Civil Aviation Development & Discussion

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SriKumar
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Re: Civil Aviation Development & Discussion

Post by SriKumar »

Good point, completely forgot about the attachments internal to the nacelle. Based on this picture (https://www.safran-group.com/image/241), the FADEC system is probably the gray box on the right side in the picture above (4 o'clock position, forward looking aft) but any and all components are critical and even if one of them at the 6 o'clock position was damaged, to me it is a credit to the machine that it generated enough thrust and took off after that. I guess the key question for investigators now is why did the LG not deploy to begin with, and why did the warnings not come on in the first landing attempt.
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Re: Civil Aviation Development & Discussion

Post by chetak »

SriKumar wrote:Good point, completely forgot about the attachments internal to the nacelle. Based on this picture (https://www.safran-group.com/image/241), the FADEC system is probably the gray box on the right side in the picture above (4 o'clock position, forward looking aft) but any and all components are critical and even if one of them at the 6 o'clock position was damaged, to me it is a credit to the machine that it generated enough thrust and took off after that. I guess the key question now is why did the LG not deploy to begin with, and why did the warnings not come on in the first go.
since they had gone to TOGA power maybe, the increased fuel flow, despite the loss from the leaks may have supported the engines until the oil tanks ran dry and stopped lubrication to the bearings and possibly seizing/destroying them.

Normally the oil tank carries about 23 lts, give or take, depending on the mod state of the engines. This amount would have leaked out fairly quickly and the dry running bearings would have run very much hotter and the residual oil may have started to burn, hence the white smoke emanating from the engines.

just guessing onlee.

However, the deployment of the RAT means that no electrical power was being produced by either engine.
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Re: Civil Aviation Development & Discussion

Post by chetak »

Crashed Pakistan plane’s pilot ignored 3 warnings to lower altitude: Report

The report said that the plane had enough fuel to fly for two hours and 34 minutes, while its total flying time was recorded at one hour and 33 minutes.


May 25, 2020


The pilot of the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA)’s crashed plane ignored three warnings from the air traffic controllers about the aircraft’s altitude and speed before the landing, saying he was satisfied and would handle the situation, according to a report on Monday.

The national flag carrier’s PK-8303 tragedy on Friday, in which 97 people were killed and two miraculously survived, is one of the most catastrophic aviation disasters in the country’s history.

The Airbus A-320 from Lahore to Karachi was 15 nautical miles from the Jinnah International Airport, flying at an altitude of 10,000 feet above the ground instead of 7,000 when the Air Traffic Control (ATC) issued its first warning to lower the plane’s altitude, Geo News quoted an ATC report as saying.


Instead of lowering the altitude, the pilot responded by saying that he was satisfied. When only 10 nautical miles were left till the airport, the plane was at an altitude of 7,000 feet instead of 3,000 feet, it said.

The ATC issued a second warning to the pilot to lower the plane’s altitude. However, the pilot responded again by stating that he was satisfied and would handle the situation, saying he was ready for landing, the report said.

The report said that the plane had enough fuel to fly for two hours and 34 minutes, while its total flying time was recorded at one hour and 33 minutes.

Pakistani investigators are trying to find out if the crash is attributable to a pilot error or a technical glitch.

According to a report prepared by the country’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), the plane’s engines had scraped the runway thrice on the pilot’s first attempt to land, causing friction and sparks recorded by the experts.

When the aircraft scraped the ground on the first failed attempt at landing, the engine’s oil tank and fuel pump may have been damaged and started to leak, preventing the pilot from achieving the required thrust and speed to raise the aircraft to safety, the report said.

The pilot made a decision “on his own” to undertake a “go-around” after he failed to land the first time. It was only during the go-around that the ATC was informed that landing gear was not deploying, it said.

“The pilot was directed by the air traffic controller to take the aircraft to 3,000 feet, but he managed only 1,800. When the cockpit was reminded to go for the 3,000 feet level, the first officer said ‘we are trying’,” the report said.

Experts said that the failure to achieve the directed height indicates that the engines were not responding. The aircraft, thereafter, tilted and crashed suddenly.

The flight crashed at the Jinnah Garden area near Model Colony in Malir on Friday afternoon, minutes before its landing in Karachi’s Jinnah International Airport. Eleven people on the ground were injured.

The probe team, headed by Air Commodore Muhammad Usman Ghani, President of the Aircraft Accident and Investigation Board, is expected to submit a full report in about three months.

According to the PIA’s engineering and maintenance department, the last check of the plane was done on March 21 this year and it had flown from Muscat to Lahore a day before the crash.

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Pakistan government had allowed the limited domestic flight operations from five major airports – Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar and Quetta – from May 16.

After the plane tragedy, the PIA has called off its domestic operation.
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Re: Civil Aviation Development & Discussion

Post by neerajb »

https://youtu.be/bM9ZrliDkNA

Looks like plane was high during approach and touched down 4500 feet down the runway instead of usual 1500. Whether landing gear malfunctioned or pilot forgot to deploy it is unclear. Multiple chimes heard during approach for first landing indicating some problem. After both engines scraped the ground, it would have destroyed the accessory gearbox and stuff. Also TOGA would have stressed already damaged and failing engines. Once the aircraft belly landed there fate was sealed.
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Re: Civil Aviation Development & Discussion

Post by sumsumne »

https://www.deccanherald.com/internatio ... 45980.html

Pak govt seeks explanation about PIA pilot’s conduct prior to crash
SriKumar
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Re: Civil Aviation Development & Discussion

Post by SriKumar »

PIA Karachi airport crash preliminary report is out.
Pilot error, and erratic piloting of the aircraft are initial findings proferred in the report that is not yet public but DAwn has an advance copy.
THere's a doozy in the report.....the landing gear was lowered (And functional) and then it was retracted just before landing (at 1740 ft). DIfficult to explain something like this. It also says FDR stopped recording after sometime due to a 'design limit', so they dont have the last few minutes data. (The report faults the Control Tower for not telling hte plane that it had landed on its belly. How could hte pilots not know the plane was sliding on the fuselange and engines and not on wheels).
https://www.dawn.com/news/1564911/initi ... n-minister
On its first approach, the aircraft was cleared to descend to 3,000 feet by the time it reached Makli. However, "the aircraft ended up higher than the required descend profile" and was at 9,780 feet and a speed of about 245 knots at Makli.
In order to manage the descent and lose the additional height, “OPEN DES” mode was selected via the Fuel Control Unit, both autopilots were disengaged and speed brakes were extended.
The 'Karachi Approach' tower, also called the air traffic control, advised the pilot to do an orbit so that the aircraft could be adjusted on the required descend profile. However, no orbit was executed and the landing approach was continued.
The landing gears were lowered at an altitude of 7,221 feet at around 10.5 nautical miles from runway 25L, according to flight data.
Karachi Approach advised the pilot "repeatedly" about the plane's excessive height but the landing approach was not discontinued. Instead, in a move termed by the aviation minister as "inexplicable", the plane's landing gears were raised and speed brakes were retracted when it was at a height of 1,740 feet and at a distance slightly less than five nautical miles from the runway. The plane then gave over-speed and ground proximity warnings.
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Re: Civil Aviation Development & Discussion

Post by SriKumar »

Pakistan Ailines crash PReliminary report is out. Preliminary findings is on page 14.
Numerous warnings sounded, COntrol tower gave several warnings/cautions. All ignored.
Landing gear lowered prematurely. Then retracted. THen landed with gear up. Took off.
Makes for strange reading as to why pilots would do something like this, its like they just did not care...at any stage.

https://www.caapakistan.com.pk/Upload/S ... IB-431.pdf
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Re: Civil Aviation Development & Discussion

Post by RCase »

SriKumar wrote:Pakistan Ailines crash PReliminary report is out. Preliminary findings is on page 14.
Numerous warnings sounded, COntrol tower gave several warnings/cautions. All ignored.
Landing gear lowered prematurely. Then retracted. THen landed with gear up. Took off.
Makes for strange reading as to why pilots would do something like this, its like they just did not care...at any stage.

https://www.caapakistan.com.pk/Upload/S ... IB-431.pdf
Given that it was Pakistani pilots, the angle of extra-piousness cannot be ruled out. Maybe they were hearing the aazan and ignored all warnings/ cautions. Even the plane had to show piety and the landing gear was retracted and did a take off upon hearing 'Allahu Akbar' from the passengers! :rotfl:
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Re: Civil Aviation Development & Discussion

Post by chola »

Chinis are supporting their aerospace industry. We have the world's third largest aviation market, hope we can do the same for the RTA/IRJ.

Image

https://simpleflying.com/big-three-china-arj21/amp/

The Big Three Chinese Airlines All Take Delivery Of Their First ARJ21s

by Jay Singh
June 29, 2020

Air China, China Eastern, and China Southern have all taken delivery of their first COMAC ARJ21 aircraft as of June 28th. Each of these small jets seat 90 passengers and signify China’s attempt to break into the regional commercial aviation market.

Until now, the ARJ21 has only flown for smaller, regional airlines. Now, with these big three carriers adopting them, the ARJ21s will gain some international prominence with major airlines flying them in China. Plus, most likely, a decent number of foreign passengers may end up connecting to destinations in China onboard these aircraft.

In an announcement viewed by Simple Flying, the manufacturer announced that all three aircraft have an all-economy 90 seat configuration. Air China, China Eastern, and China Southern are all anticipated to take three ARJ21s this year.

All three airlines announced simultaneous orders for 35 ARJ21 jets on August 30th, 2019. The deals were valued at over $1.3 billion each, based on a $38 million-per-aircraft price. Although, carriers likely received a decent discount on the aircraft.

...
SriKumar
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Re: Civil Aviation Development & Discussion

Post by SriKumar »

RCase wrote:
SriKumar wrote:Pakistan Ailines crash PReliminary report is out. Preliminary findings is on page 14.
Numerous warnings sounded, COntrol tower gave several warnings/cautions. All ignored.
Landing gear lowered prematurely. Then retracted. THen landed with gear up. Took off.
Makes for strange reading as to why pilots would do something like this, its like they just did not care...at any stage.

https://www.caapakistan.com.pk/Upload/S ... IB-431.pdf
Given that it was Pakistani pilots, the angle of extra-piousness cannot be ruled out. Maybe they were hearing the aazan and ignored all warnings/ cautions. Even the plane had to show piety and the landing gear was retracted and did a take off upon hearing 'Allahu Akbar' from the passengers!
No kidding. Well, I think it is correct to say that that atleast some of the passengers started to petition Allah for his mercy during landing. One of the 2 survivors said that at the first landing, everyone started praying. I was wondering why....until the first reports came out showing that the plane had landed on its fuselage and engines, scraping along the runway. Then the plane took off. Bizarre pilot response...even the ATC could hear the cockpit alarms going off.
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Re: Civil Aviation Development & Discussion

Post by chetak »

30 June

JUST IN : European Union Air Safety Agency has Suspended Pakistan International Airlines PIA’s authorization to operate to the EU member states for a period of 6 months effective July 1, 2020 owning to 30% Fake pilot licenses


many other countries, notably most of the gelf airlines have all put their paki pilots and engineers on watch and have grounded them pediing clarity on the issues raised in pukistan.

this was a long time coming and also raises serious queries as to whether the pilot(s) of the recently crashed paki flight was/were legitly licensed or not.
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Re: Civil Aviation Development & Discussion

Post by chetak »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-NPkZRAS9Y


B737-300 Risky Landing at Toncontin; Nov 3, 2019


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Re: Civil Aviation Development & Discussion

Post by chetak »

Image
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Re: Civil Aviation Development & Discussion

Post by KL Dubey »

^^Good news, but the guy in the picture seems to be Sudhindra Kulkarni. :lol:
chetak
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Re: Civil Aviation Development & Discussion

Post by chetak »

KL Dubey wrote:^^Good news, but the guy in the picture seems to be Sudhindra Kulkarni. :lol:

Yes, SM is all over rundi tv which got it wrong once again
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Re: Civil Aviation Development & Discussion

Post by chetak »

Air India

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saip
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Re: Civil Aviation Development & Discussion

Post by saip »

An accident in Kozikode. 3 dead. Air India Express - CNN
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Re: Civil Aviation Development & Discussion

Post by Dileep »

Air India Express Vande Bharat flight Dubai to Kozhikode overshot the tabletop runway and nosedived down. Several deaths confirmed as of now.

Heavy rains and cross winds at the time. Luckily, no fire. It is reported that it is the second (or third) attempt after aborted landing.
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Re: Civil Aviation Development & Discussion

Post by saip »

Looking at the wreckage photos the surprised there are survivors. Let us hope the deaths are low.
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Re: Civil Aviation Development & Discussion

Post by nachiket »

The flight was IX 1344 with 174 adult passengers, 10 infants and 7 crew on board.

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nachiket
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Re: Civil Aviation Development & Discussion

Post by nachiket »

Indian Express reporting 11 casualties, including both pilots :cry:

Link
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Re: Civil Aviation Development & Discussion

Post by darshan »

What would be the reason to not land at nearby airport if weather wasn't good?
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Re: Civil Aviation Development & Discussion

Post by sajo »

Squadron Leader (Retd) Deepak Vasant Sathe was the CO of the flight. May be the departed souls attain sadgati. Om Shanti.

Imagine the plight of the passengers as well. They managed to get out of one difficult situation (stranded in another country) right into the jaws of death. The sheer terror in their final moments is unimaginable. I am sure the crew members would have tried their best to avert the disaster, but it was simply beyond their control.
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Re: Civil Aviation Development & Discussion

Post by Rupesh »

Kozhikode AirIndia Express Air crash. Latest news indicates 16 including pilot and copilot dead. Capt Deepak Sathe, the pilot who died in air crash was ex IAF MiG 21 pilot with 17 squadron (Golden Arrows), Ambala. The squadron went to Kargil war 1999. Capt Sathe was an instructor at Air Force Academy.

Om Shanti.
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Re: Civil Aviation Development & Discussion

Post by chetak »

TIMES NOW@TimesNow
#Breaking | Reports: The death toll in the Air India Express mishap has reached 19 with one more death reported from the BMH hospital in Kozhikode. | #CalicutAirCrash
1:44 AM · Aug 8, 2020·
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Re: Civil Aviation Development & Discussion

Post by Mort Walker »

What the hell is going on? This is the second incident of this type after Mangalore in 2010. The people in the Civil Aviation directorate should be fired and hanged. 15 dead after 158 dead in 2010.

Why wasn't EMAS installed? This stuff is cheap.
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Re: Civil Aviation Development & Discussion

Post by Rupesh »

Kozhikode and Mangalore airport should be shut. Both Airports are too risky for civilian flights. Kannur International airport is approximately 125 KM from both Mangalore and Kozhikode, so that can be used.
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Re: Civil Aviation Development & Discussion

Post by SRajesh »

Rupesh wrote:Kozhikode and Mangalore airport should be shut. Both Airports are too risky for civilian flights. Kannur International airport is approximately 125 KM from both Mangalore and Kozhikode, so that can be used.
Rupeshji
But until we get the last mile connectivity ( infra upgrade with roads and rail connectivity) this ain't going to happen!!
Public pressure/regional chauvinism/political rivalry will never let it happen.
Furthermore if this report is true:
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/ind ... 424513.cms
Then it is an act of criminal negligence
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Re: Civil Aviation Development & Discussion

Post by darshan »

Is there any reason that pilots would not have received advanced warning about heavy rains and advised to land at a different airport?
Last edited by darshan on 08 Aug 2020 16:26, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Civil Aviation Development & Discussion

Post by DrRatnadip »

Received this msg on whatsapp..

Its hard to believe that Dipak Sathe, my friend more than my cousin, is no more. He was pilot of Air India Express carrying passengers from Dubai in 'Vande Bharat Mission', which skidded off the runway at Kozhikode International Airport yesterday night.

What is learnt is as follows:
Landing gears didn't work.
Ex IAF pilot made three rounds of airport to empty the fuel which saved plane from catching fire. That’s why there was no smoke seen coming from the crashed aircraft.
He turned off the engine right before the crash.
He belly landed after the 3rd iteration.
The right wing was ruptured.
The Pilot martyred but saved life of 180 co-passengers.

Deepak was an experienced aerial operator with 36 years of flying experience. A passout of NDA, topper in the 58th course and an awardee of 'Sword of Honour', Dipak served Indian Air Force for 21 years before joining as a Commercial Pilot with Air India in 2005.

He called me just a week before and was jovial, as always. When I asked him about the 'Vande Bharat' Mission, he was proud of bringing back our countrymen from Arab countries. I asked him,"Dipak, do you carry empty Aircraft since those countries are not allowing entry of passengers?" He had replied," Oh, No. We carry fruits, vegetables,medicines etc to these countries and never the aircraft flies to these countries empty." That was my last conversation with him.

He survived in air crash in early nineties when he was in Airforce. He was hospitalised for 6 months for multiple skull injuries and nobody thought that he will fly again. But his strong will power and love for flying made him clear the test again. It was a miracle.

He leaves behind his wife and two sons, both pass outs of IIT Mumbai. He is a son of Brigadier Vasant Sathe who stays in Nagpur along with his wife. His brother, Capt Vikas, was also an Armyman who laid his life while serving in Jammu region.

A soldier lays his life to save the lives of his countrymen.
It reminds me of a poem by a soldier :

If I die in a war zone,
Box me up & send me home

Put my medals on my chest,
Tell my Mom I did the best

Tell my Dad not to bow,
He won't get tension from me now,

Tell my brother to study perfectly,
Keys of my bike will be his permanently

Tell my Sis not to be upset,
Her Bro will not rise after this sunset

And tell my love not to cry,
"Because I am a soldier Born to Die...."

... Nilesh Sathe
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Re: Civil Aviation Development & Discussion

Post by Mollick.R »

Pilot killed in Kerala Air India Express crash served in IAF, won NDA Sword of Honour
TNN | Aug 8, 2020, 03.43 AM IST

MUMBAI: Commanding pilot Deepak V Sathe is believed to have died on the spot.
Sathe lived in Powai with his family which includes his wife Sushma and two sons. His older son Shantanu got married March 8, days before the lockdown began on March 25. Shantanu works in the US while Sathe’s younger son Dhananjay is employed with a corporate firm in Bangalore.
A neighbour in Powai said, “Sathe and I were squadron mates in the Air Force, flying MiG-21s in the 1980s during our bachelor days. We have not received an official confirmation from Air India Express (about his condition). We fear the worst although we have not lost hope as yet. His wife Sushma is a strong lady and is quite composed. We are making arrangements for her to travel to Calicut on Saturday.”

He was a wing commander in the Indian Air Force from where he retired and joined Air India about 10 years ago. He flew the Airbus 310 for AI before moving to Air India Express on Boeing 737.

He had a rare passion for flying, said a distant relative who is a senior lawyer.

Sathe studied in Cambrian Hall school, Dehradun. Old school friends, who are from the defence forces, also rang his home to pay condolence.

Meanwhile in Pune, the former vice chief of the Indian Air Force, Air Marshal Bhushan Gokhale (Retd) said, “It is very unfortunate to lose a brilliant officer in this manner.” Sathe was from the 58th course of the National Defence Academy (NDA). “He passed out from the Air Force Academy with a Sword of Honour in June 1981. He was a fighter pilot and served as test pilot of the IAF. He was an excellent squash player too,” he said.

Gokhale, who investigated the Mangalore plane crash in which 158 passengers were killed in 2010, said, “The accumulation of rainwater on the runway surface in the rainy season is the riskiest thing for any pilot. There is a Standard Operating Procedure set up by the DGCA for clearing the water from the runway. The inquiry panel will check this aspect during the investigation."

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/ind ... 424515.cms
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Re: Civil Aviation Development & Discussion

Post by Mollick.R »

From Twitter
MJ Augustine Vinod Flag of India @MjaVinod· 8h

I knew and flew with Sathe sir. Not all of you may know this, he was the Test pilot who flew India’s first AEW&C AVRO, (which later crashed). Sword of honour, president’s medal in NDA, diligent pilot. Om Shanti Bouquet #KozhikodeAirCrash #KozhikodeCrash
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Re: Civil Aviation Development & Discussion

Post by darshan »

I still can't find if the flight diversion was on the table or not, whether weather advisory was on or not, etc.

Is there any reason to not use sensors to monitor amount of water on runway and feed that information back to ATC and pilots?
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Re: Civil Aviation Development & Discussion

Post by Mollick.R »

Kozhikode Runway, true table top :(

(PS the marker on runway looks like 23, to best of my reading Kozhikode runways are 10 & 28. this marker say 23
may be its representative image & DDM work)

Image
Last edited by Mollick.R on 08 Aug 2020 17:45, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: Civil Aviation Development & Discussion

Post by chetak »

the badly damaged cockpit

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Re: Civil Aviation Development & Discussion

Post by Dileep »

The runway is 10-28. Clearly visible from google earth.

The landing gear not deployed story is totally bullshit. In such cases, there are SOPs that will require working with the ATC, and DGCA will know immediately. The pilot can't simply go in and do a belly landing. The ONLY explanation is the aircraft couldn't stop short of the end of the runway. The aircraft is lying almost at the the runway centre line. So, it is evident that the pilot could keep it straight, but ran out of runway. There was no landing gear issue. No wing strike. Nothing. He landed a bit deep, and due to water on runway, couldn't stop. The only contributing reason could be the failure of the thrust reversor.
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Re: Civil Aviation Development & Discussion

Post by Vips »

At least now we should be convinced of need to extend Kozhikode runway: Ex-DGCA chief who warned of safety issues.

Former Kerala bureaucrat E K Bharat Bhushan, who spearheaded and fast-tracked the completion of the Kozhikode airport back in 1988, and later in 2012, helming the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) threatened to shut down the flight operations at the same airport over safety concerns, told indianexpress.com that while multiple factors could have led to the mishap, this should be enough to convince people about the need to extend the runway here. Bhushan, who retired as Kerala Chief Secretary in 2015, was speaking to indianexpress.com over telephone from Thrissur. Edited excerpts:

The Air India Boeing-737 plane that overshot the runway, falling down a hillside at Kozhikode airport yesterday brings back the memories of the 2010 airplane crash at Mangalore airport. You took charge as DG, DGCA soon after that accident; in your views what are the similarities.

Bharat Bhushan: Both Karipur and Mangalore are tabletop airports. In both cases, the pilot appears to have landed well past the touchdown point, and the plane ran out of the runway both times. The only difference, fortunately, is that this one did not catch fire. In Mangalore, you know, we lost 158 souls.

There has been a demand for extension of the runway…..

Bharat Bhushan: It has been a long-pending demand from the Airport Authority of India (AAI) to extend this runway. Unfortunately, it has not seen the light of day. When I was DG, I had tried my part. There is a lot of local opposition to the acquisition of land. I hope now everyone is convinced that there is no other way. Not that it would have prevented the accident, but suppose the pilot had a few thousand feet of more runway space, he would not have had to brake abruptly. What we know is that the landing was so hard, it broke the plane into pieces.

Was it a lack of a political will or the political interference that prevented the acquisition of land for extending the runway?

Bharat Bhushan: I do not know. I can’t be more specific than that. The AAI has been pushing for more land. I personally went there because I knew the place. I was the district collector when the airport came into being. Later on, when I was DG I pushed myself to try and get this additional space, especially in the wake of the Mangalore accident. But there was, shall we say, lack of popular positive response.

But you were the district collector of Malappuram when the airport came into being in 1988.

Bharat Bhushan: In 1987, I was sent there on a specific mission to complete the airport. Because since 1977, it has been going on. The CM asked me to go and get it done and it was a mission mode approach that we took. There were small parcels of land, I cannot recall much, which we managed to acquire and completed the process. The requirement of AAI was only that much. Later on, some part of it was extended, too. But when you want large aircraft to land, you do need more space.

Is Karipur airport one of the most challenging runways in the country, being a tabletop airport?

Bharat Bhushan: It is one of the challenging runways. Some years ago, in a small aircraft, I did a landing in Mangalore. It was frightening. This (Karipur) is a similar airport. But all airports are challenging, particularly when it rains. I don’t think there was any crosswind which could have taken the plane away. The pilot was an expert and has landed here before. So everything including the pilot’s physical and mental condition will come under investigation. After all, the Mangalore accident was proven to be the pilot’s error.

What about the upkeep and maintenance of the airport. You have in the past threatened to shut down the Karipur airport.

Bharat Bhushan: About upkeep, there cannot be two opinions. It is the job of the regulator and the airport operator, which is the AAI. Yes, there have been instances where we threatened them with a complete stoppage of flights. I am from Malabar and the issue was close to my heart. At that time, the survey team from AAI had gone (to identify required land) and they were manhandled. We wanted to acquire more land.

Then what happened?

Bharat Bhushan: we reached a compromise. We decided to have a runway end safety area (RESA) so that there is some added space. RESA is an area at the end of the runway where the plane can sink in if it shoots beyond the runway. It was a compromise. Unfortunately, in yesterday’s accident, the speed of the aircraft was such that it went past the RESA, smashing the perimeter wall.

The airport is not suited for landing large aircrafts?

Bharat Bhushan: At that time we had said only narrow-body aircraft should be allowed to land here. Yesterday’s was a narrow-body aircraft. But, runway upkeep is very important, and rubber particles should be removed from time to time. The re-carpeting here, I believe, was done very recently. But let us not jump the gun. There are enough professionals in the country who can bring out the details, and I am sure they will do it.

What can we expect out of the DGCA inquiry?

Bharat Bhushan: The inquiry would look into just about everything, including the mental balance of the pilots. If they had enough sleep (before the flight), if they were on any medications, etc. There is a comprehensive architecture in DGCA to conduct an inquiry. The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) is on the job. They will have access to everything including the black box, cockpit voice recorder, they will be examining the runway for any abnormalities, etc. We will have to wait for the inquiry report.
chetak
BRF Oldie
Posts: 32224
Joined: 16 May 2008 12:00

Re: Civil Aviation Development & Discussion

Post by chetak »

Dileep wrote:The runway is 10-28. Clearly visible from google earth.

The landing gear not deployed story is totally bullshit. In such cases, there are SOPs that will require working with the ATC, and DGCA will know immediately. The pilot can't simply go in and do a belly landing. The ONLY explanation is the aircraft couldn't stop short of the end of the runway. The aircraft is lying almost at the the runway centre line. So, it is evident that the pilot could keep it straight, but ran out of runway. There was no landing gear issue. No wing strike. Nothing. He landed a bit deep, and due to water on runway, couldn't stop. The only contributing reason could be the failure of the thrust reversor.
The plane touched down near taxiway 'C', about 1,000 metres from the threshold of runway 10, per ATC reports.

Also, it was raining over the airfield and reported visibility at the time of landing was 2,000 metres.

The total length of the runway is 2,700 metres.

Ideally, at this stage, they should have gone around once again but we need to hear what the CVR replay reveals during the crucial last few minutes before any definitive conclusion can be drawn as to the cause of the mishap.
Vips
BRF Oldie
Posts: 4699
Joined: 14 Apr 2017 18:23

Re: Civil Aviation Development & Discussion

Post by Vips »

Landing on a table top airport in heavy rains, with less visibility and when the runway lights were working at less then optimal capacity. SOP is to divert the aircraft to the designated alternate airport. This was clear violation of the standard operating procedure by the ATC. Why the Pilot an ex air force veteran went ahead with the landing boggles the mind.
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