The Hindu : Front Page : Flights delayed as fog envelops airport

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Nov 27, 2009
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

Front Page

Front Page

Flights delayed as fog envelops airport

Staff Reporter

BANGALORE: Bengaluru International Airport was virtually shut down on Thursday morning as a thick blanket of fog enveloped it for more than two hours, reducing the visibility to less than 50 metres.

This is the first fog-related delay reported this winter, and the first flight took off only after 8.45 a.m., according to passengers. A BIA spokesperson said the fog was reported between 5.30 a.m. and 8.41 a.m. With drastically reduced visibility, nine arrivals and 22 departures were delayed. But within minutes of the fog lifting at 8.41 a.m., the first flight took off and operations returned to normal.

“The weather was clear till 6 a.m. after which the fog enveloped the airport,” said Pradeep Ghorpade, a media communication executive who had turned up to receive his colleague, who eventually landed at 10.30 a.m.

One Jet Airways and Kingfisher Airlines flight from Chennai; two of Air India and one each of Indigo and GoAir from Mumbai; one of Air India from Kochi; one each of Air India and Kingfisher from Hyderabad and a SpiceJet flight from Pune that were supposed to land between 6.45 a.m. and 8.15 p.m. were delayed for over two hours.

Sources said BIA uses Category I Instrument Landing System (ILS) that needs a minimum runway visual range of 550 metres for landings. During heavy fog, when visibility falls below that, Category II and Category III ILS have to be adopted. This occurred twice last winter after visibility dropped to just 50 metres.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Front Page