New Delhi: The pilot of the Alliance Airlines flight which crashed on Monday had requested clearance for a 360-degree turn at Patna airport.

As the cloud base was low at 1,500 feet and there was haze, the Air Traffic Control asked the pilot if he was “visual” with airport (meaning able to see the airport and runway) to which he replied affirmatively, Air Traffic Controllers’ Guild general secretary Brijendra Shekhar, said in a statement here.

The ATC then saw the aircraft losing height and falling. The ATC officials immediately pressed the crash siren and alerted the fire-rescue services.

Giving these details, the Air Traffic Controllers' Guild spokesman expressed skepticism at the Government's inquiry into crash, saying such exercises on previous occasions had not made any difference to air safety.

''Why is it that accident inquiry reports never get implemented. After each accident there in an inquiry, which eventually submits its report in a year or two, but there is no mechanism to get these reports implemented. No one is accountable for failing to implement the report'', he asked.

He said after the Charkhi Dadri mid-air collision in 1996, the worst aviation accident in India, the Lahoti Commission had submitted a report in July, 1997 which was not implemented. The ATC went on an agitation demanding implementation of the report, but instead of implementing it, six air traffic control officers were dismissed, he said.

UNI

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