STRUGGLING TO FIND SAFETY IN THE AIR ABOVE DABOLIM

any will recall the picture that was splashed on newpapers across the world of an aircraft floating in the water and passengers standing on both its wings waiting to be rescued. Social media was not so prevalent then for it to be forwarded, but the picture can still be found on the Internet. That was US Airways flight 1549, also called the ‘Miracle on the Hudson’, that with 150 passengers on board had made an emergency landing in the Hudson River on January 15, 2009, shortly after taking off from La Guardia Airport in New York. The reason for the emergency landing – the plane had flown into a flock of Canada geese. The reason for reminding readers of this is because it relates to what happened in Goa less than 24 hours ago.

On Saturday morning, a Navy MiG-29K trainer aircraft crashed in Verna, a few miles inland from the airport. In the early moments, as news trickled in of the crash, the thoughts were on the crew, and it was soon learnt that they had bailed out after directing the craft towards an unpopulated area, where it then crashed. It later came to light that the craft, like the US Airways flight, had ‘encountered a flock of birds’ soon after takeoff and the pilots noticed that the engine was on fire, and this is what led to the crash. It is hardly surprising that a bird hit could have led to the crash, as such incidents are not new to Dabolim airport. In the past even passenger aircraft have been grounded due to bird hits, and replacement craft have had to be sent to fly the passengers. 

This here is an instance: In September 2015 an Air India flight with 150 passengers on board returned to Dabolim airport under emergency conditions after the pilot noticed a technical snag. The plane had been airborne some 15 minutes when it turned back. Once on ground, engineers inspected the plane and detected a bird hit that had severely damaged an engine blade. The flight was cancelled and passengers were stranded at the airport till evening when they were flown out by a different plane. 

And here is another: In November of the previous year a Delhi-bound flight, again operated by Air India, had suffered a bird hit and a burst tyre as the pilot aborted takeoff. This had happened just a week after Herald had reported extensively on garbage dumps around the airport and the threat these dumps pose to all flights landing and taking off from the airport. A month before that, a Mumbai-Goa flight had been reportedly held up, after stray dogs had been found moving on the runway and taxiway.

It is no secret that the area around Dabolim airport is littered with garbage and that birds are attracted to the waste, because it is here that they find food to peck on. The bird menace that poses a danger to aircraft taking off and landing has troubled the aviation sector across the world, whether it be passenger aircraft or military planes. There have been scores of crashes, leading to the loss of life due to bird strikes around the world, especially when the planes are at low altitudes and where birds abound in large flocks. Goa, as stated, has been no exception. However, it is sad that Goa wakes up to the reality looming large over it only after it has been jolted out of its slumber on issues that could have massive repercussions. The crash of the MiG-29K Navy aircraft is a grim reminder that no lessons have been learnt from past experiences.

In 2010, because of a bird strike that had occurred a few days earlier, the Chicalim panchayat had got into a cleaning drive around the funnel zone of the Dabolim runway. Chicalim was joined by Sancoale panchayat that is also in the vicinity of the airport, but such sporadic cleanliness drives are ineffective as the garbage dumps just return to the area, and so do the birds and dogs and cattle to forage for food. Just earlier this year, flights at Dabolim were held up because of stray dogs spotted on the runway. Again, stray animals come if there is food and the food they find is in the garbage and litter that can be found in the area

Bird hits will exist as a threat at Dabolim airport as long as there is garbage dumped in the villages in the airport’s neighbourhood and beyond. Take away the garbage, and the stray animals and birds will disppear. While birds are a threat on the flight path, stray animals are a hazard on the runway. After every incident of a bird hit, meetings of government officials and elected representatives are held to discuss steps to curb the menace of garbage dumping around the airport. Means to eliminate garbage dumps in the villages around the airport are placed on the table, and plans of action are devised, but apparently none have shown any results, as till date the garbage dumps – all illegal – do exist and birds and stray animals abound. 

Be assured there will be a meeting soon to discuss the ground reality of the garbage around the airport, but whether it will find a lasting solution or merely buy time till the next accident will be known by the action the follows it. Most such meetings in the past have just been a means of procrastinating and demonstrating that efforts are being made to clear the garbage, when actually no specific plan of action that will eliminate the garbage dumps is unveiled. This results in a sudden burst of energy to clear the garbage for a week, before all is forgotten as there is no immediacy attached to finding a permanent solution. 

The Navy pilots survived the crash. They were lucky and resourceful. The same can’t be said of the next time. But then, why should there be a next time? It should be the administration’s endeavour to eliminate the garbage dumps in the vicinity of the airport, a move that will effectively reduce, if not get rid of the birds and stray animals in the area.