Coronavirus: IAF not to allow infected persons onboard

Vijay Mohan
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, March 23

The Indian Air Force has debarred persons showing symptoms of COVID-19 from travelling onboard its aircraft.

Fresh standard operating procedures (SOP) issued by the IAF state that during embarkation, thermal scanning will be done and symptomatic people will not be allowed to board the flight.

Pilots have been advised to not to come out of the cockpit during the flight and the aircrew is to maintain only minimal and essential contact with travellers. Aircraft interiors are to be disinfected at the end of the day by use of recommended chemical agents and after disinfection, all doors and windows of aircraft should be kept open for at least three hours for general ventilation.

Passengers will be briefed to avoid any unnecessary touch to other persons or aircraft surfaces as well as on cough etiquette, social distancing and personal hygiene. All passengers will have to disinfect their hands thoroughly with sanitisers before entering the aircraft.

The SOP states that no crew member and support staff should come in close contact with passengers and persons on the ground should refrain from any close interaction with the incoming team. Further, all waste items left over by passengers should be tightly sealed in yellow bags carried on board and disposed of by bio-hazard vehicles.

A special Pan-IAF video conference on COVID-19 was held at Air Force Station Hindon, for aircrew of transport and helicopter fleet on the conduct of overseas commitments, airlift operations within the country for COVID related tasks, couriers and other routine tasks within the country. Participants from more than 30 locations across IAF have attended the conference.

The IAF has been involved in airlifting stranded Indian nationals from Wuhan in China and Teheran in Iran. It is also on standby to assist civil authorities in case of any exigency during the lockdown and curfew being imposed to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.

The IAF has set up nine national level quarantine facilities having a capacity to accommodate 200-300 patients each, at various airbases across the country. In addition, all Air Force stations have quarantine facilities to accommodate 50 to 100 patients each, which can be extended as per requirements.

Medical advisory to take proper precautions against COVID-19, with a list of do’s and don’ts has been circulated to all Air Force stations and instructions have been issued to reduce manning by airmen and civilians by up to 50 per cent and an only essential requirement for officers. Till now, no positive case of corona in IAF has been found.