Context: Recently, an Air India Express flight on a special ‘Vande Bharat’ repatriation flight from Dubai to Kozhikode overshot the runway and fell into a valley resulting in fatalities.
Tabletop airports

• Tabletop airport is an airport located and built on top of a plateau or hilly surface, with one or both ends of the runway overlooking a drop.

Tabletop airports in India

• Lengpui (Mizoram)
• Shimla and Kullu (Himachal Pradesh)
• Pakyong (Sikkim)
• Mangaluru (Karnataka)
• Kozhikode and Kannur (Kerala).

Steps for improving the safety of tabletop airports
Safety assessment:

• Proper safety assessment is to be carried out to assess the risk associated with the operation in such airports.
• Runways will have to meet the required Navigation Performance approach.

Safety features

• Safety features like the RESA, or Runway End Safety Area are mandatory. This helps to limit the consequences when there is an aircraft overrun during landing, a rejected take-off, or even undershoots the landing area.
• Engineered Materials Arrestor/Arresting System, made of engineered lightweight and crushable cellular cement/concrete can be used at the runway ends where it can act as a safety barrier and successfully stop an aircraft overrun.
• Ground arresting systems for aircraft like the one used in the airfields of the Indian Air Force’ can be used.

Aids to the pilot

• Technical upgrades like making the runways of such airports Instrument Landing System (ILS) enabled. This removes the possibility of human errors.
• Appropriate visual aids have to be provided to the pilots. This could involve a visual reference system to alert the pilot (while landing) of the remaining distance to be covered.

Rigorous training

• Appropriate Crew Resource Management training for all pilots should be strictly enforced.
• This could include classroom and simulator training. The training done on the simulator for landing in low visibility, heavy rain and winds should be emphasized on.

Stand by rescue facilities

• The role of the Rescue and Fire Fighting service should not be neglected despite all the precautions taken.