The near-miss in Mumbai between an Air India Airbus and the President’s helicopter draws focus sharply on the state of air traffic management in the country

On February 9, more than 150 persons on board an Air India Airbus A321 came perilously close to a disaster of unimaginable proportions while the airliner was rolling for take off at Mumbai International Airport. Unknown to the commander of the Airbus, three helicopters of the Indian Air Force (IAF) carrying the entourage of President of India Pratibha Devisingh Patil was coming in to land on the very same runway, following a track that was in direct conflict with the path along which the airliner was accelerating to lift off. Credit must go to the Air Traffic Controller (ATC) on duty manning the tower frequency and the commander of the airliner for prompt reaction that helped avert the disaster.

On account of the boom in civil aviation in India over the last five years there has been unprecedented rise in the density of air traffic, generating in its wake serious air safety hazards. The problem is particularly acute at Mumbai and Delhi airports that together account for 65 per cent of civil air traffic in the country. While the faux pas at Mumbai is under investigation, by the time the report is finalised, the gravity of the episode would have fizzled out and would probably have faded from public memory. In all likelihood, recommended corrective actions would be lost in the bureaucratic and financial labyrinth.

As the matter is under investigation, it would not be appropriate to sit on judgment. However, the episode turns the floodlights on to the state of air traffic management in the country and the implications on air safety in civil aviation.

Rapid increase in traffic involving fixed wing aircraft has highlighted the need for heliports even more acutely. Though accepted in principle by the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MOCA), the creation of appropriate infrastructure to a degree so as to make an impact will require time and investment. In the interim, the MOCA is considering separate zones at the existing airports at Delhi and Mumbai for helicopter operations. However, so long as helicopters have to take off and land from runways meant for fixed wing aircraft, it will be difficult to totally eliminate the possibility of conflict.

Acute shortage of ATCs poses yet another hurdle. As per authorised scales, based on traffic density and yardsticks formulated a decade ago, there exists a sanctioned strength of 2,100 controllers. Against this figure, less than 1,500 fully operational controllers are available on strength. As the traffic density has multiplied several times in the last decade, particularly in the last five years, ATCs at Delhi and Mumbai are handling three times the number of flights stipulated under international norms. A revised assessment pegs the requirement at over 4,000 personnel. The real shortage, therefore, is to the tune of 2,500—and not 600—as is usually proclaimed. But given the low training capacity of the Civil Aviation Training Centre, the extended on-the-job training required to achieve operational status and high rate of migration to other disciplines, it will be difficult to close the gap quickly. Besides, the host of negatives associated with the job that has an inordinately high entry level, high stress, no limit to duty timings, high levels of responsibility and modest emoluments, there are unlikely to be many takers.

In 2004, when the civil aviation industry embarked on its growth trajectory, there was a 15 per cent increase over 2003 in the incidents of near miss recorded. The following year, it went up by 40 per cent. In 2006, the number of reported near miss incidents rose only by 24 per cent. The year was declared as the safest thus far in the history of civil aviation. Unfortunately, only those incidents involving conflict between civil and IAF aircraft receive high publicity, a fall out perhaps of the perpetual struggle for dominance and ongoing turf wars.