NEW DELHI: Continuing its recently-ordered crackdown on shortcomings at airports and airlines, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Thursday issued a show-cause notice to Calicut airport after an audit last week revealed some “significant safety concerns”. These include “excessive rubber deposits” — something that can be dangerous for safe landings in the heavy rains that Kerala is witnessing by reducing friction — apart from finding cracks and stagnating water on parts of the runway. The regulator has given given 15 days to Airports Authority of India (AAI) to reply to this notice.
An AAI spokesman said: “It’s true that DGCA has served a show cause notice based on their findings in the recent inspection. At Calicut airport, runway friction is being maintained at a higher value as per DGCA requirement. We have procured exclusive rubber deposit removal vehicles costing 5.5 crores.
