“Is the runway visible?”

The answer came from the cockpit – “No.”

These Ajit Pawar These are the excerpts of the conversation between the pilot and ATC of the plane.

The time was around 8:30 in the morning. A chartered plane was circling in the sky at Baramati Airport in Maharashtra. The pilot asked permission from ATC to land. When asked if he could see the runway, the pilot replied no.

After some time, the plane again dived into the sky and asked for permission to land for the second time. ATC repeated the same question again –

“Can the runway be seen now?”

This time the pilot waited for a few seconds… then said – “Yes.”

Permission was granted. But this ‘yes’ became the final approval for this flight. The plane lost balance during landing and crashed near the airport. A total of 5 people including Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar died in this accident. The last flight of Baramati’s ‘Dada’ ended here. Even in the last conversation with ATC, nervousness was clearly visible in the voice of one of the pilots of the plane. The last words recorded on the cockpit voice recorder were those of co-pilot Captain Shambhavi Pathak, who was heard saying “Oh shit, oh shit”.

Now the biggest question is – was it the pilot’s fault or is the Baramati airport itself the danger?

Questions deepened due to statements of eyewitnesses

The statements that came out after the accident have deepened this question. An eyewitness said, “We first thought that it might be a training plane that had fallen, because planes often fall during training here. We have seen such accidents many times. We had no idea that it would be Dada’s plane.” This means that the place where this accident took place has not come in the headlines for the first time. According to local people, this area has already witnessed plane crashes.

Baramati Airport: Small, but sensitive

Located near Baramati city of Pune district, this airport may not be a big commercial airport, but it is considered very important politically and strategically. It has been mainly used for pilot training, chartered flights and VIP and VVIP movement. This airport was built by MIDC in 1996 and later its operation was handed over to Maharashtra Airport Development Company (MADC). It was originally designed as a low-traffic and safe training zone.

Planes fall where pilots learn to fly?

Two major flying training institutes operate at Baramati Airport. Carver Aviation Pvt Ltd (ACAPL) and Redbird Flight Training Academy. This is the reason why small planes are often seen flying and landing here. But local people claim that planes have crashed several times in the same training zone before.

The structure of the airport is also under question

Technically, Baramati Airport is situated at an altitude of 604 meters above sea level and its runway length is 1770 meters and width is 30 meters. The total area of ​​this airport is about 182 hectares. This airport was not designed for large passenger aircraft, but for light and training aircraft. This is why poor visibility, limited runway and frequent landing practice make it vulnerable. Although there are mostly agricultural lands around Baramati Airport, some areas are also as high as dunes. According to the report of News 18, DGCA has said that the runway of Baramati Airport was also a tabletop runway to some extent and this is also considered to be a major reason for the accident. However, the real reason will be revealed only after investigation.

Let us tell you that there are many more tabletop runways in India where many fatal plane accidents have happened in the past also.

What are tabletop runways?

Tabletop runways are such runways which are made by leveling the hilly or high plateau area. They have deep slopes or ditches at one or both ends, due to which they are considered more dangerous than ordinary airstrips. There is almost no additional parking space for aircraft on these runways. That is, if there is even a slight mistake during landing, the plane can go beyond the runway and fall straight down. For this reason, to land here, the pilot needs a very precise approach, correct speed and perfect angle. While ordinary runways give the pilot little chance to correct mistakes, tabletop runways almost eliminate the scope for error. This is the reason why they are categorized as the most risky runways in the aviation world.

These are the most dangerous tabletop runways of the country

Major tabletop airports are as follows –

Kozhikode International Airport (Kerala): It is also known as Karipur Airport. This runway, built on a hilly plateau, has deep slopes at both ends, due to which landing is considered very sensitive.

Mangaluru International Airport (Karnataka): This airport, called Bajpayee Airport, is also located at a high altitude and is considered challenging for pilots due to its tabletop structure.

Lengpui Airport (Mizoram): This airport, run by the Government of Mizoram, is built among the hills and is counted among the most difficult runways of North-East India.

Shimla Airport (Himachal Pradesh): This airport, known as Jubbarhatti Airport, is located in a hilly area, where flight operations are not easy due to limited runway and altitude.

Pakyong Airport (Sikkim): It is one of the highest airports in the country and is considered a unique example of engineering due to its tabletop design.

Major aircraft accidents occurred on tabletop runways in India

1. Air India Express Flight 1344 (2020): On August 7, 2020, a special flight of Vande Bharat Mission coming from Dubai to Kozhikode (Calicut) during the COVID-19 pandemic met with an accident during landing. The runway was wet due to heavy rain and the aircraft slipped off the tabletop runway and fell into a deep gorge below, breaking into two pieces. There were a total of 190 people on board the plane. 21 people including both pilots died in this accident.

2. Air India Express Flight 812 (2010): On May 22, 2010, the Boeing 737-800 aircraft that arrived at Mangaluru International Airport from Dubai went beyond the tabletop runway during landing. The plane lost balance and fell into a deep valley and caught fire. In this tragic accident, 158 out of 166 passengers on board the plane died. After this incident, serious questions were raised in India regarding the safety of tabletop runways and landing in bad weather.