Winter’s first fog disrupts flights at airports in Delhi
17 Dec 2013 6:22 AM IST
Due to poor visibility caused by the first dense fog of the season on Monday, air traffic was severely disrupted in the capital city. Despite claims of preparedness, Delhi airports had to divert 9 flights, cancel 8 flights and around 200 flights were affected. The flights were delayed as the runway visibility dropped to less than 50 metres, bringing landings and take-offs to a halt for over an hour, an airport official said.
A thick blanket of fog covered the Indira Gandhi International Airport on Monday morning. The fog reduced the visibility and caused delays and diversion of around 25 flights. The passengers were also very angry, as they were not receiving the right information about their flights, which were either delayed or diverted.
Around 10 planes coming into Delhi where asked to hover, while one international flight from Amman was diverted, airport sources said. Nine flights had to be diverted to Jaipur, Ahmedabad and Lucknow as visibility at the runway dipped below 50 metres, the minimum required for a CAT-III B compliant plane to land using the instrument landing system (ILS).
‘Six flights were diverted to Jaipur, two to Ahmedabad and one to Lucknow. Before being diverted the air traffic control asked them to hover over Delhi for a while but as the planes were running out of fuel, they were asked to divert to these airports’ they said. The weatherman has predicted similar conditions on Tuesday. Fog is likely in the morning and the temperatures will fall, which may worsen the chilly condition.
Flights scheduled to land at Delhi airport were asked to hover around the capital city after runway visibility dropped to less than 50 metres, the minimum visibility range for a CAT III B compliant aircraft, to land in conditions of poor visibility. As the visibility increased to 75 metres on the main runway, some CAT-III B compliant aircrafts were allowed to land but no flights were departing.
The meteorological department has predicted that the fog may clear after 10 am and flights could take off after that. General visibility levels at the three runways are usually around 150 metres.
The two runways of IGI airport are CAT-III B compliant, which means if the runway visibility is up to 50 metres, flights can land. But for take-off, the minimum visibility is around 125 metres and 150 metres, depending upon the size of the aircraft.
Weather update
New Delhi: The MeT department has predicted that a western disturbance approaching the Himalaya will further bring down temperatures in the city, causing foggy and cloudy weather in the next ten days.
‘A western disturbance is likely to affect western Himalayas region and adjoining plains from 21 December onwards which would result in light rain and snowfall at a few places over Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and at one or two places over Uttarakhand during 21-24 December,’ said a senior scientist of Regional Meteorological Centre, Delhi.
In Delhi and NCR, he added, a dense fog will prevail till afternoon with cloudy skies mainly on 21-22 December. The minimum temperature and maximum temperatures would hover around 7-9 degree Celsius and 20-23 degree Celsius.
A thick blanket of fog covered the Indira Gandhi International Airport on Monday morning. The fog reduced the visibility and caused delays and diversion of around 25 flights. The passengers were also very angry, as they were not receiving the right information about their flights, which were either delayed or diverted.
Around 10 planes coming into Delhi where asked to hover, while one international flight from Amman was diverted, airport sources said. Nine flights had to be diverted to Jaipur, Ahmedabad and Lucknow as visibility at the runway dipped below 50 metres, the minimum required for a CAT-III B compliant plane to land using the instrument landing system (ILS).
‘Six flights were diverted to Jaipur, two to Ahmedabad and one to Lucknow. Before being diverted the air traffic control asked them to hover over Delhi for a while but as the planes were running out of fuel, they were asked to divert to these airports’ they said. The weatherman has predicted similar conditions on Tuesday. Fog is likely in the morning and the temperatures will fall, which may worsen the chilly condition.
Flights scheduled to land at Delhi airport were asked to hover around the capital city after runway visibility dropped to less than 50 metres, the minimum visibility range for a CAT III B compliant aircraft, to land in conditions of poor visibility. As the visibility increased to 75 metres on the main runway, some CAT-III B compliant aircrafts were allowed to land but no flights were departing.
The meteorological department has predicted that the fog may clear after 10 am and flights could take off after that. General visibility levels at the three runways are usually around 150 metres.
The two runways of IGI airport are CAT-III B compliant, which means if the runway visibility is up to 50 metres, flights can land. But for take-off, the minimum visibility is around 125 metres and 150 metres, depending upon the size of the aircraft.
Weather update
New Delhi: The MeT department has predicted that a western disturbance approaching the Himalaya will further bring down temperatures in the city, causing foggy and cloudy weather in the next ten days.
‘A western disturbance is likely to affect western Himalayas region and adjoining plains from 21 December onwards which would result in light rain and snowfall at a few places over Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and at one or two places over Uttarakhand during 21-24 December,’ said a senior scientist of Regional Meteorological Centre, Delhi.
In Delhi and NCR, he added, a dense fog will prevail till afternoon with cloudy skies mainly on 21-22 December. The minimum temperature and maximum temperatures would hover around 7-9 degree Celsius and 20-23 degree Celsius.
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