capacity” at each stage of the manufacturing process is carefully balanced (or equalised), so that there is no bottlenecking or queueing, even at peak load.

That principle is glaringly absent here. Another common principle used in good manufacturing layouts is that of avoiding twists and turns (and ups and downs) in the direction of flow – so that the “total distance travelled” is kept to the minimum. This principle has also been given the go-by in Bangalore. The passenger first has to find her way through various shops to reach the departure gates. The absence of clear, large signages compounds the problem. {Even on Indian roads; somehow, the builders thinks these are a waste or they cut corners to make maximum profit flouting standards at will with the connivance or ignorance of officials}

After the check through at the gate, she often has to climb down a staircase (after a right and a left turn) and wait again for a bus to take her to the aircraft, where she again queues up for climbing the staircase into the plane. This is done even when there are vacant aerobridges available.

By the time she takes her seat in the aircraft, her tired feet have traversed a path that resembles a badly twisted bunch of spaghetti – instead of a short, level and straight line.

No wonder the average passenger feels a sense of relief and achievement as she sinks into her (narrow) airline seat.

holistic approach

What is needed urgently is a new, holistic approach that ‘puts the passenger at the centre' of airport design and operation. Instead of measuring the attractiveness and usefulness of airports in terms of size, air-conditioned space, high ceilings and shopping comfort, we need to evolve a “rating system” for airports which incorporates the following 12 parameters – not arranged in any order of importance:

Energy utilisation and carbon footprint per passenger: Total energy expended by the airport (excluding the aircraft) and carbon footprint per passenger travelling through – for lighting, air-conditioning, ground transport, escalators, people-movers, baggage handling, etc. This will force designers and operators to apply ‘frugal' and ‘green' engineering concepts, and cut back on wasteful architectural flourishes.

Ease of access: Speedy and comfortable transport to and from the city, conveniently located at the airport terminal itself. Distance travelled and time taken to board: Average time taken to board a plane from the time of entry into the terminal, and the total distance the passenger has to cover inside the terminal; the same for the arriving passenger, in the reverse direction

On-time departures: A proxy measure of the smoothness with which ground systems and air traffic are managed by the airport

Wait times at queues: Actual measurements at entry gates, check-in, security check, customs, immigration, boarding gate and baggage carousel

No. of bags mishandled/ damaged/missing: An indicator of baggage – handling system efficiency

User-friendliness: How user-friendly is the airport? How often do you need to ask someone for help? Are the signages clear? Do the washrooms smell?

Connectivity: Availability of quick and convenient connections to onward destinations

Number of safety incidents per annum: To reflect the adequacy of air traffic controllers, radar systems, security checks, etc. Recent instances of near-misses in Mumbai airport, for example, underscore this criterion.

Disaster management readiness: Capacity to handle disasters such as accidents, floods and terrorist attacks in a trained and professional manner

Bad weather landing and take-off: Availability and effectiveness of state-of-the art systems and technology in this vital aspect of airport operation

Voice of the customer: Direct feedback from the passenger – in the form of spot surveys at the airport itself

The way forward

Every one of the parameters proposed in the above system is measurable. Designing a new airport on such a holistic basis will require a dramatically different approach. A cross-functional design team will need to be formed, which includes, in addition to the usual architects, process layout engineers, sustainability (“green”) experts, aviation safety personnel and passengers.

By adopting such a rating system, the Government, airport operators, the airlines and the paying customer will enjoy the benefits of a transparent methodology which encourages “kaizen” – continuous improvement. Such a focus on operational excellence will, in turn, lead to better profitability and long-term viability for all the players concerned.

Raghavendra · Post by **Raghavendra** » 27 Dec 2010 19:49

First Indian seaplane service launched
http://www.zeenews.com/news677084.html

Raja Bose · Post by **Raja Bose** » 27 Dec 2010 20:30

The T3 carpet makes it feel as if one is dragging their trolley through mud.

rsingh, They need to get tough with the gora pakis who try to act uppity with security - these same fellas would cry foul about 'lack of security' if something bad happened. If that brit mofo had pulled the same thing in a large massa airport, he would have been made to pick up his bag and go to the back of the line like a schoolboy and then subjected to a full crotch groping search when his turn came, at the very least. Sometimes us SDREs are too polite. But lets not discount gunga-dins either - was witness to one such worthy who claimed with 99.99999% of India living on less than dollar-a-day, India should not have 'wasted' money on such an opulent airport terminal and used it to help the daaleeeeets blah blah.

sum mian, next time when you taxi from T3 try to spot the ARC assets (fixed wing and rotary).

Purush · Post by **Purush** » 27 Dec 2010 22:40

^ true that regarding gora pacquis..if it was a massa airport, they would have been specially screened and 'probed' by the TSA agent. Anyway, I've noticed that Indian airport security doesn't give a flying f*k about the pompous goras, even if some of the ayeshas at the check-in counters fawn over anyone with white skin (and glare at SDREs).

Nobody gets a free pass at security just because of the color of their skin..everybody is screened thoroughly and politely, unlike with some of the TSA nutjobs in massa airports.

Our airport security is one of the most professional and effective in the world, especially given the threat scenario we face.

Gagan · Post by **Gagan** » 28 Dec 2010 04:53

The planes which land on IGI now land on the new runway.
The usual main runway along which the ARC parking is located is in repairs. No chance of seeing the ARC birds.

Gagan · Post by **Gagan** » 28 Dec 2010 04:53

Will be flying into T3 soon. Will try and post pictures and a phull report onlee.

Raja Bose · Post by **Raja Bose** » 28 Dec 2010 05:40

Gagan wrote:The planes which land on IGI now land on the new runway.
The usual main runway along which the ARC parking is located is in repairs. No chance of seeing the ARC birds.

Gagan-ullah, actually you will be able to spot some of them birds while taxing to the new runway. Maybe ARC birds apron being repaired too?

vina · Post by **vina** » 28 Dec 2010 06:14

New York was plastered with 20 INCHES of snow (in spots something like 30 inches) and the entire city is nearly back on it's feet now, flights are starting to take off , everything cleared.

Compare that with what the Oiero Wimps in Paris and London have managed to do! Those Oieropeans cant even clear snow! Imagine the amount of snow in Chicago, Minnesotta, Upstate NY, northern ohio and all the places around the great lakes and also rockies and Alaska and stuff and what UQ and Phrance get.

Bade · Post by **Bade** » 28 Dec 2010 06:28

What NY got (20 inches) is nothing, the mountains in CA got 13 feet of snow over the last two weeks is what I remember hearing. Luckily no airports in the vicinity.

Oirope has had mild weather for a long time now, probably more like a hundred years long before all the flying etc has started on a massive scale 50 yrs ago. Even the airports are not designed for such eventualities. Things are only going to get worse for the next many years for Europe as far as mild climate goes, especially UK.

putnanja · Post by **putnanja** » 28 Dec 2010 06:57

It depends on how frequently it snows, for an airport to be fully prepared. If it is a once in a five years event, the airport won't spend much to be prepared for it. If it is a yearly occurence like some US cities, then they have to be prepared for it, there is no other way.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 28 Dec 2010 08:10

coming closer home- due to heavy fog in dilli, 100s of flights suffered lateness last 3 days with effects rippling back too other airports. as usual many airlines do not have a/c and pilots for using the "Cat3" properly.

my mother is flying Jan5 from blr to dilli on GoAir which has printed on its ticket that all its planes and pilots are Cat3 munna certified and capable of flying in fog...let us hope they manage to deliver on that. ma is certainly not young enough to camp overnight anywhere esp with my boisterous 3 yr old niece to manage alone.

vina · Post by **vina** » 28 Dec 2010 08:14

Singha wrote:coming closer home- due to heavy fog in dilli, 100s of flights suffered lateness last 3 days with effects rippling back too other airports. as usual many airlines do not have a/c and pilots for using the "Cat3" properly.

my mother is flying Jan5 from blr to dilli on GoAir which has printed on its ticket that all its planes and pilots are Cat3 munna certified and capable of flying in fog...let us hope they manage to deliver on that. ma is certainly not young enough to camp overnight anywhere esp with my boisterous 3 yr old niece to manage alone.

Cat3 alone will not allow planes to take off. You need minimum visibility (dont know what it is. I think DGCA recently revised it down from somewhat). I do remember my days from SF, when SFO used to shut down for couple of hours everyday during the fog season.. Yes, SF is known for it's fog and is part of the allure of SF, but then SFO is further south, opposite Millbrae and even there in particuarly foggy days it gets shut.

If visibility is less than 100m, I dont think any munna level CAT certifications will allow flight operations.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 28 Dec 2010 08:31

the DGCA has revised it down to 150m yesterday from whatever it was earlier.

http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_10 ... ns_1486508

With airline schedules going haywire after dense fog enveloped the capital since last night, civil aviation secretary SNA Zaidi reviewed the situation with stakeholders including officials of airlines, DIAL, directorate general of civil aviation (DGCA) and metereology department.

Under the new rules put in place, the visibility range has been relaxed and brought down from 175m to 150m for operation of large aircraft and 150m to 125m for smaller planes, Zaidi told reporters after the meeting.

This step will facilitate flight operations at a lower visibility conditions and reduce delays, he said.

However, he said no flights will be operated if the visibility is lower than 50m.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 28 Dec 2010 08:32

I guess this 150m is needed to keep the aircraft aligned with the string of runway lights on both sides.