'Whoever is doing it (threats to airlines), they are actually carrying out a recce.' 'This is the manner in which terrorists strike.'
The safety and security of citizens is primary for the government, he said.
'A few answers for the reason of the crash will be known -- whether it was a technical fault, design issue, human error etc.'
Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL), which operates India's largest airport, dismissed the expert committee report as "inaccurate", claiming it relied on "probabilities, hypothesis, and conjectures" rather than empirical data or complete documentation.
'Who tried engine relight?' 'If the first officer was the one flying at takeoff, the captain may have taken control immediately post-thrust loss.' 'But the AAIB report doesn't clarify any of this.'
Security at the Mumbai airport has been tightened following intelligence inputs suggesting that terrorists were planning to carry out a hijacking attempt for securing the release of some terrorists.An alert has been issued following a meeting of senior officials of Civil Aviation Ministry, Bureau of Civil Aviation Security and Home Ministry, Civil Aviation Ministry sources said on Thursday.During the meeting, preparedness of 'different layers' were discussed.
Indian Air Force fighter planes will be on standby to keep a close watch on any suspicious activity in the Delhi sky, including UAVs or drones, as the national capital gets ready to host the G20 summit, a senior official from a department engaged in airport operations said.
The proposal is awaiting final policy sanction from the home ministry.
'In 50 seconds, the pilots were fighting drag, trying relight, throttling up and avoiding obstacles.' 'They had neither height nor speed. There was no margin.'
The DGCA pointed to cracks on the runway, water stagnation and excessive rubber deposits among other lapses in its show-cause notice. The DGCA conducted the inspection after an Air India Express flight coming from Dammam in Saudi Arabia had a 'tail strike' while landing at the Calicut (Kozhikode) airport on July 2 last year, an official said.
The sources said the aircraft was allotted a remote bay C-33 instead of a Contact Stand, an aircraft parking stand that is suitable for walking passengers to and from an aircraft from an allocated boarding gate. This further added to passenger woes and deprived them the opportunity to avail basic facilities like rest rooms and refreshments at the terminal, they added.
'The switch can't be shut off by an accidental brush of the hand, but needs effort, conscious physical action to operate it.' 'Was it the software of the aeroplane that caused the switch to turn off?' 'Was it the hardware of the aeroplane?' 'Was it both software and hardware put together?'
'The DGCA, the ministry of civil aviation, Air India, the Airports Authority, all of them together form what I call an organised syndicate' 'In India, it is a fashion to blame the pilot because then nobody asks questions about the incompetence and grave negligence of this State-run syndicate.'
The threats via microblogging platform X came a day after three international flights originating from Mumbai received bomb threats, causing trouble to hundreds of passengers and airline crew.
A family of five, returning to their hometown at Koducalli in Kozhikode from Dubai, were aboard the fateful Air India Express flight that crash-landed at the Kozhikode airport claiming at least 18 lives on Friday.
Over 30 passengers have suffered ear and nose-bleed after the crew on Jet Airways flight 9W 697 reportedly forgot to select a switch that helps maintain cabin air pressure
Security agencies are closely monitoring developments in the wake of killing of Osama bin Laden with Union Home Ministry issuing a country-wide alert to ensure safety of United States nationals and enhanced security at American and Jewish installations in particular.
The report, released a little over a year after the deadly crash of the Air India Express plane, said the "probable cause of the accident was the non adherence to SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) by the PF (Pilot Flying)".
The King Air C90 12-seater aircraft had taken off from the Juhu airstrip on a test flight.
An official of the aviation regulator DGCA had said that the pilots aborted the take off after they were informed about a 'barrier' on the runway
Sobha Puravankara is yet to explain to the safety lapses found by the DGCA.
The mortal remains of co-pilot Akhilesh Kumar were cremated on Sunday "with attendance from all family members as well as with the officials of Air India and Air India Express present to mark respect to the departed soul at Mathura, his hometown".
With full-service carrier Jet Airways and budget airline SpiceJet operating 737 MAX planes, the DGCA has decided to seek information about the aircraft from Boeing as well as the two domestic carriers in view of the air crash in Ethiopia.
'Digital Flight Data Recorder (DFDR) and Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) of the ill-fated aircraft have been retrieved. AAIB (Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau) is conducting investigations,' Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri tweeted, as fresh questions were raised on the safety parameters of the runway.
'People have been flying for years on the basis of a police clearance and an airport entry pass.' 'Then they came out with a convoluted thing -- that your police clearance must be from your place of residence.' 'Now if a pilot is sitting in Delhi but is from Timbuktoo, the papers will have to come from there.' 'So at any point, you have a certain number of pilots sitting on the ground because his AEP has expired and the papers haven't come.' Revealed: India's bizarre processes to get pilots to fly planes.
Both the pilots of the flight have been grounded, pending enquiry, the airline said, adding the incident took place around 1630 hrs.
A former Australian defence official, who headed the search for the missing Malaysian jet MH370 in the Indian Ocean, will lead Australia's MH17 plane investigation and recovery operation in Ukraine.
The search for missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 has come to an end with passengers' families being informed that the effort to find the plane has been suspended.
Serving pilots question the Kozhikode plane crash report findings.
They also inked a pact for cultural exchanges through 2018-2020.