Bid To Prepare Saudi Plane For Short Take-Off

An attempt will be made to fly out the Saudia Airlines Boeing 747, stuck in the Tambaram defence airfield near Chennai, in the next few days. The plane is to be made lighter by removing a few seats and reducing the fuel level to the minimum requirement to enable a take-off in 4,000 metres, which is about half the distance required for the jumbo jet.

The aircraft has been cleared for take-off by the defence authorities at Tambaram. However the directorate general of civil aviation (DGCA), which is conducting an inquiry into the incident, is yet to clear the plane.

 

Officials of the DGCA, Saudia Airlines and Boeing are debating how to achieve the short take-off, once all clearances are received. This is the only way out of the imbroglio, which has rendered the defence ministrys Tambaram training airfield unusable. The other is to dismantle the airplane and carry large sections away.

Officials say if the second option is chosen, the plane will be a dead loss, as it cannot be reassembled in India and will have to be flown to the Boeing factory in Seattle. It will be a job more complex than a D check, which is a complete overhaul, taking the plane apart and putting it back again. The huge Boeing 747 is about 40 metres in length. Even it its wings are removed, carrying the fuselage on the road may be impractical. Dismantling the fuselage is ruled out as it will mean wrecking the aircraft.

The take-off weight could be reduced by at least 10 tonnes by cleaning out the insides, sources said, adding that complex calculations would be necessary to determine how much runway was necessary to enable take-off with the minimum weight.

Aviation experts say all aircraft have a minimum weight requirement to maintain their stability. The minimum weight requirement varies according to the operating environment. The Boeing 747, being the largest passenger carrier, provides very little margin of error in terms of the take-off weight and manoeuverability. If they manage the take-off, it will be a commendable achievement, an expert said.

Meanwhile the defence ministry is debating whether to charge compensation from the Saudi Arabian carrier for violating the a restricted airfield and causing a loss of routine Indian Air Force flights. The Tambaram airfield is used for training purposes. Aircraft like Kiran and AN-32, Dornier 228 and Boeing 727 operate from there. This is the second case of a civil airliner landing at a defence airfield in India. The earlier instance involved the inaugural flight of Jet Airways, which had landed at the defence airfield in Coimbatore about four years ago.