AIRPORT PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT

ASSIGNMENT-3

Submitted by,
Sharon K.R.
SAP ID- 500081760
MBA - AVM
Answer 2
Pavements are a very important constituent in an airport. It must be solid, level, free of FODs
and dry for safe and smooth operation of aircraft in the airport. pavements are provided at
runways, taxiway, and aprons. There are two types of runway pavements.
 Flexible pavements.
 Rigid pavements.
Flexible pavements are constructed using layers of asphalt of several thickness. Under this
comes the subgrade filled with granular material. If the subgrade is undulated the surface also
gets undulated. The strength and flexural properties depend on the subgrade. Thus, flexible
pavements have low strength when compared to the rigid pavements.
Rigid pavements are constructed using concrete slabs resting on a subbase. The load
imposed on the rigid pavement is not transferred to the lower layers like the flexible
pavements. Rigid pavements possess higher strength and rigidity than flexible pavements.
The difference between flexible and rigid pavements are as follows: -

Flexible Pavement Rigid Pavement

They are found at smaller airports.
They have a lifespan of 15-20 years
They are found at large commercial
airports and some former military
airfields.
They last 20-40 years, more than the
flexible pavement.

They are less expensive to install They are expensive than flexible
pavement to install.

Requires more maintenance on a long run Requires less maintenance when

and it is based on the condition of the compared to the flexible pavement.
sub-grade.
They have low load bearing capability They have high load bearing capability
and are used at large airports where
traffic is high.
They lose their elasticity over time due to Concrete tends to expand and contract
atmospheric conditions like temperature due to temperature. The joints are filled
and form cracks which will allow water to with flexible binder and are less prone to
enter the lower surfaces resulting in atmospheric conditions than the flexible
pavement failure. pavement.

Less resistance to destructive nature of High resistance to destructive nature of

weather weather

Asphalt resist less deterioration to oil and Concrete resist high deterioration to oil
fuel spillage and fuel spillage than asphalt.
Answer 3
It is very crucial to identify a pavement failure at the earliest to save money as well as time. It
all begins with the proper laying of the pavement to reduce pavement failures. Re-installing
the entire pavement will cost a huge amount of money, so it is very important to identify the
early signs of the pavement failure.
A pavement failure is the condition at which the surface can’t take any load or impact and
the surface no longer maintains its original shape.
Some of the symptoms of potential pavement failure includes cracks, potholes, etc. an
airfield pavement is constantly affected by aircrafts. Heavy braking, turning, heavy landing
contributes to pavement failures. They are also affected by temperature.
In a long run, with exposure to climatic conditions the asphalt runways tend to lose their
elasticity. This will result in cracks. Cracks will allow the moisture content to penetrate and
will further damage the pavement which will no longer support heavy loads. Filling those
cracks might increase the life of the pavement.
In the case of rigid runway pavement, which is made up of concrete is also exposed to
climatic conditions. They are made up of concrete slabs joined by contraction and expansion
joints. They are filled with flexible binder. The concrete tends to expand and contract due to
the ambient temperature.
In colder temperature when the concrete shrinks the joints will allow FODs or other
incompressible materials like sand and water. Later when the temperature rises, it will create
a enormous pressure while expanding and the slabs will fracture or potentially break the joint
areas. This condition is known as Spalling. It will either cause a fracture to the joints which
will allow water to degrade the subgrade or it will popup creating an imbalanced pavement.
The following are the symptoms of potential pavement failure.
 Water ponding at near pavement

 Ditches – overgrown or clogged

 Cracks- longitudinal, reflective cracks

 Pavement edge clogging which will result in prevention of water runoff.

 Bumps

 Potholes
The FAA taken several steps for proper management of the pavements. A proper pavement
management system gives the present condition and future analysis of pavement. A proper
maintenance program must be followed to reduce the risk of pavement failure. FAA has also
implemented strain gages to detect pavement failures in selected major airports.
Example – in the intersection of runway 4R-22L and in High-Speed Taxiway at Newark
International Airport strain gages have been installed to detect pavement failure.
Answer 4
Bird strike on aircraft is one of the most common occurrences in aviation. It could cause
severe damage to the aircraft costing thousands of dollars. Sometimes it might be fatal too.
Wildlife sucked into an aircraft engine or a bird hitting the aircraft structure are the most
common incidents which occurs every day.
Even though there are many risk management systems on controlling wildlife hazards, the
number of wildlife attacks increases gradually over the years.
Wildlife is attracted due to the availability of food, water, and shelter to the airport
environment. There were 7.4 strikes on average for 10,000 movements in the year 2013 and
6 of them were considered serious.
The size of the wildlife, number of wildlife, speed of the airplane when it got hit and the
impact are the few factors which determines the consequences of wildlife strike. The
consequences include cancellations, delays, heavy maintenance costs, and aircraft write-offs.
It costs around 1.2 billion dollars per year for civil aviation industry in wildlife attacks.
Regulations concerning the wildlife hazards differ from place to place, airport to airport. It
depends on the geographical location of the airport; urbanization is also a factor. Wildlife
strikes cannot be controlled or eliminated completely but there are some measures or
techniques to reduce wildlife strike.
The control techniques for bird and wildlife hazard are as follows: -
 Could use the help of ornithologists to study the behaviour of birds and the types of
birds associated with the location of the airport.
 Removal of food and water sources within the airport premises. Wildlife are attracted
to the airport due of the availability of food in the grass or water accumulated inside
the premises.
 Trees, ponds, terminal building waste which act as a habitat for wildlife should be
eliminated through proper management system.
 Noise makers such as crackers must be used to scare away birds entering the airport
premises. High pressure water cannons can also be used. Firearms can also be used.
 Proper chemical treatment for flock of birds wandering around must be followed.
Airport management must be careful with this method as it will also affect
environment and humans.
 Latest technology which includes scanning of birds using radar is also implemented.
 There must be a team properly trained on wildlife hazard management.
 Proper fencing around the airport is crucial to avoid wildlife entering the premises.

Thinking as a Future Manager: During peak Covid19, most aircraft around the world were
parked, and saw less or no collision with birds. In fact, birds got back their short-lived
freedom in the skies. Slowly the skies are beginning to get busy. Therefore, we begin to see
more collision with birds. During bird migration, avoid flying near bird path, change flight
route, or ground aircraft until migration is over. Birds do not fly at night and all bird
collisions occur in daylight. Therefore, future managers like us could take advantage of this
situation and could fly at night and call it as a campaign for ‘bird collision free flight’
Answer 5
Aviation is always on the frontline of the global security and threats. Flying is the safest
mode of travel is just an understatement. Safety of the flight was the only important thing
given in the early days of civil aviation. Not much attention was given to aviation safety in
general. This led to various terrorist attack over the years. Worldwide threats to aviation are
continuing, evolving and very difficult to predict. Although the safety of Aviation has
increased manifold, we still see some attacks in the industry. Recent attacks on aviation were
the airport attack on Brussels and Istanbul and the shooting down of MH17 over Ukraine.
Aviation is always been a top priority for threats and terrorism because of its
 Ability to target mass causalities.
 Ability to disrupt the economy.
 Ability to create chaos to the entire air travel.
 Due to high passenger traffic, it is vulnerable.
 It can create a statement in the media imagery.
Threats includes i) Hijacking. ii) Person IED iii) Cargo IED iv) Chemical attacks v)
MANPADS etc.
The evolution of Civil Aviation Security and threats: -
 In 1930, the first issue with civil aviation security took place when a PAN America
Mail plane was seized in Peru by dropping leaflets over the issue with Lima.
 23 Hijacking reports were registered in the eastern European countries over political
asylum between the year 1930 and 1958.
 In July 1947, Civil Aviation witnessed the first fatal hijacking when three Romanians
killed an aircrew member.
 On November 1, 1955, first major criminal violence took place in US killing 33
people. A civilian by the name Jack Graham placed a bomb in the luggage of his
mother which exploded in mid-air.
 In January 1960, all passengers were killed in a national carrier by a heavily insured
suicide bomber.
 With the rise of Fidel Castro, several hijackings took place in the year 1959. Flights
were either hijacked out of Cuba or US Flights were hijacked. In 1969 8 airliners to
Cuba were hijacked.
 In August 1969, Arab terrorists hijacked the first US flight flying out of western
hemisphere to Syria killing the co-pilot and a passenger.
 In 1970, Arab terrorists blew up 4 airliners. The US government made some serious
amendment to aviation security after this.
 Between 1968 and 1972 hijacking was at its peak. Over this 5-year period 364
hijacking were reported.
 The attack on world trade centre on September 11, 2001, is the worst civil aviation
attack in the history. The entire security regulations were rewritten after this incident.
 India is no longer an exception. Air India flight 182 was exploded mid-air by a
Canadian-Sikh terrorist.
 Cyber-attacks are the modern threats to Civil Aviation.
Answer 6
Security at Commercial Service Airports
After the events of 9/11, the entire security regulations were amended and rewritten. It
focussed on improving the security at the airport and the aircrafts. The aircraft security was
categorised into several areas. They are: -
 Passenger screening
 Baggage screening
 Baggage identification
 Controlled access
 Perimeter security
Passenger Screening includes an automated screening process conducted by a
magnetometer. All passengers are staffs are supposed to go through this screening process.
The magnetometer detects any metal objects like guns or other weapons which are metallic in
content. If the magnetometer detects a passenger with metallic content, the alarm is triggered,
and the passenger will be checked manually by the security officer.
The carry-on baggage will be checked by the x-ray machines stationed at the screening
facility for carriage of any firearms, explosives, sharp objects, and chemicals. Suspicious
baggage or baggage picked randomly will be further screened by explosive trace detection
(ETD) or manually. Electronic items are checked for authenticity by turning it ON.
Same priority was given to checked baggage. Every piece of checked baggage is screened
for firearms, explosives. It is screened by the ETD. Sometimes the passengers are asked to
identify their baggage and the contents inside it for added security.
Employee identification is done by giving SIDA badge to all employees who wants to enter
the sensitive areas of the airport. Airport, airline employees, ATC employees, security
employees are given the SIDA pass and their identification is graved on the pass. Before
getting the SIDA pass, the person must undergo background security checks.
In India, an Airport Entry Pass (AEP) is given to all employees. BCAS handles issuance of
the pass as well as the security of the airport.
At commercial airports, controlled access is done through doors before entering the secure
areas of the airport. Piggybacking is the major disadvantage in this system.
These days, security is further upgraded through Biometrics systems. Fingerprints, irises are
registered and used for identification process by a reader or scanning software.
Perimeter security is an important part of airport security to provide a barrier between
secured and unsecured areas. Perimeter fencing is a basic method to provide perimeter
security. Controlled access gates provide a way for vehicles entering the secured areas of
airport.
Regulatory authority for civil aviation security in India is the BCAS.
Security at General-Purpose Airports
The general-purpose airports are not given much significant importance as compared to the
commercial airports. Passenger traffic is comparatively very low when compared to the civil
airports. However, basic security is laid down in General purpose airports too. Security
measures such as perimeter fencing, controlled gate access and patrolling etc. were given to
general purpose airports. These security measures are usually carried out by the airport
operator or the owner of the aircraft. Patrolling is done usually once in a week as the no of
employees working in the airport is to low. Fencing is provided at the airport to restrict
animals and also unauthorised entry. Several guidelines are given by the TSA to the
operators. Pilots are advised to look out for any suspicious activity inside the airport.