India

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    Engine Failure Prompts Air India Flight to Make Emergency Landing

    airindia2Air India flight AI-019, form Delhi to Ahmedabad, landed in emergency at Sanganer Airport, Jaipur, India, on August 22, after its left engine failed.

    According to an ATC official, “The pilot informed Jaipur air traffic controller (ATC) about some technical problem in the aircraft after which it was diverted.” One of the passengers said, “We got message from the captain that the left engine has failed and the plane will land at Jaipur.”

    The Airbus-321 safely touched the runway at 7:25 a.m. None of the 104 people aboard reported any injuries.

    The aircraft was grounded for examination and repair.

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    Smoke Prompts Emergency Evacuation of IndiGo Passengers; 28 Injured

    IndiGo AirlinesTwenty-Eight passengers were injured after a landing gear problem in IndiGo flight 6E-176 from Mumbai caused thick smoke emission on landing in New Delhi, India, and prompted an emergency evacuation on August 20.

    Air Traffic Control (ATC) observed “dense smoke” coming out of the left-side lower portion of the Airbus A-320 after it landed at IGI Airport at about 3:30 p.m.then alerted the pilots and emergency services at the airport. All 154 people aboard the plane were evacuated using emergency slide-chutes.

    Twenty-eight of 148 passengers suffered minor injuries during the slide evacuation, while the 6 crew members escaped unhurt.

    Aviation regulator DGCA and the airline have initiated investigations. Preliminary investigations revealed that a heavy friction on the left brake assembly of the landing gear caused the smoke.

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    Already Delayed Air India Express Flight Returns to Kerala

    Air India ExpressA Dubai-bound Air India Express flight IX 539 returned and made an emergency landing at the Thiruvananthapuram international airport, Kerala, India, at 10:30 p.m. on August 19.

    The flight was scheduled to take off at 4:30 p.m. local time, however, the passengers were told that it would be delayed due to a technical issue in the aircraft. The plane finally took off at 7:52 p.m. and just minutes after that, the decision for emergency landing was made following a failure in the electronics system.

    The plane landed uneventfully after shedding extra fuel. All 195 passengers and crew members remained unhurt.

    The passengers were booked in another flight for Wednesday morning.

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    Nagaland Governor’s Helicopter Lands in Emergency Due to Bad Weather

    A Pawan Hans helicopter carrying Nagaland’s Governor Padmanabha Balakrishna Acharya made an emergency landing at a helipad in the premises of Bairagi Para Junior Basic School in Kalyanpur in western Tripura, India, in the afternoon of August 19.

    According to the authorities, the helicopter with Governor Acharya and his wife Kavita aboard took off from Dimapur, made a stop at Imphal airport for refueling and was scheduled to land at Agartala airport. However, due to extremely bad weather, the pilot could not land at Agartala and instead landed about 40 km north in Kalyanpur.

    Acharya and his wife had a good time with the students and also tasted the mid-day meal served by the school, according to Banamali Sinha, principal secretary in-charge of the Raj Bhavan secretariat. The police then escorted them to Dak Bunglow.

    The helicopter was able to fly back to Agartala airport around 4:30 p.m., after getting clearance from the Air Traffic Controller.

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    Air India Flight Returns to Mumbai Airport for Emergency Landing

    airindia2Air India flight AI 965, heading to Jeddah via Hyderabad, returned to Mumbai airport, India, for emergency landing at 5:50 p.m. on August 15.

    Reportedly some technical fault was discovered in the aircraft, due to which the pilots decided to return.

    The aircraft, with 300 passengers on board, landed safely at Terminal 2 of the airport, after remaining in the air for 45 minutes.

    The passengers were flown to their scheduled destination through an alternate aircraft at 9:22 p.m.

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    Pilot Taking a Nap, Co-pilot Busy on Tablet; Jet Airways Boeing 777 Drops 5,000 Feet over Turkey

    Jet AirwaysAn inquiry has been launched after the Indian Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) found out that a Jet Airways flight abruptly descended 5,000 feet over Turkish airspace, on August 8.

    The Indian media reports that the incident first came to light on August 12 when the Director General of DGCA, Lalit Gupta, received an anonymous SMS, informing him about the incident.

    It was discovered that the captain of the flight 9W-228, on its way from Mumbai to Brussels, was taking a controlled nap at the time while his co-pilot was supposed to sit on the controls. However, the co-pilot claimed that she did not notice that the aircraft is descending below the assigned level since she was busy with her electronic flight bag (EFB) – a tablet containing aircraft documents. She realized the situation only after getting a call from the air traffic controller in Ankara, Turkey, and immediately woke up the captain, who then brought the Boeing 777-300 back to its level.

    The DGCA has suspended the pilots and launched an investigation to find out whether the sudden drop was caused intentionally or accidentally by the co-pilot. The DGCA has also decided to audit the airline’s training procedures for the pilot.

    According to Jet Airways, “The airline is also extending all co-operation in the matter to the DGCA by providing all necessary assistance for the inquiry. Safety is of paramount importance to Jet Airways as is also the welfare of our guests and crew and the airline will always take appropriate steps to ensure the same.”

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    Bird-Hit Indigo Airlines Flight Makes Emergency Landing at Ahmedabad

    IndiGo AirlinesIndiGo Airlines flight 6E-244 from Ahmedabad to Mumbai, India, had to return for emergency landing on August 9 due to a bird strike.

    According to Ahmedabad airport director R K Singh, the pilot reported the incident shortly after the plane took off and was allowed to make an emergency landing at the Ahmedabad airport.

    The aircraft carrying 95 passengers and 6 crew-members aboard, landed safely. No one was hurt however, 2 rotors of the aircraft were damaged due to bird strike.

    The officials said that no inquiry would be conducted since it was a natural incident.

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    Spicejet Aircraft Hit by a Bird in Andhra Pradesh

    SpiceJetA SpiceJet aircraft was hit by a bird while landing at Rajahmundry airport in Andhra Pradesh, India, at about 12 noon on July 26.

    As per the details, a bird struck one of the engines of the aircraft, which was carrying 56 passengers aboard at the time. The pilot managed to land the aircraft safely, without declaring emergency. None of the passengers or crew members was hurt.

    Spice Jet authorities had dispatched engineers from Hyderabad to Rajahmundry to repair the aircraft. The authorities expect the plane to be in the air by July 27.

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    7 Killed in Indian Air Force Helicopter Crash

    helicopterA helicopter belonging to the Indian Air force crashed in Sitapur district of Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh state of India.

    The helicopter, which was en route from Bareilly to Allahabad, crashed nose down and bursted into flames. The accident happened on July 25 at about 5 p.m. after the Dhruv helicopter lost radio and radar contact. According to the authorities, the pilot reported a technical fault in the helicopter before losing contact.

    There were 2 pilots and 5 passengers aboard at the time of accident; all of them were killed. A statement released by the air force maintained that there was no report of any damage on the ground.

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    165 Pilots in India Found Drunk in Pre-Flight Tests, During Last 5 Years

    In reply to an RTI application filed by the Time of India, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), India, has revealed that between 2009 and February 2014, 165 pilots throughout the country were grounded after their pre-flight medical tests showed high levels of alcohol in their blood.

    Among these, 50 pilots were from Delhi, 47 from Mumbai, 18 from Kolkata, and 17 from Chennai.

    The statistics also showed that the number of pilots with higher-than-allowed level of alcohol in their blood has increased every year. In 2009, only 35 such cases were reported while in 2013, 41 pilots were found to have high blood alcohol levels.

    The DGCA has not released the names of the airlines where these pilots work. According to official sources “The information pertains to third party, hence details cannot be provided according to the RTI Act.”

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    Indian Airlines to Employ Real-Time Plane Tracking; Orders DGCA

    The civil aviation regulator of India has issued a directive, ordering the airlines to use real-time tracking for locating the planes.

    In the directive, the Director General Prabhat Kumar has obligated the airlines to track all of their aircrafts with the on-board Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System (ACARS) or Automatic Dependent Surveillance – Broadcast (ADS-B). In areas where these two systems do not have coverage, the airlines will be required to devise other mechanisms to ensure real-time tracking. Operators will also need to ensure that the real-time tracking systems are in working condition before the flight.

    The order has been issued in context of the preliminary report released by Malaysian authorities, which revealed that the flight 370 could not be located because the aircraft did not transmit its coordinates in real-time.

    According to the statement released by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), “While commercial air transport aircrafts spend considerable amount of time operating over remote areas, there is currently no international requirement for real time tracking of the aircraft. This uncertainty resulted in significant difficulty in locating the aircraft in a timely manner.”

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    Pakistani Chartered Plane Lands in Lucknow for Re-fuelling

    A Pakistani aircraft en-route to Dhaka from Lahore made an emergency landing in Lucknow due to a fuel shortage.

    The aircraft, chartered by some unknown company safely landed at the Chaudhary Charan Singh International Airport in the afternoon of May 6.

    The pilot of the aircraft informed the Lucknow air traffic control about the fuel shortage while flying over Uttar Pradesh. The ATC granted permission for landing after obtaining necessary clearances from all concerned.

    The ATC officials said the aircraft was parked at a remote bay during the re-fuelling. All the passengers remained inside the plane.

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    UP Chief Minister’s Chopper Landed in Emergency

    Akhilesh YadavA chopper carrying the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh (UP), Akhilesh Yadav and his wife Dimple Yadav had to make an emergency landing at Amausi airport, Lucknow, India.

    According to the authorities, the decision for emergency landing was made after an eagle struck the front window pane of the chopper, at a height of 3000 feet. The pilots then made an uneventful emergency landing at Lucknow airport, which was about 12 km away at the time of incident.

    The chief minister, along with his wife, was returning back after attending the last rituals of his uncle Ratan Singh Yadav in Saifai, Etawah District of UP. His private chopper was originally scheduled to land in La Martiniere college, near his residence.

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    Business Jet India and SpanAir’s Planes Grounded for Violating Safety Norms

    The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), India, grounded two business jets belonging to Business Jet India Private Limited and Span Air for violating safety norms during its safety audit of non-scheduled operators (NSOPs).

    During the inspection of the Cessna aircraft belonging to Business Jets India, the aviation regulator found that the crew on-board were not properly trained in safety and emergency procedures. The log books and the operation manuals were outdated and the lavatory had unnecessary goods which is strictly prohibited. The Business Jets India Private Limited operates three Hawker 850 XP aircrafts in addition to the Cessna Citation CJ2 aircraft in and out of India. The company is a subsidiary of Singapore-based BJETS Private Limited. Tata group also has a stake in it.

    Moreover, the aviation regulator also found some significant deficiencies in the Hawker 900XP aircraft registered VT-BKL with SpanAir. It was observed that the crew were not properly trained in safety and emergency procedures, the life vest had passed its expiry date and the operations manual and the route guides were outdated. SpanAir has four more aircrafts –a seven-seater Beech Super King Air B-200; a six-seater Premier 1A, Bell 407GX and Bell 420 helicopters.

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    Revised Safety Rating for India

    India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has been notified that the US is downgrading its aviation safety ranking, based on failure to meet the standards of the ICAO. The International Civil Aviation Organization regulates technical, training, inspection, records, airworthiness, and operations standards. The safety downgrade is partially due to a September FAA audit which found 33 DGCA deficiencies including too few experts, maintenance deficits and poor documentation.

    India’s being lowered to safety category II means that there will be consequences affecting Air India and Jet Airways Indian flights.

    See the release below:

    Press release: FAA Announces Revised Safety Rating for India
    The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) today announced that India has been assigned a Category 2 rating under its International Aviation Safety Assessment (IASA) program, based on a recent reassessment of the country’s civil aviation authority. This signifies that India’s civil aviation safety oversight regime does not currently comply with the international safety standards set by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO); however, the United States will continue to work with India’s Directorate General for Civil Aviation (DGCA) to identify the remaining steps necessary to regain Category 1 status for India. With a Category 2 rating, India’s carriers can continue existing service to the United States, but will not be allowed to establish new service to the United States.

    India achieved a Category 1 rating, signifying compliance with ICAO standards, in August 1997. A December 2012 ICAO audit identified deficiencies in the ICAO-set global standards for oversight of aviation safety by India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). Subsequently, the FAA began a reassessment of India’s compliance with ICAO standards under the FAA’s IASA program, which monitors adherence to international safety standards and practices. The FAA has consulted extensively with the DCGA and other relevant Indian government ministries during its evaluation, including consultations in India in September and early December, and meetings this week in Delhi.

    “U.S. and Indian aviation officials have developed an important working relationship as our countries work to meet the challenges of ensuring international aviation safety. The FAA is available to work with the Directorate General of Civil Aviation to help India regain its Category 1 rating,” said FAA Administrator Michael Huerta.

    The Government of India has made significant progress towards addressing issues identified during the September 2013 IASA assessment. On January 20, the Government of India took further steps to resolve outstanding issues when the Indian Cabinet approved the hiring of 75 additional full-time inspectors. The United States Government commends the Indian government for taking these important actions, and looks forward to continued progress by Indian authorities to comply with internationally mandated aviation safety oversight standards.

    Additional Background on the FAA’s IASA Program:

    As part of the FAA’s IASA program, the agency assesses on a uniform basis the civil aviation authorities of all countries with air carriers that operate or have applied to operate to the United States and makes that information available to the public. The assessments determine whether or not foreign civil aviation authorities are meeting ICAO safety standards, not FAA regulations.

    A Category 2 rating means a country either lacks laws or regulations necessary to oversee air carriers in accordance with minimum international standards, or that its civil aviation authority – equivalent to the FAA for aviation safety matters – is deficient in one or more areas, such as technical expertise, trained personnel, record-keeping or inspection procedures.

    Countries with air carriers that fly to the United States must adhere to the safety standards of ICAO, the United Nations’ technical agency for aviation that establishes international standards and recommended practices for aircraft operations and maintenance.

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    Hawker Beechcraft Awards Contract to CDG, a Boeing Company

    CYPRESS, Calif., Feb. 1, 2011– Hawker Beechcraft Corporation (HBC) has awarded a multi-year contract to CDG, a Boeing Company to provide technical publication services. Following an analysis and RFP process, CDG was awarded the contract to provide technical publications for the HBC fleet of general aviation aircraft.

    HBC, a world-leading manufacturer of business, special-mission and trainer aircraft is headquartered in Wichita, Kansas, and has been a client of CDG for the past 24 years. HBC was in need of reducing the expense of technical publications, while still maintaining the high level of quality for which they have become recognized. In particular, they were exploring the use of off-shore resources. CDG provided the solution by utilizing resources in the CDG India location. The Chennai, India location has allowed CDG to provide its customers with a broader global extension of its technical authoring capabilities, and to take advantage of lower labor costs while maintaining consistency in processes and quality. CDG was able to meet the HBC challenge of reducing expenses, allowing for a flexible and changing work statement and eliminating risks associated with performing work off-shore.

    Terry Clark, Manager, Commercial Maintenance Publications at HBC stated, “CDG continues to be an excellent partner to HBC. Work is always performed to agreed timescales, and is of good quality resulting in few subsequent complaints from the field. Overall, I would highly recommend CDG to anyone interested in getting the job done with the minimum of worry.”

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    Falcon Emergency Landing


    What: twin-engine Falcon jet from Delhi en route to Coimbatore owned by the GMR group
    Where: Bangalore airport
    When: Thursday-3.05 pm.
    Who: Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Finance Minister P Chidambaram. No injuries.
    Why: Engine developed a “snag.” Instruments showed a “drop” for the right engine, so the pilot switched the engine off and landed with one engine. Passengers transferred to another plane.