The DARK facility comprised high pressure lifting bags of superior durability but requiring minimal manpower and providing a more efficient aircraft recovery process compared with the conventional low-pressure counterparts.
With a maximum weight of 390 tonnes, DARK can quickly recover large commercial and transport aircraft, including the world’s biggest aircraft, the Boeing 777-300ER, and others that may be involved in runway excursions or other incidents.
Runway excursion is a scenario when the aircraft veers off or overruns the runway during take-off or landings, a major concern in aviation, and requires swift but meticulous intervention to ensure safety of passengers, the aircraft and the airport operations, said the officials.
The recovery process encompasses a meticulous sequence of steps, from ground preparations to aircraft lifting, de-bogging and towing, and the DARK’s compact design enhances its transportability, allowing rescuers to reach crash sites faster, so that disruptions in operations are minimized, especially as CSMIA has a single cross-over runway operation.
The sophisticated kit can be operated with comparatively fewer trained personnel, the bags occupy a smaller footprint, and recovery operation four times faster than the low pressure bag system, the officials explained.
The CSMIA’s own Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting team underwent an intensive five-day training programme to operate DARK, the legal aspects, tethering, ground stabilisation, lifting techniques using the low-pressure bags, multi-sling utilisation and de-bogging procedures, etc.
For the theoretical and practical training, the entire DARK was spread across a gigantic hangar at the CSMIA and the different units disassembled, comprising 46 containers, a compressor to power the systems to inflate the bags, tethers to stability the six-metre tall inflated bags, a trailer and wing transition, said the officials.
IANS