In the Sao Paolo incident, the airbus-320 had skidded off the runway and hit a petrol pump, killing 170 persons.

According to DIAL officials, every time a plane lands, it leaves a rubber layer on the tarmac making it slippery as the breaking effect is reduced.

It gets worse during the rains. Rubber deposits form due to the friction created between the wheels of a landing aircraft and the runway’s surface.

This phenomenon is seen as the puff of white smoke which is emitted when an aircraft’s wheels touch the ground.

Rubber deposits accumulated over a period of time, reduces the grip available to an aircraft during landing. Hence to ensure the highest safety levels, these deposits are removed periodically.

“In US airports the rubber deposit is scrapped regularly almost daily. It is an essential precaution which was for long neglected by Indian airports,” said a Indian Airlines pilot.

Last year in July, there were three incidents of planes skidding due to a slippery runway: twice at Cochin and once in Indore.

This is where the de-rubberising equipment—Track Jet—comes into play. “It uses high pressure water jet technology to clean up rubber deposits on the runway’s surface.” said a DIAL spokesperson.

Traditional cleaning methods are slow and involve intensive manual labour, while achieving only moderate results.