SC notice on plea for EMAS to avoid accidents at tabletop runways

New Delhi, Feb 16 : The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and the Ministry of Civil Aviation to reply, within two weeks, on a plea claiming there was a deliberate omission for years in installing the Engineered Materials Arrestor System (EMAS), which prevent aircraft from overshooting runways at vulnerable airports such as Mangaluru and Kozhikode.
A bench, headed by Chief Justice S.A. Bobde and comprising Justices A.S. Bopanna and V. Ramasubramanian, told Centre’s counsel: “People are trapped in the aircraft, it is a horrible sight. Please look into it.” The court has posted the matter for further hearing after two weeks.
“Learned counsel for the respondent is granted two weeks’ time to file counter affidavit. List the matter after two weeks,” said the court in its order.
In September last year, the bench had issued notice to the ministry and the DGCA on a plea by Delhi resident Rajen Mehta, who is an 85-year-old retired engineer. The plea has been filed through advocate Shohit Chaudhry.
The plea sought installation of EMAS at the airports considered vulnerable and cited the August 7, 2020 accident at Calicut International Airport (Kozhikode) and May 22, 2010 at Mangaluru. Both these airports have table-top runways. The petitioner contended if EMAS were to be installed, it could have helped in averting the plane crashes.