Civil Aviation Development & Discussion

Virupaksha · Post by **Virupaksha** » 03 Jul 2014 17:51

Any solution as long as 0 public tax money is spent.

let the airlines sink or rise on their own, why should ANY public money be spent on what less than 0.01% of India uses, when the construction of airports itself is very costly for tax payers. Rupee to rupee, spending them on rail or road gives much better ROI both economically and public good.

nachiket · Post by **nachiket** » 03 Jul 2014 23:28

Singha wrote:about the only thing the GOI can do quickly is reduce the taxes on aviation turbine fuel to 0% , and put a price cap on the parking and landing charges levied by the airport operators on the airlines.

I believe due to high taxes of ATF, no intl airline likes to buy fuel in india and bring in just the minimum fuel need to make it in and out safely.

only robust economic growth will revive domestic and foreign air travel by indians and inbound business arrivals who then take domestic flights.

There was a proposal to let the airlines import their own fuel directly instead of buying from Indian Oil etc. Don't know if it was implemented. Just a way to bypass all the taxes. The problem is the central government can only ask states to reduces taxes, it cannot force them. Some states charge 30% tax on ATF and not all of them will comply. Fuel costs are rising anyway. These taxes make it impossible for airlines to operate profitably.

They can also reduce the 10% service tax charged on the tickets to make them affordable to more people.

nachiket · Post by **nachiket** » 03 Jul 2014 23:35

Theo_Fidel wrote:From the above report...

Unsurprisingly, Air India contributes a staggering Rs 30,000 crore to the accumulated Rs 49,000 crore losses in the civil aviation sector and the ministry outlined the need for a credible, result-oriented capital infusion plan.

Air Parasite has been in perpetual bankruptcy for several years now only afloat because of thousands of crores of public money poured into it without any improvement in the situation. It is criminal to continue to let it survive and suck in even more of our scarce funds. It should have gone the way of Kingfisher ages ago.

Unlike some of the private carriers, reducing fuel taxes and landing/parking charges is not going to help Air Parasite. It is horribly managed and terribly overstaffed. It will die sooner or later and there is nothing anybody can do about it. Maybe then the unions will regret having opposed privatization all these years.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 04 Jul 2014 06:36

Govt supports their crucial industries everywhere.
high tech is usa get big tax breaks.
states compete for data centers with land and power for as little as 50 new jobs.
bankrupt usa airlines are reworked and keep flying with old crates.

our airlines the pvt ones need to have heavy taxes lifted else they cannot compete with subsidized gulf airlines or asean govt supported giants like sia et al. If you think the giant new terminals and huge fleet buys of the uae and etihad are being funded through revenue accrual its not true...the state is funding to drive everyone out of business...they own jet always did..now alitalia is in bag..south and east Europe next. They already dominate routes to Africa and Australia.

its economic warfare and we must not tie hands of domestic players...playing field is not level at all.

all gulf airlines are likely running at operating loss due to so much investment.

anishns · Post by **anishns** » 07 Jul 2014 22:39

No Kamments!

chetak · Post by **chetak** » 08 Jul 2014 19:51

anishns wrote:No Kamments!

looks close because of the camera angle but in reality there was a great deal of separation between the two aircraft

Zynda · Post by **Zynda** » 14 Jul 2014 18:55

Airbus launches A330NEO to compete with 787. This will certainly overlap with A350-800 version. Airbus is already pushing its existing A350-800 customers to switch over to -900 variant. Apparently Airbus is witnessing a huge market potential for large number of existing A330 operators to go for the NEO since its gonna be cheaper than 787 and a quick delivery schedule.

Airbus launches the A330neo

Following a decision by the Board of Directors of the Group, Airbus has launched the A330-800neo and A330-900neo, two new members of its Widebody Family, which will incorporate latest generation Rolls-Royce Trent 7000 engines, aerodynamic enhancements and new cabin features. Benefitting from the unbeatable economics, versatility and high reliability of the A330, the A330neo reduces fuel consumption by 14% per seat, making it the most cost efficient, medium range Widebody aircraft on the market. In addition to greater fuel savings, A330neo operators will benefit from a range increase of up to 400 nautical miles and all the operational commonality advantages of the Airbus Family. Deliveries of the A330neo will start in Q4 2017

In addition to the new Rolls-Royce Trent 7000 engines, the A330neo will feature incremental innovations, including aerodynamic enhancements such as new A350 XWB inspired winglets, an increased wing span and new engine pylons. Pilots will benefit from latest generation cockpit systems, and the already very comfortable A330 cabin will be further optimised to offer up to ten additional 18 inch wide seats. Passengers are winners too, as they will be able to enjoy a 21st century on-board experience with for example, fourth generation In Flight Entertainment (3D films), mood-lighting and full connectivity.

anishns · Post by **anishns** » 15 Jul 2014 06:07

Here's comparing the latest and the greatest at the Farnborough 2014 air show:

B787

A350

Compared to the Boeing, the Airbus pales in comparison. However, the climb rates and tight turns on both might put some fighter jets to shame

vivek_v · Post by **vivek_v** » 17 Jul 2014 20:37

Another Malaysian airline has crashed near Ukraine-Russia border. Probbaly brought down by some SAM's ? Too bad Malaysian airlines seems to have a string of bad lucks.

symontk · Post by **symontk** » 17 Jul 2014 20:58

http://indianexpress.com/article/world/ ... n-ukraine/

Mort Walker · Post by **Mort Walker** » 17 Jul 2014 21:29

That route from western Europe thru Ukraine and Russia is a common flight route for all flights in to India and on to SE Asia.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 17 Jul 2014 21:43

The same buk likely took down a Ukraine af an26 at 20,000ft yesterday.

Zynda · Post by **Zynda** » 18 Jul 2014 16:54

My understanding is that, the recent purchase of 3 X 737 BBJ from Unkil Sam for VVIP duties are equipped with advanced electronic & IR defensive features including DIRCM. They also have auxiliary fuel tanks installed to extend the -800 range up to 10,000 Kms. Apparently the defensive equipment on BBJ is "almost" equivalent in capability to the ones used on Air Force One. Of course, them BBJs are ill equipped to traverse intercontinental ranges as legs such as Frankfurt-Rio almost stretches the BBJ to its extreme leaving little room for emergency detours.

When the economy improves to an acceptable level, the current AI-One should be replaced or upgraded to feature similar defensive apparatus such as the BBJs (if not present). Wiki only mentions radiation shielding of electrical wires.

VishalJ · Post by **VishalJ** » 22 Jul 2014 13:35

My photos of the Inaugural EK A380 at home BOM from today morning: https://twitter.com/MumbaiAirport/statu ... 7228891137

kmkraoind · Post by **kmkraoind** » 23 Jul 2014 10:51

Singha wrote:Govt supports their crucial industries everywhere.
high tech is usa get big tax breaks.
states compete for data centers with land and power for as little as 50 new jobs.
bankrupt usa airlines are reworked and keep flying with old crates.

our airlines the pvt ones need to have heavy taxes lifted else they cannot compete with subsidized gulf airlines or asean govt supported giants like sia et al. If you think the giant new terminals and huge fleet buys of the uae and etihad are being funded through revenue accrual its not true...the state is funding to drive everyone out of business...they own jet always did..now alitalia is in bag..south and east Europe next. They already dominate routes to Africa and Australia.

its economic warfare and we must not tie hands of domestic players...playing field is not level at all.

all gulf airlines are likely running at operating loss due to so much investment.

Assuming that even if remove high taxes, Gulf airlines will still have an edge, because they get ATF at dirt cheap. Better would be tax high and milk them as much as possible. With present set up, either we cannot finance airlines at 0-2% rates or provide cheap ATF, which are major overhead cost for any airlines.

If India have to face 1990 Gulf crisis, where Indian airlines lifted 1-2 lakh people from Kuwait, then we have to press private airlines (even foreign collaborations) and draft a new law for such and make it all airlines to sign such. Even impose restrictions and obligation on them directly and their joint ventures partners to be ready for National Call if required. Use that tax money to build new airport infra. Have a contingency plans to start a Desi airlines to start within a month on a wet or dry lease basis, then use if things really get out of hand.

Anyhow, airlines business is loss venture and have no significant strategic value, that is why EU nations and OZ and NZ are parting away their loss making airlines to Gelf countries. JMT.

Surya · Post by **Surya** » 23 Jul 2014 16:21

making the email rounds

Engine Fire Air India Flight of 13 JUL Newark to Mumbai

On Sunday evening 13th July 2014, the Air India's flight AI-144, a B-777, was ready for a routine flight from Newark to Mumbai with 300 passengers and 15 crew. The weather in New Jersey was heavy passing showers here and there.

It was a routine departure at about 5 pm (local time) for a long 15-16 hrs flight to Bombay nee Mumbai. The aircraft naturally was at its maximum take off weight, as it was fully loaded with the fuel required for this long transcontinental flight.

The take off run was a normal routine one. Immediately on lift off the worst nightmare of a pilot, the loss of an engine at maximum take off weight, happened. The left engine caught fire, and at the same time the cockpit engine fire warnings did not function. The passengers and crew sitting on the left side were horrified to see flames from the left engine. Other airplanes and Air Traffic Control warned the Pilot of the engine being on fire. The Pilots till that time unaware of the engine fire, checked up and carried out the emergency drills as per the required procedures. The B-777 is a 2 engine aircraft, and loosing one engine (50% power) at the maximum a/c weight on take off is a nightmare for the best of Pilots and in the best of circumstances.

In such an emergency, the Pilots will first think of making the aircraft light, which is done by dumping the extra fuel. For this Pilots need to climb up to a designated minimum height and dump the fuel in areas already specified by the local airport authorities. The time to reach the dumping height and area could have taken 15 to 30 minutes, because of heavy weight and loss of an engine. The actual fuel dump can take another 30 to 40 minutes, depending on the amount of fuel to be dumped out. The exercise of dumping fuel to lighten the aircraft would have taken any thing around 60 to 70 minutes, a valuable time they did not have.

The Pilots had a serious emergency of an engine having been on fire at hand. This could have caused, secondary as yet unknown failures. They had to take an instant decision, which they rightfully took to land as soon as possible, rather than use up precious time to try and dump fuel.

The immediate landing back, of course had its own problems. The very high landing weight. This in turn will need the aircraft to be landed at a much higher speed. The immediate anxiety of the Pilots in this case would have been three fold. Firstly, will the airplane stop in the available runway length, landing at about 200 Knots (which is 370 kms/hr), the minimum speed required at the weight. Secondly, will the landing gear take the load of landing at such a high speed and weight (85 tonnes more than the maximum design landing weight). Thirdly, they were flying only on one engine, which has its own problems of aircraft handling and control.

The Pilots averted a major emergency into becoming a possible catastrophe by landing the aircraft successfully back. The handling skills and good cool airmanship displayed by the Pilots was the primary reason of this emergency being converted into just an incident, which the Indian media thought was of no consequence of being reported or being commented upon. The visual media (all channels of TV) was only concerned on a non issue of why one 'Ved Pratap Vaidik' met a certain ' Hafiz Saeed' on a visit to Pakistan. The print media was merely interested in printing and commenting some dubious statistics where the ATC Controllers and Pilots have erred. Regrettably the media just shut their eyes to this incidence as it made no juicy news for them. They were not interested in how a major catastrophe was averted and lives of 315 persons were saved by the good professional handling and competent decisions of AIR INDIA PILOTS.

My congratulations to Capt Gautam Verma and his crew (2nd Commander Capt Niranjan Singh & First Officers Capt Pankaj Wadhawan & Capt Shilpika Das) for displaying airmanship and professional competence of the highest order in handling a most difficult situation competently and successfully.

It is disappointing that the PRO of Air India has also failed in bringing the true facts of the incidence to the notice of the visual and print media and getting the competence and proficiency of their employees due national recognition. It should also be a matter of great national concern that the Indian media had nothing to say about the competent handling of this grave in flight situation and preventing it becoming a catastrophe.

Capt GS BAKSHI

The writer is a retired Air India & Indian Air Force Pilot with over 40 years of fight experience.

Friends do share this with others, as the National media has failed to recognize and give due credit to our Indian Pilots, who have done a great and creditable job and not let a grave emergency develop into disaster.

Gurdip Bakshi

Theo_Fidel · Post by **Theo_Fidel** » 23 Jul 2014 23:49

^^^^

Well done AI pilots. The competency of many AI Pilots has never been in question. Though some of their contract employees have been involved in crashes and questionable decisions. Same cannot be said for much of their cabin crew or maintenance staff.

Still these pilots should not be working for the GOI and AI should be terminated/cashiered off pronto. Just this year’s budget, keeping with the UPA tenure, it needed a cash infusion of Rs 6,500 Crore just to keep flying, not to improve things mind you. That money could be better spent supporting our private airlines to improve and get operating costs down. For comparison the entire smarter cities initiative for 100 cities got just ~ Rs 7,000 Crore. Ask yourself which is more important.

Zynda · Post by **Zynda** » 25 Jul 2014 16:19

Airbus A350 during Maximum Energy Rejection Take Off test as part of its certification campaign. Observe the red glow of MLG's brakes hard @ work in slowing down the aircraft. Awesome! Same can be seen in F1 cars ceramic disc brakes heating up while slowing down at curves.

Source

Added later:

This latest test is to confirm the braking system’s ability to safely stop the aircraft following a rejected take-off at high speed and high weight – using a set of worn-out brakes. As these brakes absorb the kinetic energy of the aircraft, they glow bright orange and reach a temperature of around 1,400 degrees centigrade by the time the aircraft has safely come to a standstill, whereupon the tires are deflated by special fuses.

krishnan · Post by **krishnan** » 28 Jul 2014 17:09

VishalJ · Post by **VishalJ** » 28 Jul 2014 17:12

My Latest Photo:

Ethiopian's First 77W departing BOM for ADD in beautiful morning light ► http://www.airliners.net/photo/2479996/L/

chetak · Post by **chetak** » 28 Jul 2014 18:57

Zynda wrote:

Airbus A350 during Maximum Energy Rejection Take Off test as part of its certification campaign. Observe the red glow of MLG's brakes hard @ work in slowing down the aircraft. Awesome! Same can be seen in F1 cars ceramic disc brakes heating up while slowing down at curves.

Source

Added later:
This latest test is to confirm the braking system’s ability to safely stop the aircraft following a rejected take-off at high speed and high weight – using a set of worn-out brakes. As these brakes absorb the kinetic energy of the aircraft, they glow bright orange and reach a temperature of around 1,400 degrees centigrade by the time the aircraft has safely come to a standstill, whereupon the tires are deflated by special fuses.

There are temperature sensitive fusible plugs on the wheel rims which melt to prevent high energy blow outs or fire.

Supratik · Post by **Supratik** » 30 Jul 2014 14:18

Privatization of the 6 airports are on track.

https://in.finance.yahoo.com/video/6-ai ... 27756.html

krishnan · Post by **krishnan** » 05 Aug 2014 08:43

http://www.rediff.com/business/slide-sh ... 140805.htm

Air India is looking at downing shutters on all city booking offices by Oct 1, 2014.

"There is no need to maintain physical infrastructure for ticketing, cancellations and refunds at a time when most airlines are aggressively leveraging the web. It has been decided to close all city booking offices by Oct 1 this year."

Despite recommendations from a section of the management to cut costs by closing offices at these offline stations, the airline has continued to run operations in these places claiming that they have been set up to cater to the travel needs of Indian diaspora located at these bases.

Interestingly, at six of these locations the airline also has employed on contractual basis separate general sales representatives leading to duplication of functions and expenditure.

Air India has around 170 employees stationed across offices in 46 international destinations.

"What is the need of stationing employees in international offices in places where Air India does not even have direct operations?

A review is now being undertaken by the management to gauge the viability of maintaining offices globally", said another executive.

Kannan · Post by **Kannan** » 09 Aug 2014 02:19

As with all forward/chain e-mails, too many oddities to take seriously. First, Air India pilots have decent command of english - that looks like it was written by a Nigerian prince. Second, you only need 2000' or so of clearance to start dumping fuel, and your local aviation authorities have no choice in picking some "dump zone". A single engine takeoff is part of its certification process.

That said, the pilots are very competent when properly vetted and probably more so than most other branches of government, so kudos.

RoyG · Post by **RoyG** » 09 Aug 2014 12:07

Looking forward to Air India shutting down for good. Hopefully, some privates buy it up and renames it Bharat Air. My family has had such a terrible experience flying with them. Sh*t service, dirty bathrooms, ill mannered and terrible looking lady staff on the planes, etc. Bloody jokers don't deserve another lifeline.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 09 Aug 2014 13:44

well you probably have not experienced the worst - Alitalia

I think Etihad has brought a good chunk of them now and changes will be made.

ravar · Post by **ravar** » 19 Aug 2014 11:39

Russia, India to construct passenger airliner - United Aircraft Corporation

Russia’s Sukhoi Aviation Holding Company (JSC) and its Indian partners plan to embark on the joint construction of multipurpose transport airliner, United Aircraft Corporation's President Mikhail Pogosyan told RIA Novosti.

“In 2013 we finished the stage of preliminary design. Today we are at the stage of discussing further implementation program and shifting to engineering development,” Pogosyan said.He added that the final schedule has yet to be defined “based on the talks that will be held between us and our colleagues.”

The proposal to assemble Sukhoi Superjet 100 (SSJ-100) and Irkut MS-21 passenger jets in India was first discussed at a meeting of the Russian-Indian Intergovernmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technical and Cultural Cooperation (IRIGC-TEC) in Moscow last year.

Analysts believe that the assembling the Russian passenger jets in India could cut production costs per plane by 40 percent.

The SSJ-100 is a medium-haul passenger aircraft capable of carrying 75-95 passengers, developed by the Sukhoi Corporation in cooperation with US and European aerospace companies. The MS-21 is a family of twin-engine jet airliners still under development by the Irkut and the Yakovlev design bureau, part of Russia's United Aircraft Corporation. It has a capacity of 150-212 passengers.

The cutting-edge technologies, being the core ingredient of the SSJ-100 Project, penetrate its every stage – from design and development to final assembly, delivering a modern, economically efficient and globally marketable aircraft.

The then Russian President Dmitry Medvedev first offered India joint production of five types of passenger aircraft including regional SSJ-100 airliners, in December 2011, saying the two countries could benefit in this from the accumulated experience in the development and production of combat jets.<SNIP>

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 19 Aug 2014 17:31

When the Heavens open up, the new Chennai airport is hell - Sudhakar Reddy, Business Line
It is hell even otherwise.

The Chennai Domestic and International Departure and Arrival Terminals look very modern — made of steel and glass, appearing as beautiful as any airport in the world. However, inside, things couldn’t be worse.

The flooring outside the entrance of the terminal is old, broken and dirty. The signage is far from what one would expect at a brand new airport. When the airport was inaugurated, it was only partly complete and most of the passenger facilities were non-existent. Despite this, Airports Economic Regulatory Authority decided to charge a user development fee effective April 1, which was subsequently withdrawn after the Air Passengers Association of India protested.

The expansion was to start in 2008 and be completed by January 2011. However, it took 27 months more to be inaugurated. But even 18 months after the inauguration, held on January 31, 2013, some of the areas are not ready and the airport gives you a feeling that it is still incomplete.

Project cost

Independent auditors and officials in the office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) say the delays and faulty planning and execution, which led to the project cost increasing from ₹1,808.25 crore to ₹2,862.71 crore, point to a possible scam.

Officials executing the project have dropped key passenger facilities such as a multi-level parking facility and a walkalator to connect the new terminals, which are 1 km apart. While fliers will find using the new airport a distinctly unpleasant experience, the taxpayer will continue to pay the additional ₹1,054 crore for the fiasco.

A senior AAI deputy director said officials executing the project did not coordinate with the agencies involved or with the airport users.

“They did not share the project blueprint with aviation agencies, airlines or users,” he said. The existing Chennai Airport advisory committee hasn’t met to discuss the plans even once.

Rain rituals

The workers at the new airport are now used to a ritual, whenever a raincloud appears on the horizon they search for plastic buckets.

When the heavens open up, it is hell here as rain water drips through crevices and false ceilings. At least 10 buckets were placed at different points in the new international terminal one Sunday night in November 2013 to collect water after heavy rains lashed the city.

Areas with maximum water leaks at the airport are the passenger lounges, security hold areas of the new terminals, the corridor connecting the two terminals, and the passenger-hold area inside the new steel-and-glass structure with a hovering wing-like roof.

According to official sources, the terminal continues to leak at several spots even after the AAI took up maintenance work after the false ceiling collapsed a few times.

Water everywhere

“Several areas inside the airport had water on the floor,” said M Manjula, a passenger. “We could see waste bins and buckets kept on the corridors to collect rainwater, many spots at the security hold area near the point where passengers are screened also had water on the floor. I could see four buckets kept at different spots,” she said. It is dangerous for senior citizens to walk on such water spots.

The AAI project team says it used A-class materials for construction, and it has engaged the best of contractors and sub-contractors. The new terminals were built at a cost of ₹2,015 crore. However, some officials point to the frequent falling of tiles from the false ceiling and the recent cracking of a glass panel as indicators of shoddy work. There have been more than 20 very serious incidents at the airport. While a section of the officials have been pressing for a review of the work, an investigation ordered by the Civil Aviation Ministry into the cost escalation of the project is yet to take off. The project was commissioned in March 2013, more than 27 months after the deadline.

The core function of the AAI, which was carved out of the Civil Aviation Ministry in 1995, was to improve quality and service in airports across the country. Officials decided that of AAI’s two principal responsibilities — operations and engineering — operations would be the first priority. Operations involve safety and quality of terminal management, airside operations and providing comfort to the passengers with all facilities required in a good airport.

However, several projects and extensive construction work over the past few years have changed the character of AAI, with the authority hiring fewer airport management and operations experts and more engineers. Experts say the replacement of experts in airport management, safety, commercial and customer relationship with engineers has had severe impact on service, quality and safety at Indian airports.

Key posts

The posts of member, operations and member, planning (a crucial post that had been filled by experts) and other key positions are all now occupied by engineers. Most of the posts are now being filled by engineers, and experienced operations and airport managers have nothing to do. Similarly, “appointments of all five regional executive directors, and directors of Kolkata airport have also been on the same lines. All these appointments are now under the scanner,” an expert said.

Status of facilities

Domestic Terminal: 75,000 sq m of domestic terminal opened but lacks passenger facilities such as clean toilets

International Terminal: Work on the 65,000-sq m international terminal has been completed but lacks facilities provided for airline operators

Secondary Runway: ₹550-crore project was recently cleared by the DGCA. One major concern is the safety of the runway bridge built across Adyar river. The length of the runway is only 2,300 m {and the AAI forgot to acquire land for setting up the ILS at either ends and now there is no space at all. So, the airlines are being forced to make a visual approach only}

Inline Baggage Screening System: Faulty planning and callousness of AAI project team has delayed setting up the system. So far, no official move has been reported to procure the baggage screening system

Airport Operation Control Centre: The key operation control area of the airport was not included in the plan.

The author is the National President, Air Passengers Association of India.

Theo_Fidel · Post by **Theo_Fidel** » 20 Aug 2014 21:15

^^^^

This is not my recent experience. Operations @ Chennai Airport have improved quite significantly. Of course based on a low standard. Even in the middle of a heavy rainstorm I personally did not see any leaks. It is a big building and I might have missed it.

- Security check was quick and efficient
- Flights took off on the dot and extremely active turn over.
- Waiting areas were clean and spotless.
- Toilets were in good shape.
- Airline representatives are young, PYT and extremely active. They work hard and loud to get passengers to their aircraft as it is obvious passengers are very lackadaisical.
- Signage was excellent.
- A/C worked perfectly
- Traffic on concourse was quick and efficient.
- Flight reports were quick and accurate.
- Café food was fresh & tasty. Need more options.

Problems
- The space frame horizontal struts are accumulating a lot of grey dirt/dust.
- Need more aero-bridges. And airlines need to pay for them. Too many airlines are going the cheap route of bussing passengers to aircraft.
- Approach roads. Where to begin. Absolute chaos as incoming traffic must cross outgoing traffic. Hopefully temporary.

Need to demo the old building and rebuild to new standards.
The new building is already maxed out IMHO.

krishnan · Post by **krishnan** » 21 Aug 2014 11:23

security is very good, once i was just strolling around waiting for the announcement , a CISF came to me and asked to be checked and checked my ticket too

kmkraoind · Post by **kmkraoind** » 26 Aug 2014 13:29

Nostalgic, Tata Airlines' brochure 1939

VishalJ · Post by **VishalJ** » 27 Aug 2014 18:45

My Latest Photo:

The Human hustle & bustle perspective of Mumbai's Inaugural A380 flight ► http://www.jetphotos.net/viewphoto.php?id=7878529

Javee · Post by **Javee** » 29 Aug 2014 19:39

In most desh airports they check the tickets at 5 points (Checkin/security, security stamping, gate, before getting in to aero bridge and one last time before boarding the plane. Is this part of a some hyper security procedure or shoddy deployment of resources?

Aditya_V · Post by **Aditya_V** » 29 Aug 2014 19:43

Seeing the TATA airlines in 1939, large parts of North and East India are ignored, including Kolkata (Calcutta then), it should have been India's biggest city and commercial capital then.

chaanakya · Post by **chaanakya** » 19 Sep 2014 11:38

Efficiency of Air India

Union minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who is flying to Cairns, Australia, on an official trip, has suffered a "precarious" lost-baggage problem, leaving her with virtually stranded in Sydney.

In a series of tweets, the minister appeared distressed. "On board my connecting flight to Cairns. All my formal wear in the lost suitcase! Not sure I can buy saries in Cairns. Situation precarious!"

The minister, slated to participate in the G20 finance ministers' meet, found her checked-in luggage missing when she landed at Sydney to change planes to Cairns, according to a tweet she posted around 4 am Friday IST.

chetak · Post by **chetak** » 26 Sep 2014 08:50

Why do these highly paid but often incompetent and inconsiderate people always lie

Jet plane plunge: Co-pilot fiddled with controls, says Boeing report

In a startling twist to the incident involving a Jet Airways aircraft plunging over 5,000 feet while flying over the Turkish airspace last month, it has now emerged that the co-pilot may have fiddled with the aircraft controls, resulting in the free fall.

There were around 280 passengers on board.

Considering the “gravity” of the incident, Directorate General of Civil Aviation, Prabhat Kumar, has scrapped the inquiry committee investigating the incident and has asked Sanjay Brahmane, deputy director, air safety, to conduct the probe.

The aviation regulator received a report from US aircraft maker Boeing, which had analysed the records of the Digital Flight Data Recorder (DFDR) of the B777 aircraft.

“This appears to be a serious act of ‘criminal negligence’ on part of the co-pilot. It wasn’t as if the plane went into a free fall and the pilots were unaware of it. The Boeing report clearly establishes that the co-pilot fiddled with the controls of the aircraft after which the plane dropped 5,000 feet,” a senior DGCA official said.

Jet did not respond to call, mail and text message from HT seeking comments for the story.

The DGCA had grounded both the pilots of the Mumbai-Newark flight after the incident came to light. The flight’s commander was asleep (taking controlled rest) at the time of the incident. The regulator is also looking into whether the “controlled rest was permitted at that point of time” or not.

The pilots did not report the incident in their post-flight report, which they are required to do according to rules, and kept on with regular flying till the DGCA was tipped off about the incident through an anonymous message.

AI pilot covers up injury to flyers, ‘damaged’ Dreamliner still flying

In a shocking attempt at a cover-up and in complete disregard for safety, the captain of an Air India flight allegedly threatened his co-pilot and cabin crew from reporting an incident of air turbulence that seriously injured several passengers and damaged the plane.

The incident, which occurred on September 7 on AI’s Delhi-Beijing flight, came to light when an anonymous complaint was received from one of the cabin crew alleging that the damaged plane, a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, was still doing flights “without any proper checks which will further endanger passengers”.

sanjaykumar · Post by **sanjaykumar** » 26 Sep 2014 21:43

Well at least it is not just Indian pilots who display moronic judgement.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/trave ... lanes.html

Zynda · Post by **Zynda** » 28 Sep 2014 18:39

First A320NEO Successfully Completes First Flight

Zynda · Post by **Zynda** » 10 Oct 2014 22:54

Good news for Amrikhan economy and the folks who are in aerospace field.

Boeing to produce 777X aircraft components at US plant

Boeing will begin in-house production of components for its new twin-aisle 777X aircraft, its St Louis composites facility in Missouri, US.

The company intends to bring back most of the work on 777 programme currently being carried out by suppliers or overseas.

ManjaM · Post by **ManjaM** » 15 Oct 2014 04:34

http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articl ... ts-404746/

The 6,200nm-range (11,500km) G600 will feature two Pratt & Whitney Canada PW815GAs at 15,700lb-thrust (69.8kN).

The 5,000nm-range G500 will be powered by two Pratt & Whitney Canada PW814GAs at 15,100lb-thrust.

Both models will boast a 2.13m wide and 1.88m high cabin, with a capacity to seat up to 19 passenger

We have the ability to compete with the big boys in this lucrative segment within 2 decades. Just need the vision and risk appetite.