It was 1999 - 2000 and I was posted in mangalore with a pvt sector bank. The bank had made initial forays into the personal finance business and I was heading the area’s business & credit function . A probable reason that i found myself frequenting to Mumbai, a period in which I must have taken about 40 flights in and out of Mangalore. Located on top of a Hill surrounded by the greenery of the western Ghats, Bajpe airport is picturesque as well as unnerving.
Every time i walked on the tarmac towards the plane, the sight of this airstrip made my heart skip a beat, you could only see the distant horizon at the end of the runway. And the whole world now knows that its a table top airstrip that contributed in a large part to the disaster that unfolded last week.
Anxiety levels were usually high every time the plane landed or took off. Imagine 15-20 seconds into the flight and WHAM! the ground beneath has disappeared and you are hovering above the MRPL refineries. But that's a routine experience one gets used to and to my good fortune and luck nothing serious happened except for one untoward incident in this period.
This particular (and eventful flight) happened by accident, I was to take a Indian Airlines flight to mangalore but missed the flight as the cab driver unwittingly dropped me at the mumbai international terminal. You ought to specifically tell the cab/auto fellows in Mumbai, otherwise they automatically drop you at the Int'l airport which incidentally is on a farther side if you traveling from South Bombay. So by the time I had finished my fracas with the cab guy and managed to land at the domestic terminal, the flight had taken off.
I went to the airlines office and explained them my plight, a very discerning official went out of the way and converted that ticket to a seat in ‘Alliance Air’ which was supposed to board that noon. I thanked him profusely little realizing that this was anyway a cheaper airline and a part of the Indian airlines network to service goddamned places in the country . The Alliance fleet contained all used and discarded aging planes from the alliance fleet in US and generally used as feeder airline in India . The interiors of this plane & its service were equally appalling, could even put a state road transport services to shame.
This was an almost empty flight and I was seated about two rows behind the fuselage (center). The flight mercifully took off on time and the inflight magazine (it was provided then) helped me take my mind off the dreary condition of the plane and its inflight experience.
As the pilot made his announcement and the plane started to descent towards mangalore, the peculiarity of this airport combined with the impression of this flight heightened by anxiety levels. I had my heart in my mouth when the plane landed with a resounding THUD and it was so forceful that all the empty seats behind me folded up like reclining chairs (those chairs were very different what you see now-a-days). I immediately bent forward bracing for some kind of impact which thankfully dint happen. I guess the pilot panicked and force landed this plane when it might have overshot the touching down point on this 8000 feet runway. And unlike the ill fated IX 812 it some how managed to pull back from the precipice.
The location of mangalore’s Bajpe airport, locals say was more because of political expediency than other factors. The local politician and; his clout ensured that the airport that was originally earmarked in Mulki/Padubidri (a town 27 Kms from Mangalore) was shifted to this plateau. And everybody thereafter just prayed that such an incident never happened.
My condolences and prayers for the bereaved.
Every time i walked on the tarmac towards the plane, the sight of this airstrip made my heart skip a beat, you could only see the distant horizon at the end of the runway. And the whole world now knows that its a table top airstrip that contributed in a large part to the disaster that unfolded last week.
Anxiety levels were usually high every time the plane landed or took off. Imagine 15-20 seconds into the flight and WHAM! the ground beneath has disappeared and you are hovering above the MRPL refineries. But that's a routine experience one gets used to and to my good fortune and luck nothing serious happened except for one untoward incident in this period.
This particular (and eventful flight) happened by accident, I was to take a Indian Airlines flight to mangalore but missed the flight as the cab driver unwittingly dropped me at the mumbai international terminal. You ought to specifically tell the cab/auto fellows in Mumbai, otherwise they automatically drop you at the Int'l airport which incidentally is on a farther side if you traveling from South Bombay. So by the time I had finished my fracas with the cab guy and managed to land at the domestic terminal, the flight had taken off.
I went to the airlines office and explained them my plight, a very discerning official went out of the way and converted that ticket to a seat in ‘Alliance Air’ which was supposed to board that noon. I thanked him profusely little realizing that this was anyway a cheaper airline and a part of the Indian airlines network to service goddamned places in the country . The Alliance fleet contained all used and discarded aging planes from the alliance fleet in US and generally used as feeder airline in India . The interiors of this plane & its service were equally appalling, could even put a state road transport services to shame.
This was an almost empty flight and I was seated about two rows behind the fuselage (center). The flight mercifully took off on time and the inflight magazine (it was provided then) helped me take my mind off the dreary condition of the plane and its inflight experience.
As the pilot made his announcement and the plane started to descent towards mangalore, the peculiarity of this airport combined with the impression of this flight heightened by anxiety levels. I had my heart in my mouth when the plane landed with a resounding THUD and it was so forceful that all the empty seats behind me folded up like reclining chairs (those chairs were very different what you see now-a-days). I immediately bent forward bracing for some kind of impact which thankfully dint happen. I guess the pilot panicked and force landed this plane when it might have overshot the touching down point on this 8000 feet runway. And unlike the ill fated IX 812 it some how managed to pull back from the precipice.
The location of mangalore’s Bajpe airport, locals say was more because of political expediency than other factors. The local politician and; his clout ensured that the airport that was originally earmarked in Mulki/Padubidri (a town 27 Kms from Mangalore) was shifted to this plateau. And everybody thereafter just prayed that such an incident never happened.
My condolences and prayers for the bereaved.
5 comments:
Sad! But, I guess there is some kind of danger in all of the lesser known airports.
Very unfortunate scene.But, accidents do take place.The ministry concerned now wants to have a relook at all the smaller airports.
There are many table top runways in the world, they're not any more dangerous than an airport on a plain. Mangalore, the runway was a good few hundred meters short than what we have in our other Int'l Airports but it was well enough for a B737 to land. We have major int'l runways close to the ocean, if a plane shoots off the runway it will well plunge into the water. Does that mean all those airports in Sydney, Dublin, Las Palmas or HongKong are unsafe? A table-top runway is an engineering marvel, but it's not always feasible to point a finger squarely at such runways.
Imagine, if this had occurred in say, Mumbai, what would have been the situation? The aircraft still would have the same tonnes of jet-fuel which will result in the explosive end this AI flight suffered.
@Nona/BKC - We live in a dangerous world where walking on a street or traveling in a train is safe no more.The Govt as usual reacts after an incident
@Scorpiogenius - thanks for dropping by, you are probably right that there is no airport that can guarantee 100% safety for Pilot/human errors but the extent of danger varies. A table top airport offers no scope for survival since the plane plunges down. In case of plateu, survival chances are available as in the case of France where the plane landed overshot & landed in the woods, 150+ survived.
I dont know about the Mangalore airport is scary, but the disaster was heartbreaking
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