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Showing posts with the label Incident

The Indian truth behind the ruins of Takshasila

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        The truth behind the ruins of Takshasila Takshasila (Taxila ) was a vital Buddhist centre from the fifth century B.C. to the Sixth Century A.D. Takshasila illustrates the different stages in the development of a city on the Indus. It included the ancient Neolithic Saraikala mound, the Sirkap fortification (2nd century B.C.) and the town of Sirsukh (1st century A.D.). Central Asian, Persian and Greek influence can be witnessed at Takshasila. (Centre, 2023). Ancient Takshasila was situated at the pivotal junction of South Asia and Central Asia. The common association of the Huns with Takshasila has been the destroyer of the Buddhist structures at Takshasila. The name “Huns” has been associated with atrocities committed against select groups and vandalism, especially by Attila  in Europe. However, no reliable evidence exists of the Alkhan carrying out such atrocities and destruction in the outgoing fourth century. New archaeological research has revealed that this image does not
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Risky approach & poor investigation of a close shave for 145 Air India passengers at Surat

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Source: DGCA incident report An Air India A320 from New Delhi to Surat on 04th Oct 2017 had a narrow escape from disaster when the crew decided to continue with a high speed approach and touched down late, more than half way down the runway. The investigation was carried out by a sole investigator and the report submitted 3 years hence, which is 3 times later than an accident report would have taken. This gives an indication of the weightage that is given by the authorities to find out the root cause and prevent such occurrences. The report reveals that the aircraft touched down at the position as indicated in the pictorial description above. The report findings document that 600m was remaining for the flight crew to stop the aircraft. The visibility was absolutely clear but the investigator did not question the Air Traffic Controller why no one could see the aircraft overshoot the runway and report the same? The aircraft was not grounded and the cockpit voice recorder which is a vital
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A DHL cargo plane made an emergency landing at Heathrow Airport on Saturday evening after the pilot reported smoke in the cockpit.

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  A DHL cargo plane made an emergency landing at Heathrow Airport on Saturday evening after the pilot reported smoke in the cockpit. The Airbus A300 touched down safely after 11pm with emergency vehicles on standby it then taxied to the terminal. Airport firefighters were supported by fire crews from London Fire brigade The incident was declared as a full emergency response. Heathrow fire crews investigated the issue but were unable to determine the cause. Reported by Airlive
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Kozhikode runway friction delayed as top policy makers certify the runway safe for operations

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The runway friction test is mandated by the DGCA to be carried out periodically for safe flight operations.  A medium to big aircraft typically lands at a speed of 220-260 kmph. The primary means of stopping the aircraft is with the wheel brakes like any other vehicle. Since the runway length is limited,it is therefore important that the runway is not slippery & the wheels have a good grip on the runway by generating friction between the two surfaces.Lesser friction would mean lesser braking response. Factors that affect braking are the condition of the runway, dry/wet & rubber deposits. Each landing of the aircraft leaves behind about 700 gms of rubber from the tires due to sudden wheel spin up and this accumulates over a period of time depending on how busy the airport is.  If the rubber is not removed periodically, the grains of the runway surface which provide the grip get filled with the rubber and they become smooth. Adding to this if there is even a film of water few mil
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Standards for passenger evacuation from aircraft not upated finds USA audit.

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  The current standard is to demonstrate that the aircraft can be evacuated by all passengers in 90 seconds using half the exits. There have been increasing number of evacuations where it has been observed that the pasengers were carrying their personal belogings or delaying the evacuation to collect their belongings. The test scenario is conducted with motivated volunteers who have been briefed on the scenario. However a real evacuation with changing passenger profile will present different challenges. FAA largely updates its evacuation standards only after accidents, and its last update that was based on an accident occurred in 1991 . FAA also has not conducted sufficient research on passenger behaviors and seat dimensions to determine how they affect evacuation standards. Furthermore, FAA does not collect comprehensive data from evacuations or data from aircraft model certifications to identify emerging risks and needs for regulation updates. Read the full report here  FAA’s Process
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Boeing's reluctance to admit mistake & Indian Aviation master's perpetual state of denial makes two to tango, will the B-737Maxreturn?

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  Well begun but safety agenda got pushed behind William Boeing established his company, he went to his airplane factory housed at the Duwamish shipyard in Seattle and began to step all over improperly sawed “spruce ribs” until they broke. He used these wooden boards to build his new airplanes. The point, as relayed from his official Boeing biography, was that he was a perfectionist and demanded that his products be of the highest quality and safe. Unfortunately the philosophy was dissolved by those who took over the reigns of the company and instead of safety, production and profits became the driving force. Boeing has had a history of known design defects beginning with the B-737 Rudder problems, B-747 Centre Tank Wiring issues, B-787 Battery problem and finally the B-737Max MCAS. Attitude issue Indian aviation has faced their share of ups and downs. Unfortunately the masters who run the show do not defer or consult experts in the respective fields before taking decisions but rely on
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Indian aviation's startling disclosure, upto 80% incidents due engineering/technical issues

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Facts as told by the Government! Indian aviation has witnessed an increase in number of incidents in the past few years and so has the traffic increased. The surprising revelation is that the 70-80% of the incidents are attributable to Engineering and Technical issues including component failure.15-20% Operational issues and 5-10% Human error. (Source Lok Sabha Question Answer 2020). The statement above shows that Human Factors is NOT understood by the policymakers and the people responsible for safety. The terms remains buried in text waiting to be understood. Globally, accident numbers have dropped significantly with the introduction of the Generation 4 aircraft types. Statistics over the life of each generation of jet show a significant improvement in the level of safety since the introduction of third generation aircraft and the latest fourth generation. Introducing TAWS technology with the third generation aircraft saw a huge reduction in the number of CFIT fatal accidents when co
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Etihad incident at Calicut,June'19, highlighted airport infrastructure issues. This could have been the wakeup call!

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Etihad June 2019 Two incidents that could have saved the Air India Express accident at Khozikode. Unfortunately, no one acted on the concerns raised by the GCAA investigators. Isn't it criminal negligence? Synopsis First SpiceJet Q400 runway excursion in rain, August 2017 and now on 20 June 201 9 , an Etihad Airways, Airbus A320 - 232, registration A6 - EI T , operated a scheduled passenger flight EY2 5 0, from Abu Dhabi International Airport , the United Arab Emirates, to Calicut International Airport , India .  During the ILS approach to runway 28 , the flight crew initiated a go - around due to heavy rain over the runway as reported by air traffic control ( ATC ) . Approximately 16 minutes later, the flight crew initiated a second i nstrument landin g system ( ILS ) approach to runway 28.  On landing, the Aircraft touched down to the right of the runway centerline, and the right main landing gear then struck five runway edge lights. The Commander was able to steer the Aircraft
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The brain might block the Go-Around call by the Co-Pilot & the Driver might not see traffic ahead

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I have always wondered how a normal situation turns abnormal in a split second. Is it a twist of fate or is the brain programmed to do so in order to help in cognition?   How does the crew performing an approach to land continue to land on an unstable approach   despite the SOP’s which have multiple checks and call outs from the second pilot? The general perception is that the brain is facilitating attention by blocking out certain sensory inputs but the flip side is that   when the pilot is focusing on the vision to sight the runway, the brain can also be filtering out sensory inputs from the co-pilot to discontinue the approach and go-around for safety reasons.   Similarly, if you are engaged in an intense conversation over the phone while driving, it doesn’t matter if the phone is held in the hand or you are using a hands-free, the brain is more engaged in the conversation than driving and unexpected objects might be missed. Preventing distractions Imagine yourself parking your car
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Thai Airways B-747 carries out emergency manoeuvre after descending too low, April 2018

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Read the full report On April 11, 2018, around 23:52 JST, a Boeing 747-400, registered HS-TGX, operated by Thai Airways International Public Co., ltd. as a scheduled flight 660 for Tokyo International Airport, executed a go-around as an emergency operation to avoid crash into the ground in approach to Runway 16L when the aircraft descended to 282' and 3 nautical miles to touchdown at Haneda airport. The B-747 was almost 600' below the descend profile. The aircraft thereafter requested an approach to land on Runway 22 and landed on Runway 22 around 00:04 on the following day. There were 384 persons onboard, consisting of the PIC, 18 flight crew members and 365 passengers. No one was injured and there was no damage to the Aircraft. Probable cause In this serious incident, it is probable that the Aircraft maneuvered an emergency operation to avoid crash into the ground because it came close to the ground surface in approach to Runway 16L at Tokyo International Airport.
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Air India B-787 fuel leak, should the crew start APU and increase risk?

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Fuel Leak What happened? On 21st August 2017, M/s Air India Ltd Boeing 787-800 aircraft VT-ANE was involved in fuel leak incident during taxi to the runway while operating flight AI - 131 (Mumbai to London). Aircraft started taxiing and after about 02 minutes in the taxi to the Runway 27, fuel imbalance message was displayed to the crew. The crew of M/s Oman Air flight OMA-202, which was taxiing behind AI-131, observed the fuel coming out from the RH wing and reported same to the air traffic controller (ATC) informed AI about the fuel leak immediately. Aircraft stopped on taxiway and crew switched off both the engines. Approximately 1850 Kg of fuel was leaked from the aircraft. No human injury was reported in the incident. Why did happen? The exact cause of the fuel leak could not be ascertained. However, it is suspected that the presence of debris, in the Right main tank boost pump outlet check valve, has contributed to the fuel leak. Should the APU have been started? The fuel leak fr
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