In airports like Mangaluru and Kozhikode, aircraft frequently overshoot that is, ‘ fly or taxi too far along (a runway) during landing or taking off.’
This poses a threat to the safety of passengers and causes immense damage to the infrastructure itself.
A plea was filed in the Supreme Court to install fail-safe mechanisms in aeroplanes. The plea said, “The existence of EMAS was brought to the knowledge of Air Authority of India (AAI) and the respondents [DGCA and Civil Aviation Ministry) in 2008. However, for no plausible reason, it has not been installed till date. During this time, the aviation industry has seen two horrific incidents at Mangalore and Calicut causing loss of hundreds of lives, which could have been saved by the timely action of the respondents.”
The petition also stated, “The Court of Inquiry, appointed to investigate into the Mangaluru crash had specifically recommended that systems like the EMAS should be installed on the runway overshoot areas, especially for table-top airports… Despite the same, no action was taken by the respondents.”
The petition was filed by Delhi resident Rajen Mehta.
As per sources, the Supreme Court has directed the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Directorate General of Civil Aviation to look into the petition.
Supreme Court issues notice to Ministry of Civil Aviation and Directorate General of Civil Aviation, on a plea seeking to install a fail-safe mechanism-Engineered Material Arresting System (EMAS)- to stop aircraft from overshooting runways at airports like Mangaluru and Kozhikode pic.twitter.com/JvtwsnVCtU
— ANI (@ANI) September 16, 2020
