Page 2 - Aviation Safety

FAA restores Boeing's ability to certify Max jets over 6 yrs after crashes

Boeing is getting back the ability to perform final safety inspections on 737 Max jetliners and certify the planes for flight more than six years after crashes of the then-new model killed 346 people, the Federal Aviation Administration said Friday. The FAA said it decided to restore the aerospace company's authorisation to issue airworthiness certificates for Max and 787 Dreamliner passenger planes starting Monday following a thorough review of Boeing's ongoing production quality. Federal regulators took full control over 737 Max approvals in 2019, after the second of two crashes that were later blamed on a new software system Boeing developed for the aircraft. The FAA ended the company's right to self-certify Dreamliners in 2022, citing ongoing production quality issues. Going forward, Boeing and FAA inspectors will take weekly turns performing the safety checks that are required before aircraft are cleared for delivery and declared safe to fly. The FAA said the arrangement will

Boeing building a culture where all speak up freely, says Salil Gupte

Boeing India President Salil Gupte says employees must feel comfortable speaking up on issues as Indian suppliers move from build-to-print to build-to-specification

Entirely normal given airline's scale: CEO on Air India's recent snags

Campbell Wilson tells employees that operational snags are expected at Air India's scale, citing transparency in reporting and over 1,200 daily group departures

Abu Dhabi-bound IndiGo flight returns to Kochi after mid-air technical snag

An Abu Dhabi-bound IndiGo flight returned to Kochi early on Saturday due to a technical snag after being airborne for over two hours, according to sources. There were more than 180 passengers and six crew members onboard the aircraft, they said. There was no immediate comment from IndiGo. The flight 6E-1403 (COK-AUH) departed from Kochi at 11.10 pm on Friday and returned to the city at around 1.44 am on Saturday due to a technical snag, the sources told PTI. They also said that the passengers were flown to Abu Dhabi in another aircraft which took off at around 3.30 am and a new set of crew operated the flight as the earlier crew had to be replaced due to flight duty time restrictions. As per information available on flight tracking website Flightradar24.com, flight 6E1403 which had returned mid-way, was operated with an A320 neo aircraft.

Kolkata-bound IndiGo flights returns to Nagpur after suspected bird hit

A Nagpur-Kolkata IndiGo flight returned to the airport here following a suspected bird hit after take-off on Tuesday morning, a senior airport official said. As a precautionary measure, the plane, carrying 160 to 165 passengers, had to return to the Nagpur airport, the official told PTI. The flight has been cancelled, the official added.

IndiGo aircraft suffers tail strike amid go-around at Mumbai Airport

The airline assured that all passengers and crew on board were safe

SC junks PIL seeking safety audit, says Air India tragedy singled out

The Supreme Court on Friday refused to hear a plea to appoint a retired top court judge for examining Air India's safety practices among other aspects and asked the petitioner why target the airline that witnessed an "unfortunate tragedy". A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi told the petitioner in-person Narendera Kumar Goswami to withdraw his PIL and asked him to move the appropriate forum in case of grievances. "Don't give the impression that you are playing with other airlines. Why target Air India only which recently witnessed an unfortunate tragedy? If you want some regulatory mechanism in place, then why did you not make other airlines as party in your petition? Why only Air India?" the bench asked Goswami, a lawyer. The petitioner claimed to be a victim of "some unfortunate incident" with the airline. Justice Kant then told him, "We also travel every week and know what is the status. There was a tragedy, a very unfortunate one. This is not a time to run down a

Four killed in crash of medical transport plane on Navajo Nation in Arizona

A medical transport plane crashed and caught fire on Tuesday on the Navajo Nation in northern Arizona, killing four people, the tribe said in a statement. The crash involving the CSI Aviation company out of Albuquerque, New Mexico, occurred near the airport in Chinle, about 200 miles (321 kilometres) northeast of Flagstaff. Those on board were medical personnel who were on their way to a hospital to pickup a patient. The Beechcraft 300 crashed in the early afternoon while landing at the airport, Federal Aviation Administration officials said in an email. The National Transportation Safety Board and the FAA are investigating. The tribe said the cause of the crash is unknown. Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren said in a social media post that he was heartbroken to learn of the crash. "These were people who dedicated their lives to saving others, and their loss is felt deeply across the Navajo Nation," he said.

Why hunt for the black box? There's a simpler fix for faster crash probes

Aircraft are equipped with sensors and recorders, which capture everything mechanical and electrical, and record cockpit conversations

IndiGo Ahmedabad-Diu flight aborts take-off after technical snag detected

IndiGo aborts Ahmedabad-Diu flight take-off after technical snag; passengers safe, offered refunds or rebooking as airline cites safety as top priority

No issue found in Boeing fleet's fuel-control switches: Air India

The DGCA's directive followed the preliminary report issued on July 12 by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) into the June 12 crash of Air India flight AI171, which killed 260 people

Jeju Air pilots shut off less-damaged engine before crash: Report

A government source said examinations of the plane's recovered engines found that no defects had been present before the bird strike and crash

Technical snag detected on IndiGo Tirupati-Hyderabad flight, lands safely

IndiGo flight 6E 6591, departed from Tirupati Airport but began circling the area for nearly 40 minutes after a technical snag was detected

Passenger tries to open exit midair, forces emergency landing in Iowa

A regional airline flight heading to Detroit had to make an emergency landing in eastern Iowa after a passenger fought with a flight attendant and tried to open an exit door midair, according to the pilot's communication with air traffic controllers. The pilot of the SkyWest Airlines Flight 3612 contacted the tower at Eastern Iowa Airport in Cedar Rapids shortly after 6 pm Thursday requesting to land because of a passenger causing a disturbance. He's in a fight with our flight attendant right now, trying to open the emergency exit, the pilot said, according to audio captured by LiveATC. The disturbance happened shortly after the SkyWest flight departed from Omaha, Nebraska, around 5.30 pm Thursday, according to police. The flight was diverted to and landed safely at the Cedar Rapids airport, according to a statement from the Federal Aviation Administration. Once on the ground, local police boarded and arrested the 23-year-old Omaha man, Cedar Rapids police said. The flight was abl

AAIB's Air India crash report offers more insight than expected: IATA

The airlines' body praised the Indian government and AAIB for releasing a detailed and timely preliminary report on the Air India crash, saying it provided more insight than expected

Air India plane crash: Understanding the role of fuel control switches

The Air India AI171 crash highlights the critical role of fuel control switches, which caused a dual-engine failure just after takeoff, leading to the tragic loss of 260 lives

DGCA pulled up Air India Express over Airbus engine rule violations: Report

DGCA pulled up Air India Express over Airbus engine, fake compliance record

Days on, Ahmedabad plane crash weighs heavy on minds of pilots, crew

New DGCA norms call for MORE rest for pilots, revision of night duty RULEs, and directions to airlines to submit fatigue reports

From Kozhikode to Ahmedabad crash: Safety lessons caught in air pocket

The AI171 crash brings into focus the aviation reforms that two major accidents in the past promised to roll out

Air India faces DGCA heat as 3 officials axed for safety violations

DGCA removes three Air India officials over repeated crew safety violations, warns of strict action for future breaches