Re-carpeting of runway a must for heavy flight load
Joy Sengupta | TNN | Updated: Mar 29, 2019, 07:19 IST
Pune airportPUNE: Burdened with around 200 take-offs and landings of commercial flights till recently besides the sorties of Indian Air Force fighter jets, the re-carpeting of the city airport’s runway has become a necessity.
During a conversation after an IAF fighter jet’s tyre burst on the runway on March 18 and delayed the movement of several commercial flights, Air Marshal Bhushan Gokhale (retired) had told TOI that the airport’s runway re-carpeting was of utmost importance.
The runway was last re-carpeted six years ago. There were 30 flight movements back then.
Aviation expert and analyst Dhairyashil Vandekar told TOI, “The number of scheduled flights has grown almost 200% since 2013. So, one can imagine the kind of pressure the runway withstands. A runway becomes too smooth after a point of time. As a result, the frictional force reduces. This force is required for smooth landing and take-off of aircraft.”
He said, “The airport’s runway is checked almost daily, but re-carpeting aims at its complete maintenance. The disappointing part is that the airport has just one runway and its re-carpeting would lead to disruptions in flight movement.”
To obviate the possibility of any incident, it is mandatory to keep the runway in top condition. More so at Lohegaon, because it is a vital airbase. The appointment of a contractor for re-carpeting the city airport’s runway is under consideration, almost three months after the authorities claimed that the job would be done this year.
“The Pune airport advisory committee chaired by Pune MP and committee president Anil Shirole held a meeting in mid-January. The committee consists of members of all stakeholders, including the Indian Air Force (IAF). But no further discussions have happened thereafter,” an airline’s representative told TOI.
Another airline official said, “The IAF and the Airport Authorities of India (AAI) have told us offhand about the runway re-carpeting. But as far as dates are concerned, we have not been told anything. Such works happen during the off-season and cannot be carried out in monsoon.”
An airport official said, “We shall get information about the runway re-carpeting at least two months in advance.”
Vandekar said the IAF was prudent enough to announce the dates of re-carpeting in advance. “The re-carpeting work can be done phase-wise or in one go, and it will decide the airport’s closure time, ranging from a few weeks to even two months,” he said.
S K Jain, the former president of the Marhatta Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Agriculture (MCCIA), who was also the president of MCCIA’s civil aviation committee, said, “Once the date of runway re-carpeting is announced, the MCCIA will request the AAI and the IAF to plan cautiously so that passengers don’t feel the heat.”
Speaking on the March 18 tyre burst of a fighter jet, a senior IAF officer from 20 Squadron of Lohegaon Air Force Station, requesting anonymity, said, “The aircraft does not belong to our squadron. Since it had developed an issue with a tyre, we had to replace it.”
The officer said the respective squadron would carry out either a court of inquiry or a technical evaluation of the case to find out the exact cause behind the incident.
Another IAF officer said, “Aircraft’s tyre burst takes place for multiple reasons. The presence of foreign object and excessive friction of tyre due to unprecedented brakes pressure are among them.”
(With inputs from Sandip Dighe)
During a conversation after an IAF fighter jet’s tyre burst on the runway on March 18 and delayed the movement of several commercial flights, Air Marshal Bhushan Gokhale (retired) had told TOI that the airport’s runway re-carpeting was of utmost importance.
The runway was last re-carpeted six years ago. There were 30 flight movements back then.
Aviation expert and analyst Dhairyashil Vandekar told TOI, “The number of scheduled flights has grown almost 200% since 2013. So, one can imagine the kind of pressure the runway withstands. A runway becomes too smooth after a point of time. As a result, the frictional force reduces. This force is required for smooth landing and take-off of aircraft.”
He said, “The airport’s runway is checked almost daily, but re-carpeting aims at its complete maintenance. The disappointing part is that the airport has just one runway and its re-carpeting would lead to disruptions in flight movement.”
To obviate the possibility of any incident, it is mandatory to keep the runway in top condition. More so at Lohegaon, because it is a vital airbase. The appointment of a contractor for re-carpeting the city airport’s runway is under consideration, almost three months after the authorities claimed that the job would be done this year.
“The Pune airport advisory committee chaired by Pune MP and committee president Anil Shirole held a meeting in mid-January. The committee consists of members of all stakeholders, including the Indian Air Force (IAF). But no further discussions have happened thereafter,” an airline’s representative told TOI.
Another airline official said, “The IAF and the Airport Authorities of India (AAI) have told us offhand about the runway re-carpeting. But as far as dates are concerned, we have not been told anything. Such works happen during the off-season and cannot be carried out in monsoon.”
An airport official said, “We shall get information about the runway re-carpeting at least two months in advance.”
Vandekar said the IAF was prudent enough to announce the dates of re-carpeting in advance. “The re-carpeting work can be done phase-wise or in one go, and it will decide the airport’s closure time, ranging from a few weeks to even two months,” he said.
S K Jain, the former president of the Marhatta Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Agriculture (MCCIA), who was also the president of MCCIA’s civil aviation committee, said, “Once the date of runway re-carpeting is announced, the MCCIA will request the AAI and the IAF to plan cautiously so that passengers don’t feel the heat.”
Speaking on the March 18 tyre burst of a fighter jet, a senior IAF officer from 20 Squadron of Lohegaon Air Force Station, requesting anonymity, said, “The aircraft does not belong to our squadron. Since it had developed an issue with a tyre, we had to replace it.”
The officer said the respective squadron would carry out either a court of inquiry or a technical evaluation of the case to find out the exact cause behind the incident.
Another IAF officer said, “Aircraft’s tyre burst takes place for multiple reasons. The presence of foreign object and excessive friction of tyre due to unprecedented brakes pressure are among them.”
(With inputs from Sandip Dighe)
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