Disaster averted: Jeep on runway forces Air India plane to lift off early from Pune

NEW DELHI: An Air India aircraft on high speed take off roll at Pune airport Saturday, 15 Feb 2020 morning was forced to get airborne earlier than planned to avoid a possible collision with a jeep that was dangerously near the airstrip. The aircraft had a speed of 220 kmph when an alert Captain Vikram Singh Besoa and first officer Mansika Harlan decided to go for early rotation — lifting nose wheel off the ground — instead of completing the take off roll as planned before doing so. The jeep belongs to Indian Air Force (IAF), which operates the Pune defence airfield, and there was also a man near the runway.
The rear section of Airbus A321, which has a longer fuselage than A320, scraped the runway in the process. Luckily it (VT-PPU) took off uneventfully at 7.55 am and flew all the 190 on board, including 180 passengers, safely to its destination Delhi as AI 852 where it landed at 10.17 am. “Prima facie, Captains Besoa and Harlan have prevented a disaster,” said a senior pilot. Continue reading Disaster averted: Jeep on runway forces Air India plane to lift off early from Pune

Canada’s Bombardier Sells A220 to Airbus, Exits Commercial Aviation

 

Once the third-largest aircraft maker, Canada’s Bombardier on Thursday announced the sale of its A220 stake to Airbus and the Quebec government, effectively exiting commercial aviation after a failed expansion. Heavily indebted, the Montreal-based company is also reportedly in talks to sell its rail division to France’s Alstom, which would leave the former Canadian manufacturing titan to build only business jets. Continue reading Canada’s Bombardier Sells A220 to Airbus, Exits Commercial Aviation

Two SpiceJet pilots’ licences suspended for unsafe landing at Mangalore airport

NEW DELHI: Flying licences of two SpiceJet pilots have been suspended for 4.5 months for carrying out an unstabilised landing at the tabletop runway of Mangalore airport and “jeopardizing safety of the aircraft and passengers”. Runway edge lights of this airport were found damaged after a SpiceJet Boeing 737 flew in Mangalore from Dubai on October 31, 2019. Continue reading Two SpiceJet pilots’ licences suspended for unsafe landing at Mangalore airport

RUNWAY EXCURSIONS -AN ATC PERSPECTIVE ON UNSTABLE APPROACHES

What is a Runway Excursion? A runway excursion as “An event in which an aircraft veers off or overruns the runway surface during either take-off or landing.” Runway excursions lead to more runway accidents than all the other causes combined.

What causes a Runway Excursion? There are many factors that may cause a runway excursion, including;-

Runway contamination.

Adverse weather conditions.

Mechanical failure.

Pilot error.

Unstable approaches. Continue reading RUNWAY EXCURSIONS -AN ATC PERSPECTIVE ON UNSTABLE APPROACHES

SAFETY AND JUST CULTURE

Safety Culture is the way safety is perceived, valued and prioritised in an organisation. It reflects the real commitment to safety at all levels in the organisation. It has also been described as “how an organisation behaves when no one is watching”.

Safety Culture is not something you get or buy; it is something an organisation acquires as a product of the combined effects of Organisational Culture, Professional Culture and, often, National Culture.

Safety Culture can therefore be positive, negative or neutral. Its essence is in what people believe about the importance of safety, including what they think that their peers, superiors and leaders really believe about safety as a priority. Continue reading SAFETY AND JUST CULTURE

DGCA suspends IndiGo captain for misbehaving with wheelchair bound senior citizen

NEW DELHI: The aviation regulator on Monday suspended an IndiGo captain’s flying licence for three months after its probe found that the pilot had behaved aggressively with a wheelchair-bound senior citizen and her daughter on a Chennai-Bengaluru flight last month.

The daughter had complained on social media on January 14, a day after her harrowing experience, following which Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) chief Arun Kumar had ordered a probe into the issue and the senior pilot was grounded.

The altercation had happened when during deplaning in Bengaluru, a lady passenger asked the lead cabin crew for an early wheelchair assistance for her 75-year-old mother. The pilot-in-command (PIC) intervened at this point, leading to an altercation.

The regulator’s probe into the behaviour of January 13’s 6E-806 PIC has found that he had “misused his authority in intimidating and threatening the wheelchair-bound passenger and her attendant by saying that they will be handed over to CISF and a police case will be registered against them for unruly behaviour.”

The PIC, says the probe report, “further directed IndiGo security staff to detain both the lady passengers from deplaning. The PIC exhibited aggression… (He) also insisted on an apology letter from the(two), which further delayed the matter and the passengers were detained for about 75 minutes after the start of de-boarding process of the flight.

“The airline has informed the aviation ministry that the pilot has been off-rostered (meaning will not be assigned flights) pending full inquiry,” Puri had Tweeted on January 14.

The DGCA ordered a probe and issued a show cause notice to the PIC. “After examining the reply of the PIC to the show cause notice, it was established that (his) attitude towards the wheelchair-bound senior citizen passenger was intimidating, threatening and lacked compassion. His actions led to avoidable detention of wheelchair bound passenger. He exhibited lack of ability in managing threat and error situation especially when he was to operate another commercial flight after a short duration, DGCA has suspended the license held by the PIC for a period of three months,” said a senior DGCA official.

Offshore Operations

 

The term “offshore operations” is used to describe situations where not only a part of the flight takes place over large bodies of water but when most of the flight, including the main objectives, are to be completed away from dry land. Driven by industry demand, the use of helicopters in offshore operations has increased greatly in the recent years. Because of their VTOL and hover capabilities, helicopters are often used to support:

  • Construction and maintenance of offshore wind farms;
  • Construction and maintenance of offshore oil and gas platforms;
  • Various ship operations;
  • Various authorities (e.g. coast guard).

Continue reading Offshore Operations

Terminal Doppler Weather Radar (TDWR)

 

A Terminal Doppler Weather Radar (TDWR) system detects and reports hazardous weather in and around airport terminal approach and departure zones.

The TDWR identifies and warns air traffic controllers (ATCs) of low altitude wind shear hazards caused by microbursts and gust fronts, in addition to reporting on precipitation intensities and providing advanced warning of wind shifts. Continue reading Terminal Doppler Weather Radar (TDWR)