Doppler system at Bhuntar to help landing in bad weather

Abhinav Vashisht

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KULLU, MARCH 28

The Doppler Very High Frequency Omni Range (DVOR) and DME (Distance Measuring Instrument) systems set up by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) at the top of Thachi hill about 60 km from Bhuntar aiport, near the Kullu-Manali border, have been commissioned. Now the aircraft will be able to land even in bad weather at Bhuntar airport.

Standard navigational aids

Global aviation watchdog ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organisation) considers DVOR coupled with DME standard navigational aids for the approaching aircraft. With the help of the DVOR and DME, the aircraft can accurately predict its direction and distance while travelling. The DVOR station will support all aircraft flying within 200 miles (approx).

Usually flights to Bhuntar are cancelled due to fog in winter and bad weather during the rainy season. Many times, the aircraft has to return to Chandigarh if the weather is bad. Now the flights will not face any such problem in landing even in winter or rainy season as the DVOR station will assist in reducing flight cancellations due to bad weather.

The global aviation watchdog ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organisation) considers DVOR coupled with DME standard navigational aids for the approaching aircraft. With the help of the DVOR and DME, the aircraft can accurately predict its direction and distance while in air. The DVOR station will support all aircraft flying within 200 miles (approx).

Significantly, the system will not only benefit the planes landing at the Bhuntar airport, but it will also be useful for the planes flying to Leh and the proposed airport in Mandi.

It took 28 years to install DVOR and DME at Bhuntar, the place having the oldest airport in Himachal Pradesh. In 1995, all formalities, including land identification, were completed. On October 20, 2020, Kullu-Manali Airport Director Neeraj Kumar Srivastava laid the foundation stone of the DVOR building, the construction of which was completed in March 2022. All the instruments were installed and optimised in May and June. Testing was done in September by Flight Inspection Unit (FIU) team. After getting approval from the AAI, DVOR and DME systems were operationalised on February 23, 2023.

Srivastava said that the AAI was committed to expanding air service. To meet the global standards of navigational aid supporting aviation security, Kullu-Manali airport authorities had identified Thachi hilltop in Mandi district for DVOR-DME installation. He said that that the DVOR and DME were a great help to in-coming aircraft.

Kullu airport landing is considered very challenging for pilots because its runway is set in a deep valley whose peaks rise several thousand feet higher than the runway. Aviation experts say that the visibility of 5,000 metres is required for landing and with the commissioning of the DVOR the aircraft would be able to land even if the visibility was around 2,500 metres.