Mumbai ATC guides flight without radio

An Goa-Mumbai flight landed at the Mumbai airport last week despite total radio communication failure (RCF). There were 46 passengers including two cabin crew on board the Air Deccan ATR-42 aircraft.

Normally, aircraft are guided to the runway by Air Traffic Control (ATC), keeping it clear of all aircraft operating in its vicinity. On September 5, 2005, Flight DN 308 could not contact ATC on radio when it was some 40 nautical miles south-east of Mumbai. Sources say, at times, transmitters become unserviceable but here both receiver and transmitter malfunctioned. The airline refused comment.

The aircraft indicated its RCF failure by squawking a particular code on the transponder. The ATC personnel who were keeping track of the aircraft on the radar, realised that it had a problem and frantically tried to contact all available frequencies. They alerted other aircraft in the vicinity. They also tried to establish contact through the aircraft’s company channel by contacting the Operations Department. All attempts proved futile.