When breaking glass ceiling isn’t a victory

“I run to the aircraft immediately after the security check and get out of the airport as soon as I make a landing. I do not want a glass panel to fall on my head,” says N Victor (name changed), captain of a leading private airlines who flies in and out Chennai airport on a daily basis. He has a reason to fear falling glass panels, as 68 such incidents have been recorded so far. Many have been injured in these accidents. However, the Airport Authority of India (AAI) officials continue to treat this as a non-issue, alleging that these allegations are levelled by vested interests who are for privatisation of Chennai airport. 

However, DT Next found that passengers feel there are other issues at Chennai Airport apart from glass panel cracks. Many of the areas have become a nightmare for passengers and airline staff who allege absolute lawlessness prevails. The old block between the new terminals, which now remain unused, has now turned an impromptu bar by the airport staff. 

Deepak Shastri, Airport Director, admitted that this area has been misused, not just by AAI staff but also by the staff of about 12 agencies and airlines working at the airport. “However, these incidents are very rare and we take strong action, including suspension, whenever we spot such violators. Alcohol consumption in these areas are banned,” Deepak Shastri said.

Another key issue and one which raises serious safety concerns among air passengers and flight crew is the unscientific runway built over the Adyar River. Many consider this as an engineering disaster and pilots, even those with several years of experience, find this runway a difficult one to land flights smoothly. 

“The runway is in good shape and is long. But the issue is that the pilot has to be completely glued on to this runway while landing and a hairline miss would bring in a disaster. As this runway crosses a highway while landing, pilots are distracted by the crossing vehicles under the aircraft and that is very tricky,” a pilot told this reporter, requesting anonymity. 

This parallel runway is used only twice in a week, when the main runway is closed for maintenance during afternoon hours. “It is considered as a secondary runway and no co-pilots are allowed to land an aircraft on this runway. This is also an issue, as the co-pilots will never get a chance to learn the tricks on landing on this runway and they will be novices when they have to land the aircraft here after getting a promotion,” the pilot added. 

However, the glass panel collapse continues to be the most important concern at Chennai airport. “It is an old issue and for the last six months we have not had any such incident. It is a wrong issue to take up now,” Deepak Shastri said. 

However, sources told this newspaper that a sloppy installation of the glass panels has led to the frequent collapse of glass panels at the airport. “Due to poor installation, the glass panels could not withstand the pressure variations due to difference in interior and exterior temperatures. More number of collapses are reported during peak summer months as the temperature difference is more during those months,” a senior airport technical staff said. 

The Airport Authority of India had spent Rs 2,015 crore for the expansion and renovation of Chennai airport and it was declared open in 2013. The initial cost estimate was Rs 1, 808 crore but it got escalated as the works got delayed. In spite of spending such a huge amount, Chennai airport is considered one of the worst airports in the country as far as safety and passenger amenities are concerned. Ironically, the AAI still has not paid any attention to these issues and has not set up a committee to investigate the cause for such frequent mishaps. “There is no committee and we do not need any committee. It is a non-issue now,” Deepak Shastri added.