IMPHAL, January 9: Imphal airport today missed witnessing the horror of two planes colliding on the runaway at about 11.20 am.
This reporter was a passenger in the Indigo Airline’s first flight from Delhi 6E 251 which leaves Delhi at 7.20am when he witnessed this near disaster.
When flight 6E 251 landed at the Imphal airport a little past 11 am, delayed by a few minutes because of early morning fog and visibility problem in Delhi, there was another Indigo planed parked at the parking tarmac of the Imphal airport.
Judging by the time, this parked aircraft was probably the Kolkata bound Indigo 6E 202.
Even as the passengers of 6E 251 were dismounting and approaching the arrival terminal of the Imphal airport on foot as usual, the other Indigo aircraft, on which passenger boarding was obviously already completed, began moving towards the Imphal airport’s single runaway to cruise and prepare for the take off.
As customary, the plane touched the runaway and cruised towards the south end to turn and begin its take off run.
While it was doing this, another Indigo aircraft, 6E 743 from Delhi landed on the same runaway and tailed the other cruising aircraft.
Presumably 6E 743 braked hard so it did not have to go beyond the entry point to the airport parking tarmac, as often aircrafts landing at Imphal airport indeed do to save cruising time, and entered the dismount area safely, averting a possible disaster.
Had this plane not braked, it would probably have caught up with the other cruising plane from behind, and although the planes were not heading towards each other, and so probably there would have been time to avoid a direct hit, the risk was all too obvious to all who witnessed the terrifying drama.
Many passengers of the 6E 251 were among those who were left horrified.
Airport authorities however were tight-lipped about the entire episode when this reporter later queried.
It is clear the Imphal airport air traffic control is under pressure, and are incompetent to handle Imphal Airport’s winter traffic, which often brings in three or four planes at about the same hour to the airport.
This is so because of fog delays at take off points, especially in Delhi, collapsing the time gaps between its different flights to Imphal.
Coupled with this is the Indigo airline’s obsessive insistence on punctuality, and now as was witnessed today, even compromising passenger safety.
Today’s dangerous situation could have been easily avoided if the Kolkata Indigo flight had waited till the second flight from Delhi landed and parked safely, or else if the latter delayed its landing until the Kolkata flight safely took off.
The traffic congestion pressure is felt not just outside but also inside the airport.
Passengers now have to wait in inordinately long queues to get checked in, and risked missing their flights if they do not arrive earlier than the time airlines normally advice passengers to arrive at the airport.