New Delhi: Security at the Palam airport, a high-security zone, went for a toss when a pilot of an aircraft complained of being distracted by a green coloured laser beam when he was in the process of landing the Indian Air Force (IAF) aircraft.
According to wing commander Ravi Abraham, the pilot of the aircraft from Chandigarh to Delhi, the IAF aircraft was carrying sophisticated equipment. He immediately complained to the Air Traffic Controller (ATC) that a beam was flashed for 10 to 15 seconds, which had distracted him.
The complaint was quickly circulated to the concerned agencies, who swung into action to find out the source of the laser light.
The pilot stated that the incident took place when the flight no AF-441 was about to land and reached a distance of 3.8 nautical miles before the runway no. 27 around 8.33 pm. Such incidents, if not checked, could lead to dangerous situations, resulting in endangering the safety and security of passenger/crew and the aircraft as well.
Talking to this newspaper, he said: “It was a routine flight and there was some sophisticated equipment in the flight. Such distractions could be dangerous; an unwanted situation can take place in such times.”
“If the aircraft speed is around 250 km per hour and the aircraft is just away of 3.8 nautical miles (approximately 7 km) then it will take around 100 seconds to land at Palam airport. At such times, if the pilot is distracted by any laser beam even for a few seconds then he/she can lose focus and can result in a fatal accident,” said a pilot of an private airline to this newspaper on the condition of anonymity.
“It is not only dangerous, but also a nuisance. But incidents such as these are unheard of near security-conscious Palam airport,” he added.
DCP (IGI) Sanjiv Bhatia said that “The source of the laser beam seems to be from Gurgaon or Faridabad. We don’t have any information about the sources of the light as of now.”
A Delhi police officer said, “We are looking into the incident and believe that someone from around the area might be behind the mischief. We are in touch with the concerned authority.” The police have filed a case against “unknown persons” and are investigating the matter.
