In recent times, there have also been instances of GPS spoofing and interference incidents at Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Amritsar, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Chennai airports.
The Delhi High Court agreed to hear a plea regarding mass flight cancellations by IndiGo, while the Supreme Court acknowledged the chaos as a 'serious matter'. IndiGo has cancelled 500 flights, leaving many passengers stranded.
Taking a serious note of the situation, the civil aviation ministry said it has invoked regulatory powers to ensure fair and reasonable fares across all affected routes.
'IndiGo will receive a sharp rap on the knuckles -- a punishment, a huge penalty. 'I look towards them creating a compensation fund.' 'I would like to think they would do that for all the passengers who are affected on every single day since cancellations began.'
Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Ajit Singh was sworn in as the 33rd member of the Union Cabinet, and 77th in the Union council of ministers on Sunday morning. Singh is widely expected to be allotted the civil aviation portfolio. This is the fourth time Singh has been inducted into the Union Cabinet.
Rashtriya Lok Dal chief Ajit Singh on Monday took charge of the civil aviation ministry, saying it was a 'sensitive' portfolio.
Pilots' body the Federation of Indian Pilots (FIP) has alleged that IndiGo, despite getting a two-year preparatory window before the full implementation of new flight duty and rest period norms for cockpit crew, "inexplicably" adopted a "hiring freeze."
Domestic carrier IndiGo has cancelled over 180 flights from three major airports on Thursday, as the Gurugram-based airline struggles to secure the required crew to operate its flights in the wake of new flight-duty and rest-period norms for pilots.
Talks between senior officials of civil aviation ministry and the Indian Pilots Guild began in Mumbai on Saturday shortly after noon to resolve the issue of operating in SARS-affected regions by the unions.
The Navi Mumbai International Airport will be inaugurated on October 8, Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani said on Wednesday. The airport, which received the aerodrome licence from aviation safety regulator DGCA on Tuesday, is being developed in multiple phases.
The decision came a day after the resignation of Telugu Desam Party's Ashok Gajapathi Raju was accepted by President Ram Nath Kovind
The civil aviation ministry is considering three proposals to set up privately-owned, or merchant, airports in Gwalior (Madhya Pradesh), Durgapur (West Bengal) and Jhhajjar (Haryana).
'It has got to be the biggest error in aviation. If it is the biggest error, then all those individuals in positions of power should be removed because they have caused the biggest meltdown in Indian aviation history.'
'Where rostering systems are automated and duty time software interfaces directly with DGCA, the assertion that they suddenly discovered crew shortages is simply implausible.' 'If adequate crew planning hasn't materialised within 12 to 24 months from inception, how will 45 days -- from December 5 to February 12 -- suddenly resolve matters?'
Ahead of the passage of the Finance Bill in Parliament, Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh is understood to have shot off a letter to the Finance Ministry protesting the proposal on the grounds that the move would not only hit passengers but spell more trouble for the airlines which were already reeling under severe financial stress.
A fire broke out on Tuesday in the first floor of the Rajiv Gandhi Bhawan in New Delhi, which houses office of the Union civil aviation ministry, but no one was injured and no files or records were damaged.
An Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner experienced an uncommanded deployment of its Ram Air Turbine (RAT) shortly before landing. The DGCA is investigating the incident, raising safety concerns.
The ICMR has been permitted to use drones up to a height of 3,000 metre to deliver vaccines, the ministry's statement added.
The civil aviation ministry reports six aircraft engine shutdown incidents and three May Day calls in India this year. The Air India plane crash investigation is ongoing, with all aspects being examined.
The truth about what triggered the fatal crash of the Dreamliner should not only help bring the guilty to book, but also outline the future course of action in aviation safety, notes Nivedita Mookerji.
'It is most pertinent to note that in over 25 years of flying, Captain Sabharwal had not had a single incident or accident-causing fatalities or otherwise'
Four buildings -- Atulyam 1, 2, 3 and 4 -- which were damaged in the crash are being vacated, and occupants will be given alternative accommodations.
The Federation of Indian Pilots (FIP) has asked the government to reassess possible technical misinterpretation or mechanical faults in Air India's Boeing 787-8 plane that crashed last month and sought inclusion of subject matter experts in the probe.
Air India has been issued nine show cause notices for safety violations in the last six months, according to the civil aviation ministry. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has taken enforcement action on one violation. This follows a fatal accident involving an Air India Boeing 787-8 aircraft.
A control room has also been set up in Ahmedabad and the numbers are 9978405304/079-23251900.
The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) is expected to release its preliminary report this week on the Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad, which resulted in the deaths of at least 260 people. The investigation is ongoing, with the help of foreign experts, and the black box and voice recorder data are being analyzed.
Rudraprayag District Disaster Management Officer Nandan Singh Rajwar told PTI that the accident took place above the forests of Gaurikund amid poor visibility due to bad weather.
Under the civil aviation ministry, AAIB is responsible for the classification of safety occurrences, involving aircraft operating in the Indian airspace into accidents and serious incidents.
SpiceJet on Sunday said a senior Army officer, who was to board a flight to Delhi, assaulted four airline ground staffers at the Srinagar airport on July 26, and one of them suffered a spinal fracture.
Authorities will conduct a survey of the areas surrounding the Ahmedabad airport, in the wake of last week's Air India plane crash that claimed 270 lives, to check whether any structures were violating height norms and posing a threat to aircraft safety, an official said on Thursday.
A SpiceJet employee, Mudasir Ahmad Khan, claims he was assaulted by an army officer at Srinagar airport for enforcing baggage rules. He demands action against the officer, while the army says it is cooperating with the investigation.
Aviation regulator DGCA has issued four show cause notices to Air India for various violations related to cabin crew rest and duty norms, cabin crew training rules and operational procedures, a month after the airline made certain voluntary disclosures to the watchdog.
Aviation regulator DGCA plans to implement measures to control excessive air ticket price increases, following concerns raised during a parliamentary panel meeting. The meeting also addressed air safety issues in light of the Ahmedabad plane crash.
In modern aircraft, there are cockpit voice recorder and digital flight data recorder.
The ministry also said it remains committed to full transparency relating to the ongoing investigation and will follow all mandated protocols and norms in the larger interest of the highest standards of passenger Safety and convenience.
'When I went and saw, there was smoke everywhere. There was fire all around'
Air India reiterated that its priority remains extending assistance to the families.
Both the CVRs and FDRs were recovered within a week after the accident. One was retrieved from a rooftop of the building at the crash site on June 13, and the other from the debris on June 16.
Civil Aviation ministry has cancelled approval to the controversial private airport project at Aranmula in the Pathanamthitta district of Kerala.
The development also comes against the backdrop of Turkiye backing Pakistan and condemning India's strikes on terror camps in the neighbouring country earlier this month.
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