IAF successfully conducts trial run of emergency landing airstrip on Andhra Pradesh highway 

An IAF official said a transport plane AN-32, two Sukhoi fighter planes, and two Tejas light combat fighters participated in the trial.

Such airstrips can be used for strategic purposes as well as rescue and relief operations in case of any emergencies.

What the IAF said

“The IAF fighter and transport aircraft carried out practice-flying — including circuit, approach, and overshoot — on the newly constructed ELF on NH-16 at Bapatla District today,” said the Air Force’s Thiruvananthapuram-headquartered Southern Air Command (SAC).

The IAF said that the 4.1-km-long and 33-m-wide concrete airstrip was constructed by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and is nearing completion. Two such airstrips are already operational in UP and Rajasthan.

This ELF in Andhra Pradesh would be the first one to be operational in peninsular India.

“To check out the feasibility of operations from the ELF, IAF fighter and transport aircraft from the SAC successfully carried out overshoots on the strip on Thursday as part of trials,” said a spokesperson of the IAF SAC.

Presently the ELF is not fully ready for facilitating landing. The trials by IAF on 29 Dec 22 were towards ascertaining the feasibility of landing. It would be inaugurated once it is fully ready,” said a spokesperson of IAF’s southern air command.

“The highway stretches will be blocked in case of an emergency and put to use exclusively for the landing of aircraft. The airstrips can be used for strategic purposes as well as during natural calamities for rescue and relief operations,” added the spokesperson.

Air Force Station Suryalanka, being the nearest IAF air base from the ELF, would facilitate the activation of the airstrip in coordination with the district administration and the state police, as per requirement.

It is learnt two more airstrips between Chilakaluripet and Nellore and Singarayakonda and Kalikivaya in Andhra Pradesh will come up.

Preparation for the drill

Bapatla SP Vakul Jindal said that tight security was arranged for the practice on the airstrip, with around 200 police officers and personnel manning the stretch. Highway traffic was diverted between 10.30 am and noon.

Light vehi­cles coming from Guntur were diverted from Re­nangi Varam towards Ad­danki, and vehicles coming from Ongole divert­ed from Medarametla towards Addanki.

Heavy veh­icles were halted on both sides of the highway until the trial run was over.

IAF Group Captain RS  Chowdary, who inspected the emergency landing runway (ELR) on NH­16, said on Wednesday that the IAF had set up emergency base camps on the ends of the landing strip.