RTI info reveals danger around airport

DNA: Mumbai: Tuesday, 07 April 2015.

An RTI reply from the Airport Authority of India (AAI) has revealed indiscriminate increase in height of buildings around Juhu airport which has resulted in obstructing radiation/reception of electromagnetic signals from the crucial primary radar. The radar provides unhindered details about aircraft within 120-kilometre radius of Mumbai airspace.

The rays sent by the primary radar hits the object (aircraft) and return on their own, giving details about the aircraft and its location. On the other hand, the secondary radar, which has a larger range, emit rays on the object (aircraft) but they will get back data only if the transponders on the aircraft are active. In case of the mysterious disappearance of the Malaysian Airline 370 flight, the transponder inside the aircraft was allegedly switched off, and it therefore failed the Air Traffic Control on ground to track the plane.

The aviation safety experts claim that the primary radar therefore becomes very crucial in case of an emergency when the aircraft is over the sea at night and ATC loses voice contact with the pilots as had happened in the eerie disappearance of the Malaysian Airlines flight.

S Mangala, DGM (aviation safety), Western region, AAI (Mumbai), in her reply to the RTI query raised by social activist Vishwas Bhamburkar, apart from point various other fallacies at CSIA and Juhu airport, states, "Worst of all, the dangerously indiscriminate increase of the height of the Juhu IHS from 49.87 m Above Mean Sea Level (AMSL) to 56.27 m AMSL which has resulted in issue of NOCs to building for heights that obstruct the radiation/reception of the electromagnetic signals from the crucial ASR radar that can make all the difference between life and death of the passengers/crew of an aircraft in emergency over the sea at night within about 120 km of Mumbai airport wherein Mumbai ATC loses voice contact with the pilots as well, as had happened in the eerie disappearance of the Malaysian Airlines 370 flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8, 2014 which has remained unexplained till date."