Failure to attach a bolt to a Bombardier jet to lock the front landing-gear doors did not result in an indictment. The case was dropped supposedly to lack of cooperation of the manufacturer regarding specifically who failed to attach the bolt.
No one was injured in the the nose landing of the Bombardier DHC8-Q400 at Kochi airport in western Japan in 2007.
On its website, you will see this announcement:
Effective immediately, as of noon on Wednesday, 13 January 2010, Blue Wings airlines is ceasing operation.
The developments of recent weeks, and the tense overall economic situation in the aviation industry, have forced us to take this step.
Blue Wings was established in 2002 chartering flights from from Düsseldorf, and a 48% share was acquired by Russia’s National Reserve Corporation (NRC) under Alpstream AG. Ownership is (was?) Alpstream AG (48%), Jorn Hellwig (26%) and NIL Investment (26%) but apparently a shareholder dispute led to the carrier being banned. Reportedly, staff has not been paid since November.
The airline has a pending order of 16 Airbuses but the airline’s license is currently revoked by German authorities.
The end is coming for special credit financing for plane purchases for developing countries if an “Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development” agreement is ratified; the current agreement would allow Airbus and Boeing deliveries made under current conditions until 2012, affecting more than 138 planes ordered prior to May 2007. Eithad saves $20m in annual interest payments for eight newly purchase wide-body aircraft. The proposed changes would bring the interest rates closer to market rates.
Critics are competitors who do not enjoy the same financial breaks as those given to “developing” countries by export credit assistance from US Export-Import Bank. Proponents are obviously those airlines who benefit, i.e. Emirates, Dubai Aerospace Enterprise, Pemex (Mexico) and airlines headquartered in India.
Four pilot impersonators, including Air India Captain JK Verma and Indigo’s Parminder Kaur discussed in the video below, were caught flying without proper licenses which has led to a countrywide pilot probe, seeking more fake pilots and shady flight schools. It has been discovered that bogus certificates were used to endow pilots with licenses. Sham pilots were found to be flying for Air India. Pilot Arjun Giare was caught cheating on in US pilots and his US license cancelled, but is currently flying for Air India. Discrepancies were found in certificates from a school in Delhi, the Chinmaya Vidyalaya Senior Secondary School in Vasant Vihar. Some flying schools appear to be sanctioning fake pilots; it is not known if this school is one of them.
The falsified documents have forced the India’s aviation authorities to examine 4000 pilot licenses for irregularities. Although the director general of civil aviation, Baharat Bhushan said that fake licenses are few, how can he know this is true before the investigation? There is a documented history of corruption, including 57 pilots who were being prosecuted for drunkenness on duty.
With no disrespect for the decedents who are not here to defend themselves, for the sake of those passengers who lost their lives, this is just a question that requires examination:
What about the licenses of Captain Zlatko Glušica, and first officer H.S. Ahluwalia—the pilots in the Air India Express Flight 812 crash in May of 2010—were they legitimate? Plato said, “We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light.” We can not be children and avoid the truth. We can not be afraid of knowing. For the sake of those who are now lost, and in the interest of justice, we need to shine the light of truth into that May 2010 cockpit, and in fact all cockpits where a pretender may be placing lives at risk..
REPATRIATION FOR PATIENTS
Friedrichshafen, Germany – Help often comes from the air! International aviation ambulance services are the main topic on the agenda of the 1st European Air Ambulance Meeting held in conjunction with AERO 2010. The international trade magazine 4RESCUE, which focuses on the topic of air rescue, is offering the global show for general aviation (April 8-11, 2010) in Friedrichshafen on Lake Constance a platform for exchanging information among organizations and specialists in the area of air rescue, including manufacturers and designers of all the medical equipment on board the aircraft and insurance companies. Ambulance aircraft are generally business aviation flights that have been modified for transporting patients.
“AERO Friedrichshafen is the leading European trade show for general aviation and thus the ideal platform for a European air ambulance conference,” says AERO Project Manager Thomas Grunewald. Many companies that already take part in AERO as exhibitors could also become major players and partners in the air ambulance sector, according to Grunewald. Moreover, the trade show venue in the tri-border area of Austria, Switzerland and Germany enjoys a strategic location at the heart of Europe.
In the health care sector, transporting patients back to their home countries is called repatriation. This is a service that is offered by companies, organizations, tour operators, rescue service companies, airlines and insurance providers. In most cases this concerns travelers who, for health reasons, are not able to continue their journey. As the worldwide tourist industry continues to expand, this service has rapidly gained importance and exhibited exponential growth over the past few years. Tour operators traditionally offer their customers a combination of individual insurance packages. The risk involved is generally transferred to insurance companies. Some of these firms have specialized in offering insurance packages for worldwide patient repatriations.
Details on the Air Ambulance Meeting and AERO 2010 are available at www.aero-expo.com.
