Airlines told to make pilots monsoon-ready

Come our monsoons and aircraft overshooting or skidding slippery runways are not new occurrences at all. So, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation issued a circular a few days earlier to all airlines, directing ground school training for all pilots to be able tackle the monsoon climate.

The stated purpose is to ensure safety against the aviation accidents that occur every year, despite the predicted regularity of the Indian monsoon. Analysis of these incidents, it adds, has shown they mostly occurred due to human deficiencies.

An Air India spokesperson said: "We always provide special monsoon training to pilots on our simulator or such before the monsoon. It is an annual practice for us."

While techniques of handling air turbulence are crucial, a pilot from a major airline said the training provided isn't enough. "We have to trust our years of experience in flying to get us through air turbulence, as these can't be predicted. Though simulators help, real life experiences of encountering cross-wind and other turbulences are far different," he said, on condition of anonymity.

A Jet Airways spokesperson confirmed, "As per DGCA's revised circular, all of our pilots are being inducted into this programme for operations ahead of the rainy season. Day-long ground training is currently underway."

Teach them this

According to experts, the biggest dangers during the monsoon are wet runways and air turbulence and the DGCA has tried to cover these in its pointers on what the ground school training should cover. Some of the measures the circular has stressed on are updating captains about Indian monsoon climatology, use of weather radar (type-specific) and techniques of weather avoidance.

It has also asked all operators to provide training to pilots on the Adverse Weather Tool kit earlier issued by the DGCA, along with a detailed briefing on Constant Angle Non Precision Approach  and procedures.

The many overshooting or skidding incidents during monsoons also seem to be due to a difference in the meaning of a wet runway and a slippery runway as perceived by pilots and the ground reports they receive.

"Most of the time, we are told the runway is wet. However, according to flight manuals, a wet runway is when the water depth on it is less than three mm, while anything more than that is considered slippery. The length of the runway needed to land in both these cases differs immensely," says a former pilot.

SWOT rules

Most airlines have already started with the mandated training sessions. These sessions differ for captains on the basis of their total flying hours. For instance, Jet Airways' captains who had got their rating after the last monsoon and have flown at least 100 hours as captain on type are required to undergo a ground class, followed by two hours of simulator training and subsequently two hours of checks. They may also undergo two route checks with an instructor in actual monsoon conditions.

In case, pilots haven't completed 100 hours as captain on type before the monsoon, they are required to fly under the supervision of an examiner or a check pilot till 100 hours are completed.

While the precautions taken meet high safety standards, it should be noted there may still arise situations beyond the control of pilots and which can't be predicted even with the most sophisticated of instruments.