Airlines crew told to seek ‘follow me’ services in low visibility airport conditions
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The Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has issued an advisory to all airways to instruct their crew not to hesitate to seek “follow me” car service throughout poor visibility at airports.
The security pointers observe after an investigation right into a latest accident revealed that the plane, whereas taxiing to the bay, entered an open drain and suffered intensive injury. The runway markings weren’t seen due to rain over the airfield. The Pilot in Command manoeuvred the plane, ignoring the recommendation of the Pilot Monitoring’s request for a “follow me” car service for taxi to the bay.
The DGCA in the advisory issued early this month mentioned through the plane floor operations on an aerodrome, operational and/or environmental points equivalent to human components, airport design, crew method, and so forth., affected the efficiency of the flight crew. A deterioration in efficiency could lead to runway or taxiway incursion.
“One of the major contributing factors for runway/taxiway incursions is the lack of situational awareness of the flight crew during ground operations at an airport wherein visibility has reduced due to weather considerations. Accordingly for low visibility operations, ‘follow me’ services are recommended,” the advisory mentioned.
Referring to an Airports Authority of India round issued in 2011 which really useful use of “follow me” car for guiding the plane till such time the pilot reported having sighted the parking/docking steering sign, the DGCA suggested plane operators to sensitise their flight crew to inform the Air Traffic Control and never to hesitate to request for “follow me” car service at any time once they had doubts about their location or skilled issue in navigating plane on floor due to water logging, poor visibility, and so forth.
In 2017, an Air India Express flight IX-452 from Abu Dhabi to Kochi with 102 passengers on board landed in an open drain amid heavy rains. The accident left three passengers injured and the plane closely broken. Investigation into the incident revealed that the Pilot in Command had not taken his co-pilot’s suggestion or warning on the time of touchdown.
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