DGCA issues safety directions after incidents of planes overshooting runways

Indian aviation regulator DGCA on Tuesday issued safety directions to airlines in the wake of multiple incidents of planes overshooting runways while operating amidst bad weather conditions.

In a circular, the DGCA said, "Aircraft operations during monsoon season poses challenges, which of late have resulted in a number of occurrences."

Issuing various directions to the airlines, the circular stated, "Crew should be well aware of the aircraft limitations and of take-off/landing performance calculations during the adverse weather operations."

It added that while adhering to the minimum cockpit experience, which has already been laid down by the DGCA, the airlines should carry out their own "risk assessment" before conducting operations during adverse weather conditions.

The regulator said that the airlines must "make available sufficiently experienced crew in the cockpit".

The DGCA circular also said that the crew rostering should factor in the "fatigue element associated with the operations during adverse weather conditions".

A senior official at the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) told PTI that it is probing the incidents of planes overshooting runways.

On July 1, a SpiceJet flight from Jaipur overshot the main runway after landing at the Mumbai airport amid heavy rains. On June 30, another SpiceJet plane from Bhopal veered off the runway at Surat airport due to heavy rainfall and wind.

An Air India Express flight veered off the taxiway after landing and got stuck in soft ground at the Mangalore airport on June 30.