Workshop on safety aspect of table top airports on Oct 29,30

Workshop on safety aspect of table top airports on Oct 29,30

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangalore, Oct 27, 2011: The department of civil engineering of the National Institute of Technology Karnataka (NIT-K) and the Mangalore Airport Diamond Jubilee Celebration Committee will jointly organize a 2-day workshop on safety at table top airports on Oct 29 – 30 at NIT – K.

K. Tejomaya, the chief coordinator of the Mangalore Airport Diamond Jubilee Celebration Committee, told reporters at a press conference held today that M. Veerappa Moily, the honorable minister for Corporate Affairs, Government of India, will inaugurate the workshop at 10:00 a.m. on Oct 29 Sunday.

He said that the workshop provides a platform for the exchange of latest ideas and concepts regarding table top airports and that the event is expected to attract a number of professionals, researchers, and educationists associated with navigation systems and airports. Members of the general public are also invited to participate, he added.

India has table top airports at Calicut in Kerala, Lengpui in Mizoram, Kullu in Himachal Pradesh, and Leh in Laddak. Kathmandu in Nepal and Kabul in Afghanisthan also have table top airports. Since table top airports have never made headlines for the wrong reasons, they can be considered to be safe.

A table top airport is an airport surrounded by deep gorges. Usually constructed on the chopped off top of a hill, table top airports are considered to be very difficult for landing because of all the gorges around it. While landing on a table top aircraft, the pilot has to disregard radio altimeters that give out auto callouts and follow certain special guidelines that enable pilots to land safely at such airports.

Mangalore’s table top airport made headlines after the tragic plane crash that killed 158 people. Simultaneously, it cannot be denied that Runway 24 has had over 32,000 successful landings ever since it was commissioned in 2006, which simply proves that trained pilots do not find it difficult to land safely on table top airports.

The purpose of this 2-day workshop is to clear all apprehensions regarding table top airports. The event will also focus on the need to extend the current runway and make it fit enough to handle international flights and also to upgrade facilities at the airport as per international standards.