Expat pilots find India safer

Indian airports may be beset with problems related to landing and take-off such as absence of long runways, lack of obstruction lights around airports, bird menace, presence of rubber deposits on runway, etc. So it might come as a surprise to know that foreign pilots find landing in Indian cities much safer than others around the world. That's because most Indian cities don’t boast of skyscrapers. Jack Ekl, chief pilot, SpiceJet, says, "Many airports around the world are right inside the city, be it New York or Chicago. Therefore, during descent, you’re surrounded by tall buildings. In India, there’s a lot of land near airports and that makes our job easier." Airports like Delhi and Chennai are located outside congested parts of the city. "Areas near airports such as Charles de Gaulle in Paris are full of buildings. In India, this problem is less pronounced," explains Antoine Diadhiou of Air Deccan. Also, important Indian airports are not located on islands or other difficult stretches, making landing easier, says a Gulf Air pilot on condition of anonymity. "Another landing advantage here," says V Malhotra, a pilot with SpiceJet, "is that Indian air traffic controllers (ATCs) insist on higher safety margins between consecutive aircrafts."

For example, if a plane lands every minute at JFK, at Indira Gandhi International airport, a plane may land every five minutes. This results in increased reaction time and is therefore safer. But it can also lead to delays and other losses. Moreover, the absence of light aircraft traffic (private and chartered planes) here is another advantage. "In the US, many people own smaller planes. This results in sharing air space. In India, there are still not many private planes," says Ekl. Language also counts in India's favour. "In many European countries, ATCs speak French. So communication can become a problem. However, in India, most controllers speak English fluently," says Malhotra. That however doesn’t detract from the fact that many expat pilots aren’t too familiar with English either. Nevertheless, there is a cause for concern with many multi-storied buildings coming up in the vicinity of airports such as Bangalore. "Abroad, if such buildings are located within a three km radius of the airport, they’ll have obstruction lights installed in their premises. In India, this concept has not yet caught on," says Malhotra.

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