TIA navigation failure diverts two int'l flights

KATHMANDU, Nov 23: Two international flights were diverted to Lucknow, India, one was cancelled, while several flights were delayed by as much as three-and-a-half hours after the navigational system at the Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) temporarily failed on Tuesday.



The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) said a navigational equipment called VOR, or very high frequency omnidirectional radio range, failed at 2:30 pm throwing the air traffic haywire.[break]



The equipment is essential for take-offs and landings, especially during poor visibility when flights operate following the Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) approach.



“A Jet Airways flight from New Delhi and another flight from Oman were diverted to Lucknow due to technical problem,” said Dinesh Shrestha, general manager of TIA.



A Fly Dubai flight that was scheduled to leave Kathmandu Tuesday afternoon was cancelled, a passenger said. Passengers who had boarded flights scheduled to take off at around 2:30 pm had to wait inside the aircraft for upto three hours for the flights to take off.



Many flights were delayed by several hours, but several flights operated using the Visual Flight Rules (VFR) approach as the weather was clear on Tuesday, Shrestha said.



But a Qatar Airways flight hovered over the Kathmandu sky for more than two hours before finally landing after the VOR equipment became operational.

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