‘Officials apathetic to security hazard’

 Children playing cricket, people enjoying the occasional nap, stray dogs and pigs lolling about in the afternoon heat… such scenes characteristic of life in Mumbai often extend right up to Juhu airport's secondary runway. It is an aviation accident in the making, say pilots and aircraft operators, adding that the encroachments in the airport's compound cannot be taken lightly just because no major accident has occurred yet. In this airport, the possibility of human fatality is high. 

    "Fixed-winged aircraft, which use the runway for take-off, also fly out of here. The consequences will be serious if the obstruction on the runway is not detected in time," said captain Sanjay Mittal, chief pilot of United Helicharters Pvt Ltd. According to Mittal, pigs are spotted most often on the runway. 
    Airports Authority of India (AAI) officials say it is up to the Air Traffic Control at Juhu to monitor human and animal movement on the runway. "People sleep on the runway oblivious to aircraft activity. The airport is an open invitation to anyone with a malicious intent,'' said a senior AAI official. Another pilot said: "Most aircraft are fitted with floats that can be activated during emergency situations so that the plane can land on water. On many occasions, these floats have been damaged either by animals or humans,'' the pilot said. Garbage, of course, is always a problem.

FREE FOR ALL: Slum dwellers have broken 400 m of airport's compound wall