"Airports, carriers give security go by to cut costs"

Friday, June 27, 2008

Airports, carriers give security go by to cut costs
By Saurabh Sinha 
The Times of India

 
NEW DELHI - This one instance shows how cash-strapped airlines are going to
any extent to avoid extra costs. An Airbus A-319 leased from Europe by a
leading Indian airline had been flying for a while here on domestic routes
with all its safety signages written on the aircraft body in French. 

Which meant, in emergency condition knowing French would have helped
identifying the emergency exit as this was written in that language. 

Similarly, the "fasten seat belt" sign was also in French. 

This discovery - a violation of Indian flying safety rules - was among the
many things Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) teams found out
when they fanned across 12 airports in the country two weeks ago. 

"The plane with French markings was detected at Patna airport. This was
pointed out to the airline for having safety signages as per our standards,"
said a senior official. 

When contacted, the airline admitted that the plane was leased and that the
signages have now been put up in English and Hindi. 

If foreign signages would have foxed passengers, the team found that
markings at many runways and taxiways had faded so much that they would be
of little use to pilots steering planes on them. 

Among the airports where such faded marking were found were Ahmedabad,
Cochin and Guwahati. Such poor signages can be especially dangerous in
monsoon when visibility keeps dropping. 

"What adds to the danger is that at many places ground handling equipment
was kept in trolleys without brakes that can easily move and hit planes or
personnel when strong winds blow," said an official. 

In addition, the rule of all personnel working on the airside wearing
luminous striped jackets was also being flouted at many places. 

Safety of personnel was also found to be at stake, the "big killer reason"
being dangerous driving on airside, which has already claimed several lives
in busy airports. 

In Mumbai, the team found 29 people either driving beyond speed limit or
without required airport licences even on the day and time it was monitoring
things there. 

Interestingly, just as drivers are routinely caught driving vehicles without
licences, the DGCA discovered that some pilots - both Indian and expats -
were not carrying with them the required licences with updated medical
records.  

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