Civil Aviation Authority launches modern instrument landing system but does not ensure that pilots are trained to use it
Two flights diverted in the week after installation because of untrained pilots
Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif along with Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Aviation Shujaat Azim inaugurated a modern instrument landing system (ILS CAT-111B) at the Allama Iqbal International Airport on November 28 last month.
The installment of this modern landing system was meant to ensure safe landing of planes even during the dense fog. But despite tall claims of the Civil Aviation Authority, on Tuesday two flights could not land on the Lahore Airport during foggy conditions and had to be diverted to Karachi and Islamabad.
An official of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) who did not wish to be named told Pakistan Today that the reason why the flights could not be landed despite the new landing system was that the pilots were not trained to deal with the situation. He said that the CAA had informed all the airlines to train their pilots in the use of ILS CAT-111B but this incident showed that the airline companies had ignored the advice of the CAA.
He further added that it was the prerogative of the pilot whether to land a plane or not. According to him, the airport administration had given a green signal to the pilot to land as the weather was conducive for landing with the new instruments but the pilot took the decision of diverting his plane because he did not proper training in the upgraded system.
Every winter season, many flights are cancelled, delayed or diverted due to fog or unfavourable weather conditions. According to data of the CAA, about 1,000 flights of the PIA and domestic and foreign airlines are affected during the winter season. With that in view, government approved the installation of ILS CAT-111B with the cost of Rs 2.5 billion on Lahore Airport. The ILS CAT-111B system is the latest in the world (as the ILS CAT-111C, which requires no visibility at all, is not operational anywhere in the world). It reduces the required visibility range for landing the flight to merely 46 meters from the earlier 370 meters in the ILS CAT-11 system. On the day in question, according to Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) Public Relations Manager Pervez George, the visibility was recorded at 300 meters.
The CAA’s PR manager told Pakistan Today that the recently installed system at the Lahore Airport was the best in the world. He said that the system was designed to work even in very bad weather conditions. He blamed the pilots for diverting the flights and argued that during the early hours of fog in Lahore all other flights had been able to land safely including PK-734 at 6:02AM, Air Blue 431 at 8:36AM and PK-758 at 9:01AM. He added that the 300 meter visibility at the time was well within the acceptable range.
The advanced instrument landing system had been specifically installed to facilitate the passengers during foggy conditions and was inaugurated just before the start of winter season. The project was completed in five months.
