Pilots of Calcutta-bound flights have again complained about distracting light beams originating from areas near the airport.

At least four such complaints were received by the air traffic control at NSCBI Airport in the past month, said an airport official.

Two such incidents were reported by pilots of Emirates flights last Friday and Saturday, said airport officials.

“The pilots of both the flights told the air traffic control (ATC) that they saw light beams while landing from the Madhyamgram side, or the northern end, of the runway. On both days, the light beams were seen by pilots around 7pm,” the airport official said.

On Friday, the aircraft was 20 nautical miles, around 37km, from the airport when the pilot spotted a light beam from the ground. On Saturday, the aircraft was only four nautical miles, or around 7km, from the airport when the pilot got distracted
by a beam.

“Usually, the approach for landing starts eight to 10 nautical miles (14.8km to 18.5km) from the runway, when the aircraft is around 2,500ft above the ground,” said a senior pilot of an airline.

“Generally, pilots start looking out for runway visual reference before landing when the aircraft is around five nautical miles (9km) from the runway and 1,500ft above the ground,” he said.

If a light beam hits the eyes of the pilot, it can cause momentary blindness.

“It is extremely dangerous if a beam of light from the ground hits the eyes of a pilot during the approach for landing. Because the landing can get affected,” he said.

The airport authorities have reported all four incidents to the police, said an official.

An officer of the Bidhannagar commissionerate’s airport division said a ban on the use of laser lights, which send beams towards the sky, has been in place in all areas around the airport.

“Banquet halls, hotels, restaurants, clubs and housing societies have been warned multiple times not to use these lights. They have been warned of penal action,” the officer said.

Investigations revealed that the light beams that disturbed the pilots in the past few days had originated from areas in Barrackpore and Barasat in North 24-Parganas, the officer said.

The Bidhannagar Police Commissionerate had issuedthe prohibitory order for the free flight zone of the Calcutta airport, which includes Airport police stationarea, Narayanpur police station area, Baguiati policestation area, No. 4 Bheri (fishery) in Nabapally, Nalban fishery office, Goltala, Westside Pavilion, Nicco Park (under Bidhannagar South police station area), Sector lland CJ Block (under Bidhannagar East police station area), Jatragachi, Jyotinagar, Sulunguri, Promodgarh,City Centre ll, Noapara, Shrachi, Akankha, Nawabpur, Kadampukur, Ghuni andEco Park.

Metro has reported on several occasions aboutpilots complaining about distracting light beams while landing at or taking off from the city airport.

A pilot said the problem was not faced at airports in Bengaluru, Hyderabad and many other cities.

“Dum Dum and surrounding places are very congested. There are a lot of banquet halls and hotels there. So, the problem is bigger here,”he said.

An official of the Airports Authority of India saidpilots face similar problems while landing at the Mumbai airport.