Belgian cockpit association fears safety is compromised for short-term political gain
Belgian pilots have raised concerns about the safety of the noise-reduction procedures used at Brussels International airport for allocating runways to arriving and departing aircraft, accusing it of acting on “short-term political whim” rather than on the basis of sound operational decision making.
Belgium’s air traffic control authority Belgocontrol has dismissed the concerns, however. Runways at the airport are now allocated under a “dispersion” plan, in which aircraft are rotated through different runways to minimise noise nuisance to the local community.
“From an operational/safety point of view the problem is that the use of runways is varied according to the time of day and day of the week rather than the actual weather conditions prevailing at the time,” says the Belgian cockpit association BeCA.
It claims the dispersion plan could compromise safety because aircraft might have to land and take off in crosswinds or tailwinds that exceed the limits recommended by the International Civil Aviation Organisation. Belgocontrol disagrees, saying that “runways can only be rotated if the weather conditions permit. We are always compliant with ICAO requirements on this.”
Belgocontrol, hinting at the political forces at work over the issue, says that its responsibility is “to ensure the safety of any changes requested by the government”. It points out that the runway allocation system at Brussels International has been changed several times in recent years, from “concentration” to “dispersion” and back again.
“Maybe the pilots are fed up with all the changes,” says Belgocontrol, adding that “there are no safety issues” under the dispersion plan.
Brussels airport has two parallel main runways – 25L/07R and 25R/07L – and a shorter, intersecting runway, 02/20. Runway 25L is fully equipped for Category 3 instrument landing system (ILS) operations and runway 25R has a Cat 1 system which is due to be upgraded to Cat 3. Runways 07L and 07R are not equipped for ILS, so are used for take-off only. Runway 02/20 is ILS-equipped at both ends.
BeCA says that current regulations call for runways 02/20, 25L and 25R to be used in combination during certain periods of the week. “This can lead to tailwind take-offs on a shorter runway that crosses two other runways, at least one of which will be active for landings.”
It wants a precision landing system to be installed for 07L, which it claims would reduce the number of tailwind operations as well as the number of simultaneous intersecting runway operations.
JULIAN MOXON/LONDON
Source: Flight International
