Aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation has suspended the licenses of GoAir pilots who landed the Nagpur-Bengaluru flight on November 11, 2019, even after they lost visual reference when the aircraft was 50ft above the runway. Read More
TEHRAN: A Ukrainian airplane carrying 176 people crashed on Wednesday shortly after takeoff from Tehran’s main airport, killing all onboard, Iranian state TV and officials in Ukraine said.
The plane had taken off from Imam Khomeini International Airport in the Iranian capital when a fire struck one of its engines, said Qassem Biniaz, a spokesman for Iran’s Road and Transportation Ministry. The pilot of the aircraft then lost control of the plane, sending it crashing into the ground, Biniaz said, according to the state-run IRNA news agency.
The plane carried 167 passengers and nine crew members from different nations on its flight to the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, Biniaz said. The crash killed all on board, Iranian emergency officials and Ukraine’s foreign ministry said.
Flight data from the airport showed a Ukrainian 737-800 flown by Ukraine International Airlines took off Wednesday morning, then stopped sending data almost immediately afterward, according to website FlightRadar24. The airline did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy extended his condolences to the families of the victims. The country’s Prime Minister Oleksiy Honcharuk confirmed the casualty toll.
“Our task is to establish the cause of the crash of the Boeing and provide all necessary help to the families of the victims,” said parliament speaker, Dmytro Razumkov, in a Facebook statement.
The majority of the passengers were Iranian nationals, Russia’s RIA Novosti agency reported, citing Iranian authorities. Staff at the Boryspil airport in Kyiv, where the plane was headed, told The Associated Press that passengers on this flight are usually Iranian students coming back to Ukraine after winter holidays.
Associated Press journalists who reached the crash site saw a wide field of field of debris scattered across farmland. The dead lay among shattered pieces of the aircraft. Rescuers in masks shouted over the noise of hovering helicopters as they worked.
The crash came hours after Iran launched a ballistic missile attack targeting two bases in Iraq housing US forces in retaliation for the killing of Revolutionary Guard Gen. Qassim Suleimani.
The Boeing 737-800 is a very common single-aisle, twin-engine jetliner used for short to medium-range flights. Thousands of the planes are used by airlines around the world.
Introduced in the late 1990s, it is an older model than the Boeing 737 MAX, which has been grounded for nearly 10 months following two deadly crashes.
A number of 737-800 aircraft have been involved in deadly accidents over the years.
In March 2016, a FlyDubai 737-800 from Dubai crashed while trying to land at Rostov-on-Don airport in Russia, killing 62 onboard. Another 737-800 flight from Dubai, operated by Air India Express, crashed in May 2010 while trying to land in Mangalore, India, killing more than 150 onboard.
Chicago-based Boeing Co. was “aware of the media reports out of Iran and we are gathering more information,” spokesman Michael Friedman told the AP.
An Indigo Airbus A320-200N, registration VT-ITA performing flight 6E-6449 from Bangalore to Mumbai (India), was descending through about FL200 towards Mumbai about 40nm south of Mumbai when the crew declared emergency due to the loss of cabin pressure and initiated an emergency descent, the passenger oxygen masks were not released. The crew downgraded the emergency to PAN after reaching 10,000 feet and continued for a safe landing on Mumbai’s runway 27 about 15 minutes later.
The airline reported the aircraft had an air-system indication caution in flight, the crew followed standard procedures. The aircraft is currently inspected by maintenance, it was not an engine related issue.
Passengers reported the captain announced “emergency descent”, a rise in temperature and a rapid descent followed. The aircraft was received by emergency services.
It took over 14 hours for 162 passengers on a GoAir Pune-Kolkata flight that was scheduled to take off on Sunday night to reach their destination.
Go Air flight G8 394 that become scheduled to take off at 10.25pm on Sunday needed to be diverted to Bhubaneshwar because of terrible visibility in Kolkata. The flight become first delayed because of technical issues with the aircraft. An alternate flight become organized and passengers needed to repeat the boarding formalities.
According to the airline, the crew could not be allowed to fly as they had exceeded flight duty time limitation as mandated by the DGCA
“GoAir flight G8 394 from Pune to Kolkata was diverted to Bhubaneswar due to bad weather in Kolkata… GoAir sincerely regrets any inconvenience caused to its passengers,” said the airline spokesperson.
Chennai: A Sri Lankan Airlines flight which arrived in Chennai on 17/02/2019, Sunday morning from Colombo suffered a flat tyre while it was being taxied to the parking bay, airport authorities said. However, no casualties were reported as all the 142 passengers onboard had alighted, a top airport official told.
“Yes, it happened when the aircraft was being taxied to the bay. There were no injuries to anyone,” the official said. According to the official, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has been apprised of the incident. Sri Lankan Airlines officials could not be reached for comment.
BENGALURU: Two jets of the Indian Air Force’s Suryakiran Aerobatic Team collided in Bengaluru a day before the Aero India show begins in the city. The pilots of the two jets have ejected safely, initial reports said. No casualties reported till now.
The accident took place at the Yelahanka airbase in north Bengaluru. Reports claims that the incident took place during a practice session for Aero India 2019, set to begin Wednesday.