Boeing identifies new software problem on grounded 737 Max

WASHINGTONLONDON : Boeing Co. engineers have discovered a new software problem on the grounded 737 Max that must be patched before the plane can return to service, Federal Aviation Administration chief Steve Dickson said. Dickson confirmed during remarks in London Thursday that the agency is evaluating the issue. Boeing representatives didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. Read More

KIA’s first runway to close for 7 months

BENGALURU: The old runway at Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) will be closed for nearly seven months to facilitate runway upgradation work, including installation of CAT-IIIB landing system that enables pilots to land aircraft in low visibility conditions. Read More

GoAir starts phasing out A320 ceo planes

New Delhi: GoAir has started phasing out A320 ceo planes from its fleet and two such aircraft have already been moved out of operations, according to an official. Last year, the no-frills airline deferred phasing out of all its 15 A320 ceo (current engine option) aircraft in the wake of the closure of Jet Airways to ensure adequate planes in the fleet since it was allocated slots of the shuttered carrier at various domestic airports. Read More

Meteorological Terminal Air Report (METAR)

Meteorological Terminal Air Report (METAR) Definition

Meteorological Terminal Air Report (METAR) – literally ‘Meteorological Terminal Air Report’ or more straightforwardly ‘Routine aerodrome meteorological report’

Code Name

The indicator group e.g. METAR, SPECI, or TREND as appropriate. Where a number of METARs are issued in the same bulletin, this, along with a date time group may be in the bulletin header. Read More

Mountain Waves

Definition

Mountain Waves is defined as oscillations to the lee side (downwind) of high ground resulting from the disturbance in the horizontal air flow caused by the high ground. Read More

Analysis of Helicopter Accident on 24 Nov 15 – Muleri, Nagaland

On 24 Nov 15, a Helicopter belonging to Pawan Hans, flying for Govt of Nagaland ,met with an accident at Meluri helipad injuring two crew members and four passenger.

The helicopter was on a scheduled task Dimapur-Kohima-Mon-Meluri-Kohima. The flight was uneventful up to Mon. The helicopter took off from Mon to Meluri at 0455 Z. The flight up to Meluri approach was uneventful. On Meluri approach, pilot approached for beginning of the helipad. As he entered area around helipad at about 5-6 feet a huge dust bowl engulfed the helicopter. The visibility of the pilots reduced to zero due to dust bowl, pilots got disoriented and initiated a go around. After about 5 sec of initiating go around first Main rotor and then nose hit the 30 feet hillock, the helicopter toppled to the left. The helicopter caught fire in aft cabin, engine and front tail boom. All six occupants (two pilots and four passenger were rescued by local people and taken to hospital at Kohima. Both pilots sustained serious injuries while all four passengers received minor injuries. Read More

Ukraine plane crashes near Tehran, all 176 on board killed

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.

Ukraine3

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.

Plane1Associated 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.

plane2Introduced 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.

Boeing, like other airline manufacturers, typically assists in crash investigations. However, that effort in this case could be affected by the US sanctions campaign in place on Iran since President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers in May 2018.
Both Airbus and Boeing had been in line to sell billions of dollars of aircraft to Iran over the deal, which saw Tehran limit its enrichment of uranium in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions. But Trump’s decision halted the sales.
Under decades of international sanctions, Iran’s commercial passenger aircraft fleet has aged, with air accidents occurring regularly for domestic carriers in recent years, resulting in hundreds of casualties.

 

Indigo flight to Mumbai on Jan 6th 2020, loss of cabin pressure

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.