Page 853 - Disaster Accident
Bangla minister discusses air crash with Nepal Home Minister
Bangladeshi Civil Aviation Minister Shahjahan Kamal today called on Nepal Home Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa and discussed issues related to a crash involving a US-Bangla Airlines aircraft that killed 51 people. The Bangladeshi Minister is leading a high-level delegation which is part of a probe committee instituted to look into the matter. Thapa apprised Kamal on the situation and he developments taking place in the case. The Dhaka to Kathmandu US-Bangla Airlines flight, with 67 passengers and four crew members on board, caught fire after it careened off the runway and ploughed into a football ground near the Tribhuvan International Airport yesterday, killing 51 people. The Bangladeshi delegation yesterday joined a six-member Nepali committee to probe the crash-landing. The Bangla delegation includes Kamal, Foreign Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali and senior aviation officials. Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli instructed authorities to ensure timely rescue of the survivors and relief for ...
IndiGo flight suffers 'technical glitch'
A Raipur-bound IndiGo plane carrying 112 passengers returned to Hyderabad soon after the take-off following a technical glitch, according to the airline. The incident is being investigated by the airline's flight safety team and aviation regulator DGCA. In a statement, IndiGo said its flight 6E 334 from Hyderabad to Raipur after take-off experienced "a minor technical glitch/ over limit EGT (Exhaust Gas Temperature) with its engine 1". The aircraft was an A320-232. After taking precautionary measures, the flight landed back at Hyderabad and passengers were flown in another aircraft. In recent weeks, there have been quite a few incidents of planes, operated by some domestic carriers, facing engine issues.
DGCA took proactive step in grounding 11 aircraft: Sinha
The Centre today said the DGCA adopted a "proactive" approach in grounding the 11 aircraft of Indigo and GoAir and no other aviation regulator in the world would have taken the step. All the grounded flights would not be allowed to fly till the faulty engines are replaced, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha said as he sought to allay the collective apprehensions of passengers about flying safe. He said that they had already figured out 17 engines which would be prone to shutdown during the course of carrying out regular monitoring and detailed analysis of all the 1,000 engines currently in operation in the country. "We even asked airline to use only one of these identified engines in the aircraft as a precautionary step. However, after the incident on March 12 when an Indigo flight had to return to Ahmedabad because of engine failure, we decided to ground all such engines," he said at an event here. "No other aviation regulator in the world would have taken such a ...
Bodies of women killed in Iran air crash return to Turkey
The bodies returned to Turkey today of 10 of the 11 women killed when a private jet crashed in Iran while returning from a pre-wedding party in the United Arab Emirates, a tragedy that shocked Turks. The women attended the hen party of Mina Basaran, the daughter of Turkish businessman Huseyin Basaran, and were returning home when the private jet crashed into the Zagros mountains. Mina Basaran, 28, and many of her seven girlfriends who accompanied her on the trip had successful careers with some already starting families. The disaster prompted an outpouring of grief in Turkey. The other three of the 11 killed, all women, were the two pilots and a flight attendant. Ten bodies were flown back to Istanbul airport from Iran aboard a Turkish military jet, the Dogan news agency said. The families of the dead were meanwhile flown home on a scheduled Turkish Airlines flight, it added. The body of co-pilot Beril Gebes has yet to be recovered, it said, after previous reports said all had been ...
Boeing signs new pact with TAL to manufacture floor beams for Dreamliners
Aerospace major Boeing and Tata Group company TAL Manufacturing Solutions (TAL) on Wednesday announced the signing of a new contract for the manufacture of advanced composite floor beam (ACFB) for Boeing's 787-9 and 787-10 Dreamliner airplanes.
Track renewal target for 2018-19 set at 3,900 km: Minister
The track renewal target has been set at 3,900 km for 2018-19, the government today informed Parliament, a day after a CAG report came down hard on the Railways for the poor condition of rail tracks. In a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Railways Rajen Gohain said that track renewal works are undertaken as and when a stretch of track becomes due for renewal as per the criteria laid down by railways. The track renewal target has been set at 3,900 km for 2018-19, he said. The minister also provided zone wise renewal goals and the actual renewal carried out till now. In Central zone, while the target for renewal was 275 km, as of January 2018, actual renewal was 186 km. For South Central, zone while 147 km was the target, it achieved 154 km of renewal. South Western railway achieved 146 km of track renewal against a target of 170. The Southern Railway achieved 241 km of renewal as against the 406 km of set target. Gohain also said that the Konkan ...
DGCA grounding planes with faulty P&W engines 'unilateral decision': EASA
Aviation regulator DGCA's move to ground A320 neo aircraft with a particular series of Pratt & Whitney engines was a "unilateral decision", European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) said today. Days after the Indian watchdog grounded 11 A320 neo for faulty P&W engines, the EASA also clarified that such a decision is not deemed necessary by it for the time being. It was EASA that first issued an emergency airworthiness directive following in-flight shut down in A320 neo fleet worldwide fitted with PW1100 engines (from serial number 450 and beyond) on February 9. Soon after, the DGCA grounded three A320 neos fitted with both the affected engines and earlier this week, grounded 11 more such aircraft fitted with at least one such defective engine. "The grounding of the Indigo and Go Air A320 neo with one PW1100 engine is a unilateral decision from DGCA India. EASA has not been involved in this decision," EASA said in an e-mailed statement to PTI. Noting that it is following closely ..
Provide potable water in Sambhal urgently, NGT directs UP govt
The National Green Tribunal today directed the Uttar Pradesh government to urgently provide clean drinking water in the Sambhal district and warned that there should be "no laches" by the authorities to comply with the order. A bench headed by Justice Raghuvendra S Rathore also asked the state government to file a comprehensive plan for supply of water in the affected villages. Keeping in view the fact that there is scarcity of drinking water and the people are to be supplied with drinking water by the authorities, "we direct the District Magistrate, Sambhal to immediately take necessary steps. "The counsel for the State is directed to inform the District Magistrate, Sambhal with regard to the order passed today. We hope that there shall be no laches on the part of the authority concern to comply with this order," the bench said. The green panel also directed the state to file its reply in the case before April 11 while making it clear that no further time would be granted. During the
Haryana to make drunk driving causing death non-bailable offence
Getting tough against road accidents by inebriated drivers, Haryana is considering to make the offence non-bailable in case it leads to a death, the assembly was informed on Wednesday.
Ockhi cyclone; Rs 35.40 cr relief to families of 177 fishermen
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami today gave away Rs 35.40 crore as relief to families of 177 fishermen from various districts who went missing during the 'Ockhi' cyclone last year. The Chief Minister gave away Rs 20 lakh each to the 177 families, with Kanyakumari topping the list with 139 fishermen having gone missing during the devastating cyclone. Kanyakumari faced the fury of the 'Ockhi' cyclone that struck the district in November last, with the fishermen community bearing the brunt of the weather system. An official release here said that besides those from Kanyakumari, fishermen from Tuticorin, Nagapattinam, Cuddalore and Puthukottai had also gone missing. Palaniswami gave away the relief amounts to the families of the missing fishermen from these districts too. The release recalled that 27 fishermen from Tuticorin, Nagapattinam and Kanyakumari had been killed then, and that a solatium of Rs 20 lakh has already been provided to their families through the ...
Nepal plane crash survivors say it's a miracle they're alive
Survivors of this week's plane crash at Nepal's main airport said today that it was a miracle they survived an accident that killed 49 of the 71 people on board. Shorna Huggain of Bangladesh, who was a passenger on the US-Bangla Airlines flight when it crashed Monday while attempting to land at Kathmandu's airport, said her husband saved her life. "I thought I was going to die because I inhaled a lot of smoke, but I did not want to die," Huggain said from her hospital bed, recalling how she was pinned in her seat after the crash. "Finally, my husband was able to pull me out of the plane, and moments later it burst into flames," she said. "My husband saved my life." Huggain's brother-in-law died in the crash. Another passenger, Nepalese travel entrepreneur Keshav Pandey, said he was lucky to survive with only injuries. "I have not heard of many people surviving a plane crash, but it is a miracle that I am alive," Pandey said. "I guess I lived because the plane crashed on open ...
Raipur-bound Indigo flight returns to Hyderabad due to technical glitch
A Raipur bound Indigo airlines flight returned to Hyderabad on Wednesday because of technical issues.The flight number 6E 334, which was going to Raipur from Hyderabad, observed some technical problem after its take-off.Yesterday, as many as 47 flights were cancelled by Indigo as eight of their Airbus A320s with the PW1100 engines were grounded after the DGCA directive, following recurrent occurrences of aborted take-offs and in-flight shutdowns (IFSD)."Following the grounding of our six A320 Neo in accordance with the directive of the DGCA, we cancelled less than 5 percent of our flights today. To minimise the inconvenience of our customers, our teams swiftly re-accommodated the passengers on alternate flights and fully refunded the fares to any customer who preferred that," a statement issued by Indigo airline read.Yesterday, a Lucknow bound Indigo flight from the Sardar Vallabhai Patel Airport in Ahmedabad, with 186 passengers on board, had to return and make an emergency landing ..
Centre yet to clear spl Ockhi package of Rs 7,340 cr: Ker min
The Centre is yet to approve a special financial package of Rs 7,340 crore sought by Kerala for rehabilitation and reconstruction of cyclone Ockhi-hit coastal villages, Fisheries Minister J Mercykutty said today. She was replying to a calling attention, in the Assembly, on the necessity to solve the crisis faced in rehabilitation of the victims of cyclone Ockhi due to non-allocation of sufficient funds by the Centre. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan would take up the matter with the Centre and exert pressure on it for clearing the relief package, the fisheries minister said. Stating that an amount of Rs 131 crores, received by the state, was from the National Disaster Relief Fund (NDRF), Mercykutty said "the state has not got any funds under the package sought by it". Cyclone Ockhi hit the state coast in November last year and had caused unprecedented damage to property and claimed lives of several fishermen. The state government had requested the Centre to declare the calamity as a ..
Fire at a residential high rise in Mumbai; seven injured
Seven people were injured and some of them also suffered from suffocation when a fire broke out in a 16-storey residential building in suburban Kanjurmarg this morning, an official said. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's disaster control cell got an information about the fire on the ground floor in C-wing of the Royal Park building in Kanjurmarg at 8.07 am. The fire brigade personnel reached the spot at 8.23 am. Four fire tenders and as many water tankers were also rushed to the spot. The flames were brought under control by 9.37 am, the official of the disaster control cell said. A few residents were trapped in the building for some time but they were later rescued by the firemen, he said. Seven people suffered from injuries and suffocation. They were admitted to nearby hospitals where their condition was reported to be stable, the official said. A short-circuit in the power meter box on the ground floor was suspected to have caused the fire, he said. The exact ...
Himachal CM launches handbook on women safety
To empower womenfolk, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur on Wednesday released a handbook on women safety here.
PNG quake death toll rises to 125
The death toll from a major earthquake that struck Papua New Guinea last month has risen to 125, police said today, amid concern that an outbreak of disease will see it jump further. A 7.5-magnitude quake struck the Pacific nation's mountainous interior on February 26, burying homes and causing landslides, making it hard to reach isolated villages. Police said the toll had now reached 125, up from 100 last week, as more news filtered in from remote communities. "From the reports received at the command centres, 45 have died so far in the Southern Highlands and in Hela province 80 people are confirmed dead," the Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary said in a statement. "It is expected that the figure might increase once all people have been accounted for." It added that 15,000 people had been displaced in the Southern Highlands and at least 20,000 in Hela, with many now in temporary shelters. Schools remain closed. While aid is finally reaching remote areas, doctors warned that public ..
Bangladesh announces one-day mourning for plane crash victims
Bangladesh will observe Thursday as a day of mourning for the victims of the US-Bangla Airlines plane crash in Nepal, officials said.
Fire in three-storey building in Palghar; one killed
One person was killed when a massive fire broke out in a three-storey building in the Kasa area here in the wee hours today, the district rural police said. The police received a call around 3.30 am about the blaze in the residential-cum-commercial building, located near a temple in the Kasa area of the Dahanu taluka. The building's ground floor and the first floor, which housed a provisions store and its godown, were completely gutted in the fire, the police said in a release issued here. A 46-year-old man, identified as Aziz Virani, the co-owner of the provisions store, was charred to death in the blaze, said Hemant Katkar, the PRO of the district's rural police. The body was sent for postmortem, he added. However, the other residents of the four apartments on the building's second floor were evacuated, the police said. Three fire engines were rushed to the spot and the flames were doused, the police added.
Fire breaks out in residential cum shopping plaza in Palghar
A massive fire broke in a three-story residential building cum shopping complex in Kasa taluka area of Maharashtra's Palghar district in the wee hours of Wednesday.The fire in the building is believed to have originated from the godown, following a shot circuit.The ground floor and the first floor got completely gutted in the fire."The ground floor of the building had a Kirana shop and the first floor was the godown of the shop. The second floor had four residential flats. While the ground and first floor are completely burnt and the second floor is out of danger now," said an official.Three fire tenders from Dahanu and Boisar were pressed into service.According to Kasa police, no injuries have been reported. However, there is a probability of one casualty.As of now, the fire is under control and the building has been evacuated.
Fire in three-storey building in Palghar; one feared killed
A massive fire broke out in a three-storey building in the Kasa area here in the wee hours today, the district rural police said. One person was feared dead, but there was no official confirmation yet, they said. The police received a call around 3.30 am about the blaze in the residential-cum-commercial building, located near a temple in the Kasa area of the Dahanu taluka. The building's ground floor and the first floor, which housed a provisions store and its godown, were completely gutted in the fire, the police said in a release issued here. However, residents of the four apartments on the building's second floor were evacuated, the police said, adding that one person was feared killed in the fire, but there was no official confirmation yet. Three fire engines were rushed to the spot. The flames were doused but the cooling work was still on, the police added.