26.3.15

Somewhere in Mumbai....



The IAF's Hercules C130J, one of its heavy cargo aircraft, landed and took off safely from the Juhu airport in an exercise planned to test whether its short runway could be used safely for flight operations in the event of an attack on the neighbouring, bigger Mumbai airport.
The aircraft, with two dozen IAF officials, landed before 2 pm and departed in ten minutes. “ A few departures at Mumbai airport were held over to allow the Hercules to land at Juhu. Once it landed, the departures were cleared,“ said a Mumbai airport official.
The exercise with this massive transport aircraft was crucial as the general norm is for heavier aircraft to require longer runways to land and take off. The Juhu airport's runway 08-26, on which the IAF aircraft landed is 3,750-ft-long, which is about one-third that of Mumbai airport's. But the Hercules C130J can do tactical landings on short runways and dirt runways and, hence, Juhu is eligible to play the role of an alternative airport. Earlier in August 2013, the aircraft had landed at the runway at Daulat Baig Oldie in Ladakh, one of the highest and difficult-toland runways in the world.
The exercise has raised the hopes of pilots and operators as the Juhu airport, despite being the busiest heliport in the country , has poor infrastructure. The airport does not have a night landing facility. So civilian aircraft that operate from this airport use its runway only post sunrise and before sunset. 

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