Nepalese rescuers resumed their search on Monday for four persons still missing after a passenger plane with 72 people, including five Indians, crashed into a river gorge while landing at the newly-opened airport in the resort city of Pokhara, killing at least 68 people onboard.
An official financial audit of all Indian carriers has found that safety issues were being neglected by some of them due to serious financial distress and suggested stringent action, including cancelling of flying permits, against two major carriers.
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.
A US district court in Washington State has issued summons to Air India in a multi-million dollar law suit filed by a former manager and senior instructor pilot of the Boeing Company.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation has refused to validate the licenses of about 25 foreign pilots operating in India, owing to their failure in English proficiency.
The policy has been finalised after nearly eight months since the Ministry came out with the revised draft in October 2015.
Air India will purchase 220 planes from Boeing for $34 billion, with an option to buy 70 more aircraft that could take the total transaction value to $45.9 billion, a deal that US President Joe Biden described as a "historic agreement". While announcing the Boeing-Air India deal on Tuesday, Biden also asserted that together with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he was looking forward to deepen the ties between India and the US. As per an announcement from the White House, Boeing and Air India have reached an agreement under which the airline will purchase 190 B737 MAX, 20 B787, and 10 B777X for a total of 220 firm order valued at $34 billion at list price.
An Air India pilots' grouping has raised fatigue concerns in the wake of flight crew rosters generated using a new rostering tool, saying that extended waiting periods between duty time will jeopardise crew alertness and performance. "Extended waiting periods, occurring before active flight duties, run counter to enhancing crew readiness and, in fact, contribute to the accumulation of fatigue over time," the Indian Pilots Guild (IPG) has said. In a letter to Air India head of safety Henry Donohoe last week, IPG said it has been recently observed that the relentless pursuit of operational efficiency and economic gains has led to an unintended overshadowing of the primary intent behind Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) regulations.
In their pre-budget expectations, they also asked the government to assess the option of developing unused airstrips located in various parts of the country to boost air connectivity.
Aviation security watchdog BCAS has recommended installation of scanners based on computer tomography technology at airports whereby passengers will not be required to take out electronic devices from their hand baggage before going through the scanner. Currently, the scanners used at airports provide a two-dimensional view of the objects inside a hand baggage. Jaideep Prasad, Joint Director General of the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS), on Wednesday said the regulator has proposed installing scanners based on computer tomography technology at airports that will provide a three-dimensional view of the objects in hand baggage.
In an advisory, DGCA said there are provisions under the civil aviation requirement for action to be taken by the airline to deal with unruly passengers.
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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.
Abhay Gadru and Yash Ramugade, both 25, from Mumbai, were in the small twin-engine light aircraft -- a piper PA-34 Seneca -- which crashed on Friday near the local airport in Chilliwack city, about 100 km east of Vancouver.
Air India announced up to 50 per cent reduction in monthly allowances of its employees, who have a gross monthly salary of more than Rs 25,000.
The pilot-in-command has been sacked for violating aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation's safety norms after following due process, SpiceJet said in a statement.
Civil Aviation minister Praful Patel on Wednesday said the modernisation and restructuring of major airports has started with Delhi and Mumbai airports.
commercial airlines and air navigation service providers have to carry out random drug tests on at least 10 per cent of their flight crew and air traffic controllers every year.
The Union Cabinet is slated to discuss three major policy issues on Thursday -- from enactment of new legislation of benami transaction bill 2011, a Memorandum of Understranding with Pakistan on Drug Demand Reduction, and prevention of illicit trafficking in narcotic drugs.
Insolvency tribunal NCLT on Wednesday rejected Go First lessors' petitions to take back the planes leased to the grounded airline, and said the aircraft are available for resumption of operations since aviation regulator DGCA has not deregistered them. A two-member bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) held that physical possession of the aircraft/engines would be "indisputably" with Go First and lessors cannot claim possession during the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) of the carrier. According to the tribunal, aircraft and its engines are the sole essence of Go First's business and if taken away, it would result in its "corporate death" leaving no scope for its resolution.
The intellectual vacuum that the government is often accused of is more than evident in the policy draft.
'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.'
Majority of India's international routes have been captured by foreign airlines.
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Such direct import was formally allowed in February 2012 but the aviation companies lack the infrastructure to do so.
Aviation regulator DGCA on Tuesday started the special audit of the facilities of Go First, which has sought approval for restarting operations. A team of officials from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) started the special audit of the facilities of Go First in Mumbai on Tuesday, according to an airline executive. The audit of the facilities will be done on Wednesday also.
The report quoted the civil defence as saying that there were no survivors in the incident.
Prabhat Kumar, who has been appointed as the DGCA chief three months ago, is taking steps to ensure safety of passengers.
India and the European Union on Monday decided to extend an agreement to continue cooperation in the civil aviation sector, especially in safety, security and air traffic management for two more years.
The new ruling by the Australian Communications and Media Authority will bring Australia into line with other countries that have allowed fliers to text, check email and use data during flights.
Being given the soft option of resigning suggests he was being sheltered by top management but the government got rid of him for the wrong reasons.
About a week ago, DGCA officials conducted surprise checks and grounded a Reliance Industries-owned 14-seater Falcon 900EX.
About 350 Boeing 737 Max 8 are currently in service with airlines around the world, with thousands more on order. Boeing insists it has no reason to pull the popular aircraft from the skies.
In a clear violation of safety norms Air India allowed three extras passengers on board a fully loaded flight.
Currently, the airline has about 13,000 employees.
"Pakistan Air Force continuously monitored the complete flight path of the flying object from its point of origin in Sirsa in India till its point of impact near Mian Channu and initiated requisite tactical actions in accordance with standard operating procedures," Pakistan Army spokesman Major General Babar Iftikhar said.
Air India has ordered 470 aircraft to serve the Indian economy and is set to receive a new aircraft every six days over the next 18 months, CEO and MD Campbell Wilson said on Friday. He was speaking at the 67th Assembly of Presidents of the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines here. "We have new aircraft, we are recruiting many, many new crew and staff, improving the training regime and there is more work to do and we are making good progress," he said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a pitch for electing a strong and stable government in an uncertain world beset by geopolitical tensions as the Bharatiya Janata Party on Sunday released its manifesto, prioritising development and welfare while shunning populist measures and contentious issues like the National Register of Citizens (NRC).
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation, which is monitoring individual airports' adherence to safety standards, is in the process of issuing licenses to three airports based on their security compliance.
SpiceJet has failed to 'establish safe, efficient and reliable air services' under the terms of Rule 134 and Schedule XI of the Aircraft Rules, 1937, the notice issued by the DGCA stated.
