New runway visual monitors at KIAL soon

India Meteorological Department will soon instal two new Runway Visual Range (RVR) instruments at the Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) to help the aircraft to land when the visibility is low during the winter.

RVR will be installed with the help of scientists from the National Aeronautics Laboratory (NAL). The RVRs previously installed at the airport had become dysfunctional due to poor maintenance and were withdrawn. The IMD officials and Air Traffic Control staffers were physically monitoring the landing of aircraft and they were facing difficulty during misty mornings and evenings.

“Looking at these conditions, the Central government and IMD sanctioned two instruments on a priority basis. They will become operational in November to manage aircraft landing during winter,” said IMD-Bengaluru Director in charge L Ramesh Babu.

Formation of fog and mist during early morning and evening hours has already started.  However, no flights have been delayed so far. IMD wants these instruments to be operational at the earliest.

“These instruments help in clearer visibility, which in turn is helpful for pilots in maintaining accuracy. We received a letter from the headquarters on Friday guiding us to complete the groundwork before the instruments arrive,'' Babu said, adding that Director General of IMD, Dr K J Ramesh, would be visiting Bengaluru on Tuesday for a site inspection.

The instruments are being made by NAL in Bengaluru under the guidance of senior NAL scientist Dr Shubha. She has worked on 60 RVRs and has installed 15 of them across airports in India, Babu said. He said that the cost of new RVRs is less than the previous imported ones.

RVRs are not new to airports. Mangaluru was the first to have it in south India. They are indispensable for airports in north India due to extreme winter and weather conditions.

DH News Service