Death at Mumbai

AI Techie sucked into plane's engine in Mumbai, killed!!!

Img. courtesy: indianexpress.com

 In a freak accident, an Air India service engineer died after he got sucked into a live engine of an A-319 aircraft at Mumbai airport on Wednesday 16th December 2015 at 8:30 pm. The engineer identified as Ravi Subramanium, was in his forties.

        AI flight 619 from Mumbai to Hyderabad was being pushed back from the parking bay before take-off. An aircraft can move only forward and so needs external help to reverse from the parking bay. A tow van is used to push back and the process is carried out with an engineer placed at the nose of the plane to be visible to the pilots. The aircraft with about 100 passengers on board was being pushed back and Ravi Subraminium was supervising the push back from the ground. The flight's APU was also not functioning which forced the aircraft to start one of its engines while grounded.

(click on the link for more info on APU)

For more reading:
Times of India 17th Decenber 2015 pg. no. 9


     

Chennai downpour brings hovoc

Chennai Airport Closed due to heavy rains!!

As many as 3,500 people, including 1,500 passengers, were stranded on Wednesday morning at the Chennai international airport, which has been closed for operations till Thursday morning following flooding of the runway. 

Airports Authority of India (AAI) said all the stranded passengers are being moved out of the airport, but did not reveal the exact number of those evacuated so far.

A NOTAM (Notice to Airmen) has been issued by AAI, which manages the airport, to all air operators with regard to suspension of flight operations till 6 am tomorrow. This notice is a communication that informs pilots about potential risks to flight safety.

Srivastava said 66 arrivals and 53 departures have been cancelled since 2000 hours yesterday. “The runway is flooded but the terminal building is safe,” he added.

Nearly 35-37 aircraft, mostly of domestic airliners, are grounded at the airport.

Asked when the flight operations were likely to resume, he said, “If the rain stops, then only we can give you some type of time frame, but if it won’t stop then we can’t say anything as Chennai and neighbouring districts are badly affected. If water recedes, then only we will be able to do something.”

MH370 found?
Plane wreckage 'containing many skeletons and painted with the Malaysian flag is found on remote Philippine island'... but could it REALLY be Flight MH370?

Plane wreckage containing 'many skeletons' and painted with the Malaysian flag has reportedly been found in the Philippines, prompting speculation it could be missing Flight MH370.

Police confirmed they had received reports of the discovery in thick jungle on the remote island of Sugbai in Tawi-Tawi province.

An audio technician, Jamil Omar, contacted police in Malaysia to say his aunt, Siti Kayam, had stumbled upon the wreckage while she and others were hunting for birds.

Police commissioner Jalaludin Abdul Rahman, based in neighbouring Borneo, said the woman claimed she climbed into the smashed fuselage and saw skeletons.

'She also found a Malaysian flag measuring 70 inches long and 35 inches wide.' 

According to a local media report 'There was a skeleton still in the pilot's seat. The pilot had his safety belt on and the communication gear attached to his head and ears.'  

It would be unlikely that the flaperon (above) had been able to drift from the Philippines to Reunion, given that land – Borneo, the Malaysian mainland and parts of Indonesia – would be in the way!

For further reading:

Click HERE

Courtesy: http://www.dailymail.co.uk

Lohegaon Airbase

10-ft high compound wall at airbase.

Image Courtesy: Times of India (2nd October 2015)

The Air Force Station (AFS), Lohegaon, has begun constructing a 10-ft high compound wall to demarcate and secure possession of its land on the western end of the runway. The air base is spread over 34 acres.

"Wherever you see the compound wall coming up is the Air Force land and we are just demarcating it," Air Commodore A K Bharti, Air Officer Commanding (AOC) of 2 Wing, AFS, said on Thursday.

The wall is critical to projects like the extension of the runway and to ensure against disputes over possession of land that belongs to the AFS. "The runway extension project will take some time to materialise," Bharti added.

The AFS and the civilian authorities are facing a situation over the closure of the road that passes through the Air Force land that links the city to Lohegaon village, to facilitate the runway extension work. Lohegaon villagers maintain they will have to take a detour to the city if the road is closed. The runway's extension won't be possible without the road's closure.

AFS Lohegaon was open for schools on September 30 ahead of the 81st annual day celebrations of the Indian Air Force (IAF).Over the last decade, the AFS has contributed immensely towards the integration of new aircraft weapons system into the existing infrastructure. It is also facilitating civilian passenger flight operations.

For more reading:

Times of India (Pune) pg 7

e-paper: http://epaperbeta.timesofindia.com/index.aspx?eid=31814&dt=20151002

24 year long grounded plane shifted finally!



While all failed to shift the aeroplane, long-parked for 24 years in the vicinity of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar International Airport, Nagpur, the new Airport Director Roshan Kamble, who recently took over the charge of his office, succeeded in shifting the aeroplane to the location of Nagpur Flying Club on Tuesday, Sep 29. The Airport authority personnel took a sigh of relief over this, for it was said be causing threat to the traffic on the runway.

Talking to media personnel present over there, Kamble said, “It took just half-an-hour to move the plane. Though its wheels were not in working order, so we replaced them with wheels of Boeing and the plane was pulled and shifted to the location of Nagpur Flying Club. I did it on priority as this work had been pending over a long period of time and was causing concern to all.”

New Flight

PM Modi announces New Delhi-San Francisco direct flights

Modi said from December 2, Air India will run direct flights thrice a week from Delhi to San Francisco.

China Rocks!!

Boeing confirms 300 orders from China

Boeing confirmed 300 aircraft orders/commitments from Chinese companies and said it will open a joint venture 737 “completion” facility in China.

The announcements were made as Chinese President Xi Jinping toured 787, 777 and 747-8 final assembly lines in Everett, Washington.

The 300 orders/commitments are divided among Chinese leasing companies and Chinese airlines; specific airline destinations for the aircraft were not announced. Widebodies comprise 50 of the orders/commitments while 250 are for 737s, Boeing said. The company valued the 300 aircraft at $38 billion at list prices.

Boeing also said that it has entered into an agreement with the Commercial Aircraft Corp. of China (COMAC) to open a joint venture facility in China for “interiors completion, paint and delivery of Boeing 737 aircraft to Chinese customers.” The airframes will still be built in Washington state before being flown to China for the completion work.

Conner noted in the letter that “China is our largest international market, accounting for about 1 in 4 of our deliveries so far this year. Going forward, China will be the largest commercial aviation market in the world.”