Mumbai flights are hours behind schedule as the airport struggles to clear a backlog after a tough morning littered with delays caused by strong winds and heavy rains. Pilots confronted fluctuating visibility all morning.
Arrivals are 30-45 minutes late; departures are delayed by two hours.
Three flights were diverted to Ahemdabad , SG 131,(del-BOM) at 0800hrs, IC971 (MAA-BOM) at 0900 and G8229 (Del-BOM) at 0912 hrs.
The smaller runway is not being used, and that's making it harder for the backlog to clear. (Rain delays flights: Watch passenger stories)
Trains on the Western Line were also affected for an hour this morning after a tree fell on an overhead wire between the Dadar and Matunga stations. (Twitter Buzz)
The city has received 60.77 mm rainfall since Tuesday. Colaba in south Mumbai received 78.6 mm and suburban Santacruz received 95.0 mm, the MET department said.
Water logging has been reported at Dadar in central Mumbai, Cadbury Junction, Hind Mata and other areas.
Heavy rainfall is expected to continue in the city with strong gusty winds and thundershowers in parts of city and suburbs, the weather department has said.
Meanwhile, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has issued an alert about a high tide of 4.70 metres for today. The civic body has also said the city may witness tides of around 4.50 metres on June 16 and 17. (Read: BMC warns of high tide in Mumbai)
"Any tide above 4.5 metres coupled with heavy rains is a matter of concern," Joint Municipal Commissioner S S Shinde told PTI.
"We appeal to Mumbaikars not to venture into the sea and stay away from the coastline area as a high tide has been predicted today," he added.
In the Thane district on the outskirts of Mumbai, eight persons were killed and four injured when a wall collapsed on Wednesday morning. (Read: 8 killed in Thane wall collapse)
The boundary wall of an under-construction building fell on the adjoining shanties at Dnyaneshwar Nagar, possibly due to the rain.
It was raining trouble at the Mumbai airport on Monday evening when the city received its first heavy shower this year.
As the downpour started in the evening and continued till late into the night, the visibility at the airport deteriorated forcing diversions of as many as six Mumbai-bound flights. Later in the evening, there was so much of air traffic, that it caused major flight delays. But operations were restored to normalcy on Tuesday, even as visibility kept fluctuating.
Officials said though it was a smooth sail during the day, as evening approached on Monday, the light dwindled making landings difficult. "Towards evening, the visibility dropped to a much lower level than the required minimum standard, making it difficult for the flights to land. Moreover, five aircraft, from Pune, was diverted to Mumbai. Soon, the traffic started to build up as the scheduled flights hovered over the airport as they had no space to land. Fearing that some of the flights may run out of fuel, we had to send them to Ahemdabad," an airport official said. "The congestion caused delays of about 45 minutes to an hour for both departing and arriving flights. Those diverted to other cities took longer to come back to Mumbai."
The diversions started around 7.30 pm with an Indigo flight from Delhi being sent to Ahemdabad and around 7.45, an Indian Airlines flight from Thiruvananthapuram was diverted to Ahemdabad. Later, a Spice Jet aircraft from Goa was also diverted. A little past midnight, a Jet and a Kingfisher flight from Delhi were sent to Ahemdabad. "When the weather condition improved, the arriving flight traffic started building up. At one point, there were as many as 15 planes lined up within a few miles from the airport, a senior official said. A Mumbai International Airport Pvt Ltd (MIAL) official confirmed the diversions.
The problem was compounded by high tail-wind condition. The tail-wind component on Monday hovered between 10 and 12 knots, higher than the safe level of 7-9 knots. Many arriving flights had to stay in the skies to avoid high tail-winds while landing. "If it was only the visibility and heavy rains, we could have managed. However, high tail-winds made it a tough task to conduct operations," an official said.
"Heavy rains with high tail-winds can easily put operations on hold. The monsoon has only begun, we may face more such tough days," an ATC official said.
No..it will rain..wait n see..note down my words..
ReplyDeleteMumbai flights running late after heavy rain
ReplyDeleteMumbai flights are hours behind schedule as the airport struggles to clear a backlog after a tough morning littered with delays caused by strong winds and heavy rains. Pilots confronted fluctuating visibility all morning.
Arrivals are 30-45 minutes late; departures are delayed by two hours.
Three flights were diverted to Ahemdabad , SG 131,(del-BOM) at 0800hrs, IC971 (MAA-BOM) at 0900 and G8229 (Del-BOM) at 0912 hrs.
The smaller runway is not being used, and that's making it harder for the backlog to clear. (Rain delays flights: Watch passenger stories)
Trains on the Western Line were also affected for an hour this morning after a tree fell on an overhead wire between the Dadar and Matunga stations. (Twitter Buzz)
The city has received 60.77 mm rainfall since Tuesday. Colaba in south Mumbai received 78.6 mm and suburban Santacruz received 95.0 mm, the MET department said.
Water logging has been reported at Dadar in central Mumbai, Cadbury Junction, Hind Mata and other areas.
Heavy rainfall is expected to continue in the city with strong gusty winds and thundershowers in parts of city and suburbs, the weather department has said.
Meanwhile, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has issued an alert about a high tide of 4.70 metres for today. The civic body has also said the city may witness tides of around 4.50 metres on June 16 and 17. (Read: BMC warns of high tide in Mumbai)
"Any tide above 4.5 metres coupled with heavy rains is a matter of concern," Joint Municipal Commissioner S S Shinde told PTI.
"We appeal to Mumbaikars not to venture into the sea and stay away from the coastline area as a high tide has been predicted today," he added.
In the Thane district on the outskirts of Mumbai, eight persons were killed and four injured when a wall collapsed on Wednesday morning. (Read: 8 killed in Thane wall collapse)
The boundary wall of an under-construction building fell on the adjoining shanties at Dnyaneshwar Nagar, possibly due to the rain.
First showers rain trouble for flights
ReplyDeleteIt was raining trouble at the Mumbai airport on Monday evening when the city received its first heavy shower this year.
As the downpour started in the evening and continued till late into the night, the visibility at the airport deteriorated forcing diversions of as many as six Mumbai-bound flights. Later in the evening, there was so much of air traffic, that it caused major flight delays. But operations were restored to normalcy on Tuesday, even as visibility kept fluctuating.
Officials said though it was a smooth sail during the day, as evening approached on Monday, the light dwindled making landings difficult. "Towards evening, the visibility dropped to a much lower level than the required minimum standard, making it difficult for the flights to land. Moreover, five aircraft, from Pune, was diverted to Mumbai. Soon, the traffic started to build up as the scheduled flights hovered over the airport as they had no space to land. Fearing that some of the flights may run out of fuel, we had to send them to Ahemdabad," an airport official said. "The congestion caused delays of about 45 minutes to an hour for both departing and arriving flights. Those diverted to other cities took longer to come back to Mumbai."
The diversions started around 7.30 pm with an Indigo flight from Delhi being sent to Ahemdabad and around 7.45, an Indian Airlines flight from Thiruvananthapuram was diverted to Ahemdabad. Later, a Spice Jet aircraft from Goa was also diverted. A little past midnight, a Jet and a Kingfisher flight from Delhi were sent to Ahemdabad. "When the weather condition improved, the arriving flight traffic started building up. At one point, there were as many as 15 planes lined up within a few miles from the airport, a senior official said. A Mumbai International Airport Pvt Ltd (MIAL) official confirmed the diversions.
The problem was compounded by high tail-wind condition. The tail-wind component on Monday hovered between 10 and 12 knots, higher than the safe level of 7-9 knots. Many arriving flights had to stay in the skies to avoid high tail-winds while landing. "If it was only the visibility and heavy rains, we could have managed. However, high tail-winds made it a tough task to conduct operations," an official said.
"Heavy rains with high tail-winds can easily put operations on hold. The monsoon has only begun, we may face more such tough days," an ATC official said.