The Hindu Business Line : Govt may fine Air Sahara for disruption at Mumbai airport

THE Government is considering levying a fine on Air Sahara for disruption of air services caused by one of its aircraft that was involved in an accident at Mumbai airport last week.

"The issue is being considered. Some action will have to be taken. Several airlines, including some international airlines, have complained about the delay that the incident caused to their schedules and the passengers," a senior official of the Airports Authority of India (AAI) said. The fine, if levied, will be in keeping with international practices, as globally, airports penalise an airline when its aircraft is involved in an incident that impedes the operations of other airlines from the airport, sources said.

On October 9, an Air Sahara flight from Kolkata overshot the runway at Mumbai airport. The aircraft was stuck in mud for almost three days before it could be removed. This affected normal operations to and from the airport. The loss to the industry due to limited operations from Mumbai airport has been estimated at several crores of rupees.

Meanwhile, AAI is also considering asking all airlines to get equipment that can be used to avoid any further disruption of services at airports in case such an incident occurs again.

`It could have been avoided'

THE recent incident at the Mumbai airport involving a Boeing 737 Air Sahara flight going off the runway after landing could have been prevented if certain basic procedures were followed, according to Mr Sudhakara Reddy, Founder and President, Air Passengers Association of India. Mr Reddy told a press conference that the accident was due to a late touch down at high speed, and if the wet mud had not bogged the plane down, it would have gone through the perimeter wall and emerged on the road, which would have been potentially disastrous. He said that the airline followed a standard operating procedure approved in 2000, after which the operations manual had been revised nine times.

He said the Director-General of Civil Aviation, seemed to have overlooked this aspect and had been giving a clean chit to Air Sahara.

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