Blame BIA for the bump

Don't blame the pilot if your aircraft plunks on the runway with a shudder or a thud during landing at the Bangalore Airport. Blame the BIA instead for using outdated technolgies.
The first fog of this year's winter has exposed BIAL's lack of preparedness to handle situations like these. Since December 10, fog has affected flight arrival and departures in the city, particularly the morning schedule. In fact on Wednesday, some Bangalore bound flights had to be diverted to Chennai due to bad visibility conditions.
But the BIA, it seems, is not worried. The meterology department had recently stressed on the need for the ILS-CATIIIB - an improvised version of instrument landing system, which is already in use at the Delhi airport. The BIA relies on CAT-I, an old landing system, which is not capable of handling situations where runway visibility goes below 550 metres.
Last week, visibility at the BIA fell to 200 metres forcing many airliners to reschedule their flights. "This is just the beginning. The condition will persist till mid January," said an airport official. BIA, however, is hopeful that the situation will improve and prefers to stick to CAT-I.
According to the Met department, the fog situation could worsen in the next few weeks and visibility could go down further leading more flight delays. A CAT III B system is a good choice for such a situation. The system, which has now become mandatory for all airports across the world, can help planes can land even when visibility is down to 50 m. That is just one part of the problem.