Plaints galore against flying school in AP

Hyderabad: Flytech Aviation Academy has been embroiled in multiple problems. State aviation officials say several parents and enrolled students have lodged complaints about its “unethical practices”.

“We have received complaints about the institute taking full fees but not allowing students to fly due to lack of proper facilities,” said V N Bharat Reddy, advisor (aviation), AP. “While I have summoned its members several times, they have not turned up. I have raked up the issue again and directed the management to submit its explanation.”

Officials said that there have also been verbal complaints against Flytech for not allowing other schools to operate from Nagarjuna Sagar. tnn

27/02/22 Times of India

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DGCA begins probe into aircraft crash

Hyderabad: A day after Maheema Gajaraj, a trainee pilot on Cessna-152 two-seater aircraft died in an aircraft crash in Nalgonda district, two separate teams — safety team of Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) — visited the scene of offence on Sunday and recorded the statements of seven persons.

Apart from speaking to these seven persons, the officials visited the crash site and collected the evidences.

Later, the police officials shifted the mangled remains of the aircraft Flytech Academy hanger in Vijayapuri South near Nagarjunasagar in Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh, where further investigation will be done by these two specialised agencies.

Even as the teams conducted probe for several hours, they have not shared any details to the local district officials.

Unlike in most of the other aircraft accident cases, all the mangled parts of this aircraft were recovered from the close range of the crash spot.

The cause of accident is yet to be known. The police have registered a case under section 304 A (negligence causing death) of IPC against unidentified person. Further action will be taken, based on the report from the two investigation teams.

“The agencies might take atleast 3 months to submit their final report to Ministry of Civil Aviation,” Nalgonda district authorities told TOI. 

27/02/22 Times of India

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Bravery or foolishness? Air India flight flies through Ukrainian air space

Guwahati, Feb 26: Term it as bravery or sheer foolishness, a commercial Air India flight was spotted in war-ravaged air space of Ukraine. The air space over Ukraine and its border with Russia is empty and heavy air traffic has been avoided in the region since Thursday, however, the spotting of the Air India flight has left everyone astounded. As per a flight tracking app FlightRadar24, the Ukrainian air space which has been emptied following the Russian invasion, an Air India flight AI121, a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner en route from Delhi, India to Frankfurt, Germany was spotted.

According to reports, the Air India flight AI121 simply barreled through the closed airspace, over the marauding "Ghost of Kyiv", the Battle of Antonov Airport where the An-225 was reportedly changing hands every four hours depending on which reports you believed, and all the other chaos erupting below.

Considering the risks of civil flights operating in the conflict zone all civilian aircraft have been restricted over Ukraine and parts of Russia. Hundreds of flights were diverted around Ukraine after the country closed its airspace. The decision of flying over the conflict zone where jets and fighter planes were pounding missiles could have turned out to be fatal. Given the risk of both intentional targeting and misidentification of civilian aircraft, at all altitudes and flight levels, fortunately, all the passengers landed safely in Frankfurt.

26/02/22 Assam Tribune

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Airlines should stop flying over Ukraine amid tensions with Russia: Conflict zone monitor

A conflict zone monitor on February 23 said airlines should stop flying over any part of Ukraine because of the risk of an unintended shootdown or a cyberattack targeting air traffic control amid tensions with Russia. 

Safe Airspace, which was set up to provide safety and conflict zone information for airlines after Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was shot down over eastern Ukraine in 2014, said it had increased its risk level to "do not fly."

"Regardless of the actual movements of Russian forces into Ukraine, the level of tension and uncertainty in Ukraine is now extreme," Safe Airspace said on its website. "This itself gives rise to significant risk to civil aviation."

Russia has closed some airspace in the Rostov flight information region to the east of its border with Ukraine "in order to provide safety" for civil aviation flights, according to a notice to airmen. Airports at Dnipro, Kharkiv, and Zaporizhzhia in Ukraine are closed to traffic until the morning of February 24.  No reasons were provided for the closures.

Separatists in Ukraine asked on February 23 for Russian help to repel "aggression" and Kyiv announced compulsory military service and a state of emergency as the West slapped more sanctions on Moscow in a bid to stop an all-out invasion.

The United States, Italy, Canada, France, and Britain have advised their airlines to avoid certain airspace above eastern Ukraine and Crimea but so far have stopped short of a total ban. Safeairspace.net said it expected updated guidance could be issued soon.

24/02/22 ZeeNews

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Flights to have child restraint system

New Delhi: The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has sent an advisory to all airlines in India to implement a child restraint system (CRS) to protect infants in flight. The DGCA took the step based on the recommendations of a sub-committee that was formed after the Air India Express accident in Kozhikode in August 2020. The circular of the DGCA is applicable to commercial air transport (Scheduled Operations). 

Here is all you need to know about it>>

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Amritsar-bound Vistara flight carrying 146 passengers makes emergency landing at Delhi airport

New Delhi: An Amritsar-bound Vistara flight made an emergency landing at Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport on Thursday morning due to a technical snag in the aircraft.

There were 146 passengers on the flight when it took off from the Indira Gandhi International Airport for Amritsar.

Soon after taking off, the pilot detected the snag, following which he immediately contacted the airport authorities.

A senior police official said they received a call regarding the emergency landing at 10:15 am on Thursday.

The emergency was sounded at runway number 28 of terminal number 2 which is bound for domestic flights.

Officials of the fire department said six fire engines were rushed to the Indira Gandhi International Airport after receiving the information regarding the emergency landing.

17/02/22 Tanseem Haider/Poulomi Saha/India Today

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Mumbai-Bhuj Alliance Air flight takes off without engine cover, probe initiated

An Alliance Air flight took off from the Mumbai airport without its engine cowl (cover), which fell off on the runway. The flight was destined to fly from Mumbai to Bhuj airport. "Alliance Air was scheduled to fly from Mumbai to Bhuj. In contrast, the aircraft`s engine cowl fell on the runway and took off without an engine cover," a Mumbai airport source told in his statement.

"The flight landed safely at Bhuj airport. While the aircraft's engine cowl fell on the runway and took off without an engine cover," a Mumbai airport source told in his statement. "The flight landed safely at Bhuj airport. An investigation has started against the airlines," a DGCA official told in his statement. 

Soon after the flight took off from Mumbai, the Mumbai Air traffic controller (ATC) reported the issue. Mumbai ATC said that "Engine Cowling has been found on the runway side after takeoff. It appeared to be from ATR aircraft VT-RKJ at BOM, operating 91-625(BOM-BHJ). The aircraft is still in continuation of flight," Mumbai airport official told reporters.

Captain Amit Singh, an aviation expert, blamed poor maintenance work for the incident. "Incidents of cowl separation usually occur post maintenance activity if latches are not secured. The crew is also expected to ensure that the engine cowl is sited before commencing the flight," he said. 

10/02/22 ZeeNews

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His Plane Crash-Landed On Gwalior Runway. 85-Crore Bill Given To Him

Bhopal: A Madhya Pradesh pilot, among those who were dubbed "Covid warriors" for putting their lives at risk during the pandemic, has been handed over a bill of ₹ 85 crore by the state government for causing damage to an aircraft last year because he crash-landed at the Gwalior airport. Captain Majid Akhtar, along with his co-pilot with the Madhya Pradesh government, was ferrying samples of suspected COVID-19 patients and a shipment of drugs used to treat infected patients when the aircraft hit the arrestor barrier on the runway during landing. The pilot has alleged that he was not informed of the barrier that caused the accident and also demanded an inquiry to find out who failed to follow up on the insurance of the aeroplane if it wasn't insured before being allowed to operate, as is the norm.

The state government, in its charge sheet to the pilot last week, had claimed that the state plane that cost around ₹ 60 crore was reduced to scrap because of the crash. They added another ₹ 25 crore as the cost to hire planes from other private operators as a consequence.

Captain Majid Akhtar in his reply to the charge sheet, that has been accessed by NDTV, has said the crash was caused by the arrestor barrier installed at the Gwalior airport about which he was not informed by the Air Traffic Controller (ATC). The pilot, who has flying experience of over 27 years, has also alleged that he was not provided with the contents of the black box which contains all the instructions received from the Gwalior ATC.

The state-owned plane had crash-landed in Gwalior on May 6, 2021. The aircraft, a Beech Craft King Air B 250 GT, was carrying 71 boxes of Remdesivir from Ahmedabad to Gwalior when it landed on the Gwalior runway after hitting the arrestor barrier. Three persons, including pilot Majid Akhtar, co-pilot Shiv Jaiswal and naib tehsildar Dilip Dwivedi, had escaped with minor injuries.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), India's civil aviation regulator, had suspended Mr Akhtar's flying licence for a year. The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau is also investigating the case.

The state government is silent over how the aircraft was allowed to fly without following up on the mandatory insurance protocols. Experts say the government could have recovered the cost of the plane even after it was reduced to scrap had the insurance protocols been followed.

The incident had resulted in major damage to the cockpit front, propeller blades, propeller hub and wheels of the newly-bought plane.

The state government has also held the pilot responsible for failing to keep his licence valid post the crash. Mr Akhtar, in his reply to this charge, has said that licences of several pilots have been suspended in the past only to be revoked later and that he should not be held guilty till the DGCA completes its enquiry.

The Madhya Pradesh government had bought the aircraft, a seven-seater Beechcraft King, for more than ₹ 65 crore in 2019. 

07/02/22 Anurag Dwary/NDTV

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