The recent spate of technical glitches in aircraft has prompted the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to issue an order on July 18, making aircraft maintenance engineers (AMEs) with category B1/B2 licences the final authorities in certifying planes. This has put the spotlight on the availability of such personnel. According to the order, airlines were resorting to frequent one-off authorisation by the Category A certifying staff at transit stations, which is not in line with existing regulatory provisions.
IndiGo had the best on-time performance (OTP) of 95.4 per cent at four metro airports in February, while Go First secured the number two position with 94.1 per cent in the same month, according to data released by aviation regulator DGCA. Bengaluru, Delhi, Hyderabad, and Mumbai were the four airports where Indigo had the best OTP, the data released on Monday said. In January, the situation was inverse as Go First had logged the best OTP of 94.5 per cent at the four airports while IndiGo was at number two with 93.9 per cent OTP.
Among the impacted flights, Air India's flight AI 185 from the national capital to Vancouver that was to depart early in the morning was rescheduled.
Till now, aircraft that are more than 15 years old were not allowed to be imported
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, in-flight meal service was not permitted on domestic flights since their resumption on May 25. On international flights, only pre-packed cold meals and snacks were being served depending on the flight duration since May this year.
The regulator is now planning to bring in other workers in the aviation ecosystem under the purview of the breath-analyser test. It will include air traffic control officers (ATCOs), ground-handling personnel, flight despatchers, aerodrome operation personnel and engineers.
"The Indian government approached asking us to open the airspace. We conveyed our concerns that first India must withdraw its fighter planes placed forward," Nusrat told the committee.
The sources said that during the boarding, the male passenger behaved in an unruly manner and touched the female cabin crew member inappropriately.
Increasing cases of aviators in India complaining of fatigue and in some cases leading to death have spurred the DGCA to bring in draft rules to reduce stress.
DGCA said there are 13 aircraft in the airline's fleet in which both the PW engines have been used for more than 3,000 hours.
Prevent highly intoxicated travellers from boarding the aircraft, limit alcohol intake, instal CCTV cameras and sensitise staff about sexual harassment -- are part of the detailed guidelines given by the Delhi Commission for Women to the aviation regulator amid rising incidents of unruly passengers on flights.
The airline filed a police complaint against the woman, who was travelling in business class.
This instruction is a temporary measure and shall be in force till March 31 and will be reviewed subsequently.
Air India had placed an order for 68 aircraft, including Boeing 737s, 777s and 787s, all valued at $11 billion in Dec 2005.
Kerala Home minister Ramesh Chennithala said an inquiry has been ordered.
These measures follow the Germanwings crash last month.
Preliminary investigation revealed that the aircraft had crashed into the mountains after it swerved to the right, instead of turning to the left due to inclement weather.
The whereabouts of Mahinda Rajapaksa is being speculated since his resignation on Monday.
"The AI865 flight on Thursday got delayed as it developed a technical snag. It had to return to the bay. Passengers started knocking on the cockpit door, asking and taunting the pilots to come out," said an airline official. "One male passenger even said that he will break open the cockpit door if the pilots didn't come out," the official said, adding the situation inside the plane "went from bad to worse".
Budgetary support of Rs 10,00,000 each was provided to Hotel Corporation India, Aero Club of India and Indira Gandhi Rastriya Uran Akademi.
'If a drone can't fly airspace without the DGCA knowing about it, how did such a big plane get airborne?' 'The DGCA knows this aircraft had undergone major repairs. Now, the question is who allowed it.' 'The DGCA cannot come out of this.'
The proposal to issue new rules has come just six days after the DGCA said it has imposed a fine of Rs 5 lakh on IndiGo airline for denying boarding to a specially abled child at Ranchi airport on May 7.
A senior DGCA official said that the flight has been grounded and a detailed probe has been ordered into the matter. All the passengers are safe.
Domestic air traffic rose 4.8 per cent on an annual basis to 126.48 lakh in February, while more than 1.55 lakh passengers were affected by flight delays during the same period, according to official data released on Friday. In February, Air India's market share rose to 12.8 per cent from 12.2 per cent while that of IndiGo marginally dipped to 60.1 per cent from 60.2 per cent in January. The domestic air traffic climbed to 126.48 lakh in February compared to 120.69 lakh in the year-ago period, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said.
Banerjee also stated that the plane did not fall into any air pocket, rebuffing reports that had claimed otherwise.
None of the 55 passengers or five crew members was injured, they said, adding the DGCA has started an investigation.
The agency is carrying out searches at eight locations in Delhi, Noida, Lucknow and Mumbai in this regard.
'Candidates will receive hands-on training in drone piloting, maintenance, data analysis, and regulatory compliance.'
The Irish firms had sought to deregister SpiceJet.
A Delhi-bound SpiceJet plane hit a stray buffalo on the runway while rolling for take-off from Surat airport late Thursday night, providing anxious moments to the 146 people on board.
SpiceJet apologised for the inconvenience caused to the passenger and will also provide a full refund. As the passenger kept waiting in the lavatory, a cabin crew slipped in a note asking the passenger not to panic and that despite trying their best, the door could not be opened.
Aviation watchdog DGCA will conduct a special audit of grounded airline Go First's facilities in the national capital and Mumbai from July 4 to 6 before approving the revival plan for resumption of flights, according to a senior official. Cash-strapped Go First stopped flying on May 3 and is undergoing a voluntary insolvency resolution process. Meanwhile, a senior executive at the airline expressed hope of resuming ticket sales -- which was paused by DGCA following the grounding of the carrier -- from July 7 or July 8 and subsequent relaunch of the operations from middle of next month.
A number of countries like Canada, Turkey, Belgium, Italy and Israel have banned flights from the UK as the British government warned that the potent new strain of the virus was "out of control" and imposed a stringent new stay-at-home lockdown from Sunday.
The DGCA has derostered the Air Traffic Controller (ATC) who was on duty at the time of the incident on Saturday, while IndiGo has initiated a probe into the matter
In another tweet, Gandhi also expressed concern over frequent emergency landings of flights due to one snag or another at a time when domestic air fares have almost doubled.
Shares of low-cost airline IndiGo hit record high on the bourses soon after reports of pilot crisis at Vistara emerged. The development also saw airfares surge by around 25 per cent on select routes. Shares of IndiGo hit a lifetime high of ~3,68.5 on April 2, 2024, and has gained 2.4 per cent on the bourses in April.
The flight with about 70 passengers on board left Chennai around 7.30 am and when it was about to land around 8:25 am, smoke was noticed from one of its engines.
Jet said three of its aircraft were temporarily grounded for engine normalisation and are expected to rejoin scheduled operations on February 1.
The airlines in their representation had said that pilots had to be spared for the renewal procedure, which took a lot of time.
The strike would impact all the operations of the airlines. The union has threatened strike if its demand for continuing the employees' present permanent jobs with the state-run AAI is not heeded to and they have to join private airport operators like Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL) and Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL).
