The civil aviation ministry is planning to acquire and install “soft ground arresters (SGAs)” — a special type of sand-like material with gravel that is capable of stopping the movement of aircraft travelling at high speed within 30 metres beyond “table-top” runways in the country.
The government is examining the acquisition and installation of the arresters beyond the runways at 11 “critical” airports, including Mangalore, well-placed government sources told this newspaper. Sources pointed out that the installation of SGAs is currently mandatory at IAF bases to prevent damage to fighter aircraft in case they overshoot.
Sources said civil aviation minister Praful Patel is currently studying the various kinds of SGAs, which are also known as “engineered material arresting systems (EMAS)”.
SGAs are capable of arresting aircraft movement effectively since the aircraft tyres sink into the material, bringing the aircraft to a rapid halt without damage to the airframe.
As the US’ Federal Aviation Agency puts it, the SGA/EMAS “deforms readily and reliably under the weight of an over-running aircraft and the resulting drag forces deceleration of the aircraft to a safe stop”.
Civilian airports in India have a runway safety area beyond the runway which is meant as a safety zone for aircraft to stop in case they overshoot the runway. At Mangalore airport, the safety area beyond the 8,000-foot runway is 90 metres long. But as the Mangalore air crash showed, that safety area was not sufficient for the high-speed Air India Express aircraft.
The 11 airports identified as “critical” by Mr Patel last week are Leh, Kullu, Shimla, Port Blair, Agartala, Lengpui, Calicut, Mangalore, Jammu, Patna and Latur. All these airports have runways that do not have vast tracts of land around them.
Government sources said the installation of SGAs at these 11 airports would “definitely ensure” that no Mangalore-type incident occurs even if the aircraft overshoots.