Runway in poor state; dangerous to land during rain, tailwinds DGCA, expert red-flagged airport

The Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) was examining the runway condition, pace of repair and maintenance work at the airport, sources said.

It is understood that the DGCA had earlier asked the Kozhikode authorities to carry out maintenance work at the airport. However, the works were not carried out effectively.

The DGCA had issued a showcause notice to the director of the Kozhikode airport on July 11 last year after it found “various critical safety lapses” in different places, including the runway and the apron, according to

It pointed to cracks on the runway, water stagnation and excessive rubber deposits among other lapses in its show-cause notice.

The DGCA conducted the inspection after an Air India Express flight coming from Dammam in Saudi Arabia had a “tail strike” while landing at the Calicut (Kozhikode) airport on July 2 last year, an official said.

On July 11, Kozhikode airport director K. Srinivasa Rao was issued a showcause notice, stated another DGCA official. Asked if any action was taken against Rao after the notice, he said, “We had raised certain issues, which were duly complied with. The concerned officer (Rao) was reprimanded.”

A report said an aviation expert, Captain Mohan Ranganathan, had flagged concerns about Kozhikode airport runway in 2011. Flights landing on Runway 10 in tailwind conditions in rain at the Kozhikode airport endanger the lives of people onboard those flights,” he had said in a communication to then civil aviation secretary Nasim Zaidi.

Ranganathan was then a member of the operations group of the Civil Aviation Safety Advisory Committee (CASAC).

“... in spite of the danger if the crew accept a landing in wet and tailwind conditions, their concept of ALAR (Approach and Landing Accident Reduction) is very poor,” he had said. “... all the flights that land on Runway 10 in the tailwind conditions in rain, are endangering the lives of all on board.” With tailwind conditions, the descent of an aircraft at the time of landing might be affected.

Details about action taken by authorities concerned following the communication could not be ascertained.

Incidentally, four years ago, Air India Express had mentioned the Kozhikode airport in a list of India’s “most beautiful airports and runways”. It had mentioned that landing on the tabletop runway was a challenge for pilots.