CHENNAI: Was the Instrument Landing System (ILS) at the Mangalore airport faulty? Going by the NOTAM (notice to airmen) the airport had been issuing on the ILS there, it appears so, say aviation experts.
Even on Sunday — the day after the crash — a NOTAM was issued that read as follows: “ILS was operational but awaiting flight calibration. Pilots to exercise caution while using ILS.”
Aviation experts said an ILS that is not calibrated should not be used at all. “ILS helps pilot align with the centreline of the runway. The aircraft has to intercept the localiser and capture the ILS. The ILS is calibrated after it is installed. If it is not calibrated, no aircraft should operate on it. Non-calibrated ILS may not throw up actual values and misguide the pilot,” said aviation expert Krishnan.
The Sunday NOTAM said it would be effective till June 7. It allowed pilots to land on the non-calibrated ILS with ‘caution’. A day later, a new NOTAM was issued which said that the ILS would not be available for three days owing to antenna damage. “What about the flights that landed on the runway from Sunday to Monday? It was a huge safety hazard that the AAI ignored,” an airline official said.
This was not the first time that a notice on the Mangalore ILS was issued. On May 14, a NOTAM said that the ILS was not available due to calibration. Similar NOTAMS were issued on September 7, 8 and 26 last year as well.
When Express asked Mangalore airport director Peter Abraham to specify when were the flight operations resumed, he said, “normalcy of operations was resumed on Saturday afternoon itself.”
So, was the ‘faulty’ ILS to the villain? Only a comprehensive probe can tell.