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.
The phone conversation came amid escalating tensions between India and Pakistan over the April 22 terror attack that killed 26 civilians.
India briefed envoys of around 45 nations on the Pahalgam terror attack and its link to cross-border terrorism. The envoys were briefed in two batches by senior officials of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). India also announced punitive measures against Pakistan, including expulsion of Pakistani military attaches, suspension of the Indus Water Treaty of 1960 and immediate shutting down of the Attari land-transit post. Pakistan responded by shutting its airspace to all Indian airlines and suspending trade with New Delhi.
Airlines waive cancellation and rescheduling fees and boost flight capacity from Srinagar.
Vasant Shinde, a former municipal council president of Jintur in Parbhani district, told PTI that he survived the 1993 tragedy, in which 55 people lost their lives, as the aircraft flew into an 11 KV powerline, which fortunately did not have any supply.
Air India pilots said Ahmedabad airport has long been known for bird activity near the runway, which could have contributed to the incident.
Civil Aviation Secretary Vumlunmang Vualnam on Thursday said the number of planes with domestic airlines will increase to 1,400 in the next five years as he highlighted the growth potential of the country's aviation space. Currently, the fleet is around 800 aircraft and leading carriers IndiGo and Air India have placed significant plane orders.
Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Saturday slammed Tata Group-owned Air India for allotting him a 'broken and sunk' seat, prompting his ministerial colleague K Rammohan Naidu to instruct the airline to take 'necessary action'.
'That refresh programme -- because they are big aircraft and we cannot ground them all at the same time -- will last well into 2027.'
The DGCA directive called for a series of specific checks before each flight's departure from India, including inspection of fuel parameter monitoring systems, cabin air compressors, and electronic engine control units.
India has revoked all visas issued to Pakistani nationals effective April 27, advised Indian nationals in Pakistan to return home, and suspended visa services to Pakistani nationals. The move comes in retaliation to the Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 people and alleged cross-border links to the attack. This escalation follows India's previous actions against Pakistan, including expelling Pakistani military attaches, suspending the Indus Water Treaty, and shutting down the Attari land-transit post.
An IndiGo flight from Delhi to Srinagar encountered severe turbulence after a sudden hailstorm. The pilot requested permission from Lahore Air Traffic Control to use Pakistani airspace to avoid the turbulence, but the request was rejected. The flight, carrying over 220 passengers, including Trinamool Congress MPs, landed safely at Srinagar Airport. The incident is being investigated by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
Mohammad Javad Hosseini, the deputy chief of mission at the Iranian embassy, said more evacuation flights could be operated in the coming days to bring back Indians if required.
Villagers living near the International Border and Line of Control in Jammu are on high alert following the recent terror attack in Pahalgam, preparing underground bunkers and accelerating crop harvesting. The incident has heightened security concerns despite a renewed ceasefire agreement between India and Pakistan in 2021. Residents are demanding swift action against the perpetrators and their handlers.
The move follows the recent probe report by the United States National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) that highlighted safety concerns involving Boeing 737 aircraft equipped with Collins Aerospace SVO-730 Rudder Rollout Guidance Actuators.
An Air India aircraft with 242 passengers on board heading to London crashed in the Meghaninagar area near Ahmedabad airport on Thursday afternoon, the police said.
'$125 million for the hull and the remaining of over $350 million for liability.'
Even as New Delhi turns up the heat on Turkish firms over Ankara's public embrace of Islamabad, Indian companies rooted in Trkiye are staying put. Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M), Dabur India, and Jubilant FoodWorks say it's business as usual, with no plans to alter course despite the geopolitical chill.
InterGlobe Aviation, the parent of the country's largest airline IndiGo, on Wednesday posted its highest ever fourth-quarter profit after tax of Rs 3,067.5 crore, mainly helped by strong air travel demand. The company's profit after tax in the three months ended March 2025 jumped 62 per cent from Rs 1,894.8 crore in the year-ago period.
Let Air India - that anyway flies very limited international routes, often bleeding profusely and makes huge losses on trunk routes - do this national service, says Anjuli Bhargava.
Indicating its intentions to fly abroad very soon, proposed airline AirAsia India on Wednesday trashed the "bizarre" policy of allowing carriers to operate international flights only after five years of domestic operations.
The Director General of Air Operations said "whatever methods and whatever means we have chosen, it had the desired effects on the enemy targets",
The termination led to chaotic scenes at the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport as the 211 passengers on the Boeing 777-200 LR tried to convince officials to let them reach their destination at the earliest.
Destinations like Coorg, Munnar, the Western Ghats, and parts of the North East, are at their scenic best in the monsoon.
'We were told that we would be taken care of when we reached Delhi. But we did not find a single Kashmiri government official who could guide us.'
Tourists hesitant to visit America due to frequent policy changes there.
As many as 94 per cent of travel and tourism industry leaders consider AI to be critical to their business.
He, however, cited the sensitivity of information due to the ongoing probe into the matter to decline to share more details, sources said.
In modern aircraft, there are cockpit voice recorder and digital flight data recorder.
'They will cover up the failures of all the others.'
'It is an indication that they had forgotten to retract the landing gear. That causes heavy drag, and you cannot accelerate or gain height too fast with a hanging gear.'
IndiGo has delivered impressive operating performance in the past six quarters as it navigated cost and capacity challenges. It has managed to mitigate the impact of faulty engine-related groundings. The airline has also managed costs related to grounding, expensive secondary leasing, increasing airport charges, and pilot compensation inflation and delivered stronger yields and spreads.
'Visualise those 15 to 18 seconds: Fully loaded aircraft, pilot manually controlling with both hands (no autopilot immediately after takeoff), looking forward while switches are behind.'
With only a few days to go before the country celebrates Holi, several airline companies offered discounts on fares on the occasion of the festival of colours. While two airlines are providing discounts on both domestic and international networks, another has the offer only for the domestic sector. Low-cost airline Akasa Air said it is offering an all-inclusive one-way fare starting at Rs 1,499 on domestic routes.
'Take care Maa, flight take off karne wala hai, wapas aakar baat karti hoon.'
Airports across the country witnessed chaotic scenes on Friday after dozens of flights were either delayed or cancelled after a widespread global computer outage that also hit operations like cash withdrawal at some banks, and impacted functioning of some brokerages. Globally, the Microsoft cloud outage led to US airlines cancelling flights, but the tech giant later reportedly said its cloud services outage in the Central US region has been resolved.
IATA informed travel agents that they would have to remit the ticket sale proceeds to airlines every week.
Videos of the moments of turbulence shared on social media showed panic-stricken passengers could be heard making religious supplications as the plane swayed.
Colonel Sofiya Qureshi revealed that 300 to 400 drones were deployed across 36 locations, with several being shot down by Indian forces using both kinetic and non-kinetic methods.
India is the third-largest domestic airline market in the world, up from number five position a decade ago, according to analysis based on OAG data. The data shows India's domestic airline capacity doubling in a decade from 7.9 million in April 2014 to 15.5 million in April 2024. In reaching the third slot, India has replaced Brazil (pushed to fourth place with 9.7 million) and Indonesia (relegated to fifth in the rankings with 9.2 million).
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