Kolkata: A fire broke out on the extended open terrace area of the second floor of the Air Traffic Control (ATC) building at Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport in Kolkata around 4 am on Tuesday. Flight operations remained unaffected.Airport officials said that the blaze was brought under control with three fire engines within a short time, though cooling operations and precautionary measures continued until around 6 am.The fire was confined to the second-floor open area of the building and did not affect critical ATC operations. Air traffic control is largely managed from the eighth floor, with some operations also taking place on the third floor, officials said.“The fire was confined to an open area and there was no major disruption of work or damage to ATC or MET department equipment installed in the building. There was no need to evacuate as the firemen were quick to contain the blaze,” said airport director Vikram Singh.Airport sources said employees noticed the flames around 4 am. One fire engine was immediately pressed into service. Two more fire engines from the fire station within the airport premises subsequently joined the operation.A preliminary investigation suggested that a short circuit involving decorative string lights installed on the building for Independence Day celebrations may have triggered the fire. The exact cause is being investigated, the airport director said. “There was no impact on flight operations,” he said.The ATC building is critical to flight operations and aviation safety across a vast airspace covering eastern India. Air traffic controllers working from its upper floors maintain communication with pilots, issue instructions on aircraft movement and altitude, and coordinate up to 40 take-offs and landings an hour.Kolkata ATC manages air traffic across nearly 1.4 million sq km of airspace. The new ATC tower, located near the existing ATC building, has been operational since last year.
