How tight is security at BIAL?

The story was a dry run to show the security lapse which will man the BIAL when it starts operational fully. This story was discussed with K R Sreenivas the Resident Editor of the Bangalore Mirror, before going through the run. One other person who helped me in this dry run was Somashekar of the Business Line. I thank him for this dry run and for a great favor which we gave to the security to tighten their belts before the real opening of the Bengaluru International Airport.

A lighter, a match box and a stray dog … slipped through the security check during the trail run at the BIA on Friday, 7th March 2008.

It was a trial run for operational readiness among other things at the Bengaluru International Airport on Friday, 7th March 2008. for us, it was also time to test just how water tight the security at our spanking new airport in Devanahalli, which is all set to open on March 30, was. Is it as safe as it is swanky?
So we packed in a Barton and Gustier jack knife, two match boxes and a lighter – some in our pockets and some in the bag that holds our camera. Why did we do it? Since we were informed that despite it being a trial run, security was going to be high and the metal detectors et al were going to be used for security clearance just as it is done in HAL, we had to see for ourselves. Also, what better time to do a reality check!
Result: Our team managed to sneak in a match box, a lighter and even summoned up the courage to smoke inside the apron area as the air force and other trial run planes landed one after the other.

First came the baggage screening. The bag was screened by the CISF and the inspector in charge marked the bag. “Remove the jack knife and give it to me. Take it back on your way out,” he said. We gladly obliged. The match box and the lighter which were also in the bag got through easily.
Next came the body check. They found the match box in my pant pocket and I surrendered it. After that, we took our camera bags into the apron area where the high density fuel tanks and the planes would be parked after touch down. Then, we boarded a double decker bus from which we could take our pictures of the plane movement on the tarmac.
We waited for an appropriate time to shoot our smuggled goods (our editor needs proof!) even as we photographed the arrival of the first Kingfisher plane from Mumbai. Soon after the second one, a 12-seater owned by the Larsen & Toubro United, landed, there was a stray dog running through the apron area even as the jeep was maneuvering the plane tp the parking bay- much to the delight of the photographers and dismay of the CISF personnel manning the area.

This incident emboldened us and we fished out the match box, the cigarette lighter and took some pictures with the first Kingfisher plane in the backdrop. It was time to try out a smoke. A bit of dilly-dallying and we finally decided to light up. Kneeling inside the bus, we managed to smoke peacefully even as the gun-toting CISF personnel patrolled outside.
Four photographers shared the cigarette, but none of us took pictures of each other smoking in the apron area! Clearly the terror trail that runs through Karnataka is yet to make a significant impact in the BIAL airport security measures.

It looks so 'International'

This story which was published in the Bangalore Mirror in March 2008. This story was told me the previous evening itself by K R Sreenivas the RE of BM. He asked me if I could get this reality check story done during my visit to the Bengaluru International Airport (BIA). I agreed and the next day noted down all the points which were essential for the story.

It took nearly 90 minutes for the media entourage to reach the Bengaluru International for the Press Club to watch the first touch down of an aircraft at the new airport. Though the journey was a long one, the icing on the cake was the final flight trials conducted by BIAL in a near live environment which saw flights from Kingfisher, Deccan and the Indian Air Force touch down to spectacular landings.

Starting from the Press Club at 7.50 am on the Friday morning, the low traffic flow early in the morning did help. The special entry passes were checked at 9.35 am. Cameras were scanned and security check was completed in a flash for the 80 media persons taken there. The Kingfisher Airbus A320 plane from Mumbai landed at 9.55 am.
The ground staff and even the security guards at the apron area started cheering and clapping as the plane touched the tarmac. A few minutes before the plane appeared on the horizon, everyone went dead silent, watching the plane losing altitude as it approached the runway. Kingfisher Airline flight tested the international arrival process and entered the new airport through the boarding bridge.

It took another 10 minutes for the plane to be guided by the apron control jeeps to its parking bay. Halfway through to the parking bay, the plane was given a welcome shower by two panther special fire fighter trucks.
At 10.20 am, the second plane, a 12 seater Larsen and Turbo, touched ground. Then it was the turn of Indian Air Force’s heavy transporter to burn the tarmac. In quick succession, another Air Force plane and a Simplify Deccan plane touched ground around 10 minutes after 11 am. Passengers from the flight which took off from HAL airport, traveled in a spanking new airport bus and arrived at the terminal, as apart of the trail for the domestic arrival process. The final landing of the morning was another Air force plane.

Throughout the landings, dust bowls hovered around the runway and the apron area. As photographers clicked on in a frenzy, a stray dog which perhaps had VIP entrance ran across the apron area as the Larsen and Turbo plane was being led to the parking bay. As we came back towards the baggage claim area, sniffer dogs were resting after a not-too-hard morning’s work.
Suresh Bathija, a travel agent who was on the special first flight from Mumbai, said, “This airport is awesome. It is swankier and bigger than HAL airport. But my only problem is the distance my clients have to travel to the city. Otherwise this airport has the potential to become the best airport in the country. I wish we could have such a swanky airport in Mumbai.”

The kingfisher plane which landed first was also the first to take off from the new airport. But it took off only at 1.25 pm instead of the earlier announced 12 pm.
A passenger who arrived on the Deccan flight said that the airport looked spectacular from the air and on arrival, he was very impressed with the whole building. “It looks so international, the city needs this,” he said.
The journey back to the Press Club from the airport took exactly 2.35 hours. Close to 400 people participated in the trial run at the new airport.