Dehradun: In a bid to facilitate the movement of heavy aircraft of the Indian Air Force (IAF), power cables close to the airstrip in Dharasu village of Tehri district are being removed. On completion of the process, the air strip can be used for both landing and taking-off of IAF aircrafts like AN 32 and C 130.
The airstrip, which is over 4000 feet long, is quite old. It was not used by fixed-wing aircrafts due to the power wires in the area. Once the air strip gets operational, then fixed-wing aircrafts from Delhi can reach Tehri in just 45 minutes. Taking lessons from last year's tragedy, the state government had decided to remove the cables. IAF sources said once the air strip can be used for landing or taking-off heavy aircrafts, executing any big air rescue operation in the state would not be a problem.
Demanding anonymity, a senior IAF officer said, "The runway gives sufficient wing span of 20 meter on each side, so the huge fixed-wing aircrafts will have no problems in landing or taking-off. After the removal of cables, the runway should be restructured, so that it can be used in all seasons."
28/09/14 Yogesh Kumar/Times of India
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The airstrip, which is over 4000 feet long, is quite old. It was not used by fixed-wing aircrafts due to the power wires in the area. Once the air strip gets operational, then fixed-wing aircrafts from Delhi can reach Tehri in just 45 minutes. Taking lessons from last year's tragedy, the state government had decided to remove the cables. IAF sources said once the air strip can be used for landing or taking-off heavy aircrafts, executing any big air rescue operation in the state would not be a problem.
Demanding anonymity, a senior IAF officer said, "The runway gives sufficient wing span of 20 meter on each side, so the huge fixed-wing aircrafts will have no problems in landing or taking-off. After the removal of cables, the runway should be restructured, so that it can be used in all seasons."
28/09/14 Yogesh Kumar/Times of India
