Two hostesses posted for minister flying AI

Two air hostesses were posted in the first class section of an Air India flight from Delhi to New York on May 26, as opposed to the airline’s standard operating norm of one. The only occupant of the four seats in the section was a minister, said on-flight cabin crew members. “It is clear that senior airline officials made the last minute change in the crew distribution to please the minister. The minister is likely to feel that the airline offers such services to all first class passengers,” said a cabin crew personnel with the airline requesting anonymity.

Sources told the Hindustan Times that a few minutes before take off, Trupti Shah, the crew-in charge, received a call from Captain AS Soman, director of inflight services, to make the change in the allocation of crew on board.

The cabin crewmember added that five air hostesses were struggling to cater to 100 economy class passengers because the airline deputed one extra airhostess at the minister’s duty. 

A section of the crew is planning to write to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, the aviation regulator. 

“The management is trying to mislead the minister. It wants to portray that two air hostesses are allocated for first class passengers which is not true,” said another cabin crewmember.

The cabin crew has a pending complaint against the airline for operating long-haul flights without the mandatory crew count.

“Many 15-hour long flights are short of cabin staff approved by the aviation regulator. The airline is trying to hide this violation by giving special service to the minister,” added the crewmember.

An Air India spokesperson denied that such an incident took place.

2 airports put Air India, Kingfisher on cash-and-carry from June 1

MUMBAI, MAY 27: 

The burden of unpaid bills again caught up with Air India on Friday and could catch up with Kingfisher Airlines by the coming Wednesday.

In a late evening development, GMR operated Delhi and Hyderabad airport announced that Air India and Kingfisher Airlines have been put on a cash-and-carry basis from June 1. This would mean that the two airlines need to clear their airport charges for every take-off and landing before operating flights out of the two airports.

In a statement, the airport said this was being done ``in order to control the significant dues recoverable from the two airlines”.

Air India owes the two airports about Rs 252 crore while the dues of Kingfisher Airlines are about Rs 89 crore.

“It is expected that the two airlines will clear major outstanding payments owed by the airlines to the Delhi and Hyderabad airport,” GMR said in a statement.

AI cancels flights as fuel cut off

Air India also faced restricted supply of aviation turbine fuel (ATF) on Friday. The three public sector oil companies, Indian Oil Corporation, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation stopped supply of ATF to Air India by 20 per cent to all airports.

As a result of the fuel cut, Air India had to cancel six flights from Thiruvananthapuram.

However, after talks between the oil companies and the airline over the course of the day an agreement was reached and the curtailment in ATF supply would not be imposed on all airports. Air India's total fuel dues to oil companies amount to about Rs 2,400 crore.

No DGCA guidelines for air ambulances in the country

The Faridabad crash has exposed chinks in the armour of the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) - there are no guidelines for designating aircraft as an air ambulance and there are no rules on the type of aircraft that can serve as an ambulance in the sky or medical equipment to be carried onboard. This leaves critically ill patients at the mercy of hospitals, which fleece them.

Top-end hospitals, in connivance with aircraft operators, allegedly force patients to hire planes at exorbitant rates.

"These are commercial operations in the guise of air ambulances and, in the absence of rules, these planes are placed in the non-scheduled operators category," an official said.

Former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Uma Bharati faced a similar problem last week, when her brother was to be air-lifted from Gwalior to Delhi. The hospital insisted on hiring its own air ambulance, sources said. After much persuasion, her brother was allowed to be evacuated in a different aircraft but doctors created a ruckus over oxygen availability onboard, oblivious of the fact that the same cylinders are used in an air ambulance as in hospitals.

Bharati, when contacted over the phone, declined comment.

Aviation expert Capt. V. K. Kukar said: "Till date, there is not a single aircraft in India which is a dedicated or designated plane for medical evacuation only. By removing seats and putting stretcher inside, it doesn't become an air ambulance."

A senior DGCA official, requesting anonymity, admitted there are no norms in place for air ambulances. The hospitals, however, insist on calling these flights as air ambulances because there is a stretcher and oxygen cylinder onboard.

"These smaller aircraft are meant to carry coffins and not critical patients," he said. "It is not advisable to use singleengine aircraft, that too at an altitude of more than 11,000ft, for air ambulance operations. The lighter single- engine aircraft are also not equipped with Cockpit Voice recorder (CVR) and Flight Data recorder (FDR). The preferred option should be either scheduled flights or twin- engine B-200, which has a back door to bring in a stretcher," an official said.

Weather floored Faridabad plane

The preliminary report on the plane crash in Faridabad in which 10 people — seven on board the ill-fated aircraft and three on ground — were killed says the engine of the P-12 turboprop aircraft was fine but it was the turbulent weather that led to the tragedy.

The probe into the crash is “independent” and not by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). “The government will appoint a committee of inquiry. A working group will be set up to review existing safety norms,” said a civil aviation ministry official.

“A working group has been set up to review existing safety regulatory frame work of general aviation, Non Scheduled Operators (NSOP) holders and air ambulance operations.”

The investigation into the tragedy is the first independent inquiry by India into an air crash. The investigation will try and find out what went wrong with the P-12 turboprop aircraft belonging to the Delhi-based Air Chartered Services India Pvt Limited.

“Strong wind hit the plane and it flipped the plane upside down. Pilot lost control and crashed into Faridabad residential area. Commander of the ill-fated plane reported to the Air Traffic Control (ATC) that he was facing bad weather,’’ said a DGCA official.

Only 60% of the entire aircraft, including part of its fuselage and the tail, have been found, the remaining portion, including the cockpit, has been completely damaged and gutted, he said.

SpiceJet Planning for global expansion from September

SpiceJet will start its second phase of international expansion by September.

“We plan to start flights to South Asian and West Asian countries by August or September, as some of our Boeing aircraft will be delivered during that period. We have applied for permission from the civil aviation ministry for a lot of destinations in these two regions and are awaiting permissions,” said Chief Executive Officer Neil Mills.

 The Gurgaon-based carrier had launched its first international flight in October last year, to Kathmandu. It had received permission to operate flights to Kathmandu, Colombo, Dhaka and Maldives.

 It currently operates to Kathmandu and Colombo. “As of now, we have not firmed up any plan for expanding to Dhaka and Maldives but will start operation to these destinations whenever it makes sense,” Mills said.

He said their fleet utilisation would increase with international expansion. “Our current aircraft utilisation is under 12 hours, which will increase to over 13 hours by the new set of expansion,” he added.

The fleet size is to rise from 29 to 43 by the end of this financial year. The Boeing aircraft will increase from 29 to 32 and the rest will be 78-seater Bombardier Q400s. The airline aims to have a fleet of 70 aircraft, a mix of 45 Boeing and 25 Q400 planes, by 2013-end.

The airline will need $200-250 million to fund its purchase of aircraft in 2011-12 and has not yet decided on how.

SpiceJet is also looking at smaller cities for its second phase of expansion in the domestic sector and for two more bases, apart from the one in South India. The airline has already said it would start its regional service with a base in Hyderabad and operate flights in the range of one to two hours from the base city.

“We plan to have two more bases to start operations from Bombardier Q400s. We are talking to various states,” Mills said.

The airline plans to recruit around 75 people, the majority being pilots and cabin crew, for the expansion.

SpiceJet shares today marginally fell to close at Rs 39.40 on the Bombay Stock Exchange on a day when the Sensex grew 221 points to close at 18,266.

Faridabad crash: Ball of fire came from heavens at lightning speed

FARIDABAD: It was like a ball of fire descending from the heavens in lightening speed. Then there was a deafening sound. Jawahar Colony , a sleepy settlement in Faridabad, was suddenly jolted by the crash. Within minutes, there was mayhem. 

Nishant, the tenant of Sobharam Shehrawat's first-floor room, said he was only two streets away from his home when he saw the plane explode after crashing. "It was like a scene straight out of a Bollywood film. The plane was hovering in the air. I screamed and within seconds it crashed," he said. The fuel tank burst, spraying fuel over the entire area. Residents said the plane swayed dangerously in the storm before it crashed. 

Roshan Singh Rawat, another resident said, "There was a dust storm and the power tripped. We heard a deafening sound. When we came out of the house, we saw the burning wreckage." 

Lavi Malik and his brother Anuj were about to sleep. They were just metres away the roof where the plane crashed. Lavi's mosquito net blew off in the wind. When Lavi stood up to retrieve it, he saw the aircraft hurtling towards him. "I could see it in the distance and knew something was wrong. Planes criss-crossing the skies are a daily sight, but this one was dangerously low. The aircraft was spinning and falling. Within seconds, it zoomed over our heads and crashed on the roof next to ours," said Lavi. 

Bimla, who lives across the road, said her entire family had gone on the roof to sleep as the power had gone off. "We finished dinner and were sitting on the terrace when we heard a strange sound. Initially, we thought it was a strong gust of wind, but then it sounded more like a metallic clank. We got up to see what was happening. 

Just when the aircraft was about to crash, a huge gust of wind lifted it slightly and carried it over to the other roof. It crashed into a room on the terrace, turned almost 90 degrees on impact and burst into flames. We saw Vedvati, her daughter and daughter in-law go down with the aircraft while her husband, son and grandson were pulled downstairs by their tenants," she said.

Faridabad crash: ATC: Wall of air stopped plane at 24,000 feet

NEW DELHI: The Pilates PC-12 aircraft that crashed in Faridabad on Wednesday had come up against such strong winds that it was unable to move, observations at the IGI Airport's air traffic controller reveal. An official described the conditions as "hitting a wall" in the air. 

The blip on the ATC radar indicated the 9-seater air ambulance approaching Delhi from Patna suddenly stopped moving around 10.35pm on Wednesday. As the air traffic control scrambled to contact the pilot of the aircraft, the dust storm outside IGI airport reached a speed of 60kmph. 

"The pilot reported bad weather and since the blip was not moving, we would only conjecture that the wind was so strong that the aircraft was unable to fly," said highly placed sources. 

The aircraft that crashed into a densely populated locality in Faridabad, killing 10 people including all seven on board, had ATC officials worried for as long as 10 minutes before the crash. "The aircraft was at 24,000ft when it stopped moving. Then ATC asked it to descend to 11,000ft," sources said. 

FINAL MOMENTS 

10.35pm: Blip in ATC radar indicates aircraft has stopped moving 

ATC: Why aren't you moving? 

Pilot: Bad weather 

10.38pm 

ATC: Descend to 11,000ft 

Pilot: Ok 

10.40pm: Plane ascends to 14,000ft 

ATC: Why are you ascending? 

Pilot: Bad weather 

10.40pm: Plane losing height rapidly 

ATC: State your position No response 

10.43pm: ATC tries to contact pilot on emergency frequency, 101.5 MgHz No response 

10.43pm: Blip on radar shows rapidly falling aircraft, last blip at height of 2,000ft 

10.48: ATC receives news of crash from fire department

No cockpit data to give clues on crash on Faridabad plane crash

NEW DELHI: Bad weather could ultimately end up being blamed for the air ambulance crash over Faridabad. The probe is proving to be a blind case for investigators as the aircraft did not have the cockpit voice and flight data recorders that provide vital clues in any probe. 

After an initial probe, senior air traffic control officials said the conversation between the tower and cockpit did not provide any clue on what had transpired. "The last message from the cockpit was at 10.45 pm, saying bad weather. After that there was no contact and there's no recording of ambient cockpit voices in the ATC tape," said a top official . 

Ironically, the crash is going to be probed under the new rules that came into force just hours before the accident . Aviation secretary Nasim Zaidi said the probe would be handled by an independent panel to be formed by the ministry and not the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). Zaidi said the Faridabad crash would be the first to be probed under the new completely impartial system. 

Interestingly, the first lead in the Air India plane crash at Mangalore came from the ambient voice in the cockpit that were on the ATC tapes. The co-pilot was heard asking the pilot to abort landing and take off again due to unstabilized approach. "The 'press to talk' button has to remain pushed by pilots so that their voice go to the tower. If that switch is not pressed, no voice from the cockpit will be in our records. This crash seems to have happened in less than a minute, possibly not giving anyone inside the aircraft any time to react at all," said the official. 

Ram Nath, director of air safety, DGCA said: "The most probable cause of the accident seems to be rough weather, though we cannot rule out a technical snag. There are some issues with the way the propeller blades were bent and we are not sure if the engine was working properly." Officials said the technical snag, if any, could have occurred when the aircraft was being flung about in the strong winds. 

That the weather could have wreaked havoc is reinstated by the conversation between the pilot and air traffic control. In the last few minutes , the pilot only said "bad weather " in response to ATC's queries on its location and operation. At this point, the IGI Airport was witnessing strong winds of 60kmph that had disturbed the flight path of several other aircraft.

Faridabad air crash due to technical malfunction, strong winds: DGCA

Faridabad: Preliminary probe by aviation regulator DGCA into the Faridabad air crash that claimed ten lives today pointed towards technical malfunction and high velocity winds as possible major reasons for the mishap.

Sources close to probe team of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation said the small single-engine turboprop Pilatus PC 12 aircraft could not apparently withstand the strong winds and a storm in the area and the pilots probably lost control, leading to the crash last night.

Minutes before the crash, the commander of the ill-fated plane, Capt Harpreet, reported to the Air Traffic Control (ATC) in Delhi that he was facing bad weather, the sources said, adding that he was asked by the ATC not to descend.

The preliminary report of the probe has been submitted to the civil aviation ministry, they said.

Civil aviation secretary Nasim Zaidi said in Delhi that a committee of inquiry has been set up by the ministry to probe all aspects of the accident.

The ill-fated Swiss-made aircraft had a capacity to carry nine passengers and two pilots. The plane belonging to the Air Charter Services India Private Limited had crashed just 15 minutes before landing at the Delhi IGI airport killing seven people onboard and three - all women - on ground.

Pawan Hans Helicopters, Helicopter Service Company, Aviation in India

Pawan Hans Helicopters Limited (PHHL) - It is one of India's leading helicopters Company and is known for its reliable helicopter operations.


May 27, 2011 – An official team of Pawan Hans is scheduled to arrive at Imphal on May 28 to study feasibility report over the proposal of introducing Helicopter service in Manipur as well as to take stock of the passenger amenity facilities being developed. 

According to an official source in the Transport Department, the official team of Pawan Hans would include its Additional General Manager and Marketing Manager. 

The team will also visit Moreh, Tamenglong and Jiribam to inspect the Helipads being developed, the source disclosed.

Significantly operations of Pawan Hans chopper service have been suspended following the crash that killed Arunachal Pradesh CM Khandu Dorjee. For more details visit our site http://www.pawanhans.co.in/

37 dead in 37 days, Mayday for civil aviation

It could well be the worst month in India's aviation history. In 37 days from April 19 to May 25, the country has witnessed five air crashes in which 37 people have lost their lives. The dead include a serving chief minister, BSF personnel and a seriously ill patient who was being flown to Delhi to - ironically - save his life.

Not surprisingly, alarm bells are ringing in the aviation ministry - which is already grappling with serious issues like fake pilots and keeping a critically ill, Air India, alive. "The frequency of crashes is alarming. A single crash of a big plane can have higher casualties, like last May's Mangalore accident involving a Boeing 737 saw 158 people perishing. 

But in the last month, the crashes are happening with alarming regularity ," said a commander. 
This alarm has led to renewed calls from the aviation industry to strengthen the regulatory mechanism. India made big plans to shore up the critically weak Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to escape being downgraded to sub-Sahara African level by the US Federal Aviation Administration. But its implementation is caught in red tape. Sanction of every post takes its own time, caught in the maze of departmental clearances. 

"Of the sanctioned 570 posts in DGCA (which too are inadequate to handle growing traffic), only 128 are filled by full-timers . There are 91 people on short term basis. DGCA is in such a weak form that unless the proposed civil aviation authority takes its place in full strength, there's not much hope," said sources. 

After each incident, the aviation ministry announces that a particular area of operation would be checked. But the reality is that the problem of staff shortage is so severe that the ministry was some time back planning to take people from AAI, Pawan Hans and AI on deputation to take up oversight jobs. 

HITTING THE AIR POCKET 

5 crashes in 37 days 

April 19: Pawan Hans' Mi-172 chopper crashes in Tawang, Arunachal Pradesh. 18 dead 

April 30: Pawan Hans' EuroCopter crashes on way from Tawang to Itanagar with Arunachal Pradesh CM Dorji Khandu on board. 5, including CM, dead 

May 4: Cessna Caravan of North East Shuttle Service crashlands at Lengpui, Mizoram. 9 injured 

May 14: BSF Chetak chopper operated jointly with Pawan Hans crashes at Abu Road, Rajasthan. 4 dead 

May 25: Air ambulance from Patna to Delhi crashes at Faridabad. 10 dead

Oil companies resume fuel supplies, Air India operations normal

Oil companies resume fuel supplies, Air India operations normal

MUMBAI/THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Oil companies resumed supply of jet fuel to national carrier Air India on Friday after huge unpaid bills led to the cancellation of four flights earlier in the day. 

"We have reached an understanding on the issue. We would be paying for our jet fuel requirements and also expect further relief from the ministry of civil aviation in this regard," senior Air India operations official told IANS. 

According to the Mumbai-based official, the understanding on fuel supply was reached after senior officials from Air India and oil marketing companies discussed the issue, which had till afternoon grounded four domestic and international flights. 

"High-level parleys were conducted between two-sides to reach the understanding," the official said. 

Earlier, the flag carrier was placed on a cash-and-carry basis by the three state-owned oil marketing companies, including Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited ( HPCL )) and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited ( BPCL )), for the unpaid fuel dues. 

"We have placed Air India on cash-and-carry basis. They would now pay us every time they buy jet fuel from any of the three companies," senior official with a public sector oil firm told IANS. 


Currently, the airline has a consolidated fuel debt worth Rs.2,000 crore to the three oil firms. Air India confirmed that it will be paying the required amount to buy jet fuel from the oil firms. "We will be paying them for our immediate needs," Air India official said. 

However, aviation experts doubt the viability of the airline to operate on such payment schemes as it is already under tremendous financial burden. The flag carrier has a daily requirement of Rs.16 crore worth of Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) of jet propellant-1 (JP-1) type. 

Four Air India flights on domestic and international routes were cancelled early Friday morning as oil firms refused to provide jet fuel and demanded that the carrier pay cash for the ATF. 

"Our operations officials were asked to pay there and then. Now paying of such high amount requires senior authorisation, which takes time. That's why the four flights had to be cancelled." 

The four cancelled flights were two from Kochi and one each from Thiruvanathapuram (to Chennai) and Kozhikode ( Air India Express flight to Muscat). 

"Two flights from Kochi - Air India Express flight to Sharjah and a domestic flight to Bangalore - have also been cancelled. But we are able to operate the Riyadh flight from Thiruvananthapuram via Kochi that is carrying 400 passengers," said the Air India official.

Another Air Crash Kicks Off Safety Debate

The deadly crash of an air ambulance in a residential area outside New Delhi late Wednesday has revived a debate over air safety in India and raised troubling questions about whether the country’s regulator is keeping a close enough watch on the skies.

An air ambulance crashed in the middle of a residential area near New Delhi, killing 10 people.

Aviation ministry officials blamed the crash of the small chartered plane, which killed 10 people, on bad weather and set up an independent accident investigation system to probe all future air accidents,  according to a statement released by India’s civil aviation ministry Thursday.

The five-member committee will identify the causes of major aviation accidents, taking on a role that was so far being performed by India’s aviation regulator, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation. The panel will also assist the civil aviation ministry in the formation of a court of inquiry for major accidents.

Although the accident probe panel will function under the oversight of the aviation ministry, all of its five members will be drawn from the DGCA. Officials of the DGCA, which has begun an investigation into the crash, said the single-engine plane crashed as it couldn’t stand bad weather, according to television news channels Thursday.

It has not yet been said whether any other issues–such as aircraft maintenance–could have played a role. Regardless, the incident is sure to add more pressure on the aviation regulator, which promised major reforms last year after the country’s worst-ever air disaster, the crash of an Air India Express jetliner in Mangalore that killed 158 passengers and crew.

Aviation ministry officials say they’ve stepped up safety efforts considerably since the Air India crash. “A road-map has been prepared to eliminate all kinds of air fears,” A.K. Sharan, joint director general in India’s civil aviation ministry, told India Real Time Thursday.

But clearly there are still air safety loopholes. Earlier this month, a helicopter owned by the state-run Pawan Hans company carrying the chief minister of India’s northeastern Arunachal Pradesh state and four others went missing while it was flying to the Tawang region from the state capital, Itanagar. The wreckage was spotted after a massive five-day search. The cause of the crash has not yet been figured out.

Mr. Sharan said the DGCA was undertaking a special drive to check the licenses and permits of all airports and airlines following the Mangalore crash as well as the more recent air disasters.  He said the agency has also conducted an audit of safety measures at heliports and all critical airports, particularly those situated in remote areas. It has also carried out rigorous spot checks on runways and night inspections of airstrips, Mr. Sharan said.

In a report card released on Saturday, a year on from the Mangalore crash, the civil aviation ministry outlined some key safety initiatives to look into the oversight system, air navigation, flight operations and training of pilots.

“Some of the immediate actions include a reassurance drive in the areas of aerodromes, airworthiness and operations, availability of approved documentation and assurance on following of regulations by the airlines,” the report said.

Under the DGCA’s revised guidelines, pre-flight health checks for pilots have been made compulsory and flight and duty time limitations and rest requirements for night crew members have also been put in place to mitigate pilot fatigue. A new process for selecting foreign pilots is meant to ensure that airline hires have an accident-free record.

But in spite of all these announcements, aviation expert Kapil Kaul, who is the chief executive of the South Asia unit of the Center for Asia Pacific Aviation, says the country’s aviation regulator lacks the required robustness and resources to deal with the safety concerns India faces.

He says the DGCA is understaffed and dependent on the industry for some of its employees, and that some agency workers lack the necessary expertise and training that is required to handle crisis situations.

“The DGCA needs to plug in the gap on what it has and what it requires to address the air-safety issues,” Mr. Kaul said.

The government panel investigating the Mangalore air crash has blamed human error for the tragedy. The report that was submitted in April this year blamed the British pilot of Serbian origin for the careless landing of the plane that overshot the runway.

Bird-hit grounds Mumbai-bound flight

AHMEDABAD: More than 170 passengers on the Mumbai-bound Kingfisher flight had a close shave as the aircraft was hit by a bird on Thursday morning. The incident took place at around 8 am when the flight was just about to leave the runway. This is the fourth bird-hit incident in the last one month. The bird-hit severely damaged one of the propeller blades of the aircraft, forcing the pilot to apply emergency brakes. 

Panic gripped the passengers inside when sudden brakes were applied. The flight was then grounded and declared unsafe for flying again. Passengers were accommodated in alternative Mumbai-bound flights of Spice Jet and Jet Airways, said an airline official, adding that those demanding refunds were given back money. 

"The flight was about to touch the 175-180 knots take off speed when a bird-hit the propeller blade. Had the incident taken place a few seconds late then the pilot would have had to take off despite the damage as applying emergency brakes wouldn't have been possible," said an airport official. In order to fight the bird-hit menace, Ahmedabad airport spends Rs 30 lakh a year. Also, 12 men of a private firm are pressed into service to employ bird-hit counter measures before every take off. Yet, the bird-hit incidents continue unabated. 

On Sunday at 7.45 am, Air India 614 Ahmedabad-Mumbai flight was hit by a bird during the take off. Fortunately, no damage was caused to the aircraft. On Saturday, Air India 144 Newark-Mumbai-Ahmedabad flight was hit by a bird while landing at 8.20 pm. All 50 passengers landed safely, but the aircraft engine suffered a minor damage. 

On April 24, in less than 12 hours between Saturday evening and Sunday morning, two bird-hit incidents were reported at the city airport.

Boeing offers Air India $500 million for dreamliner delay

NEW DELHI: US aircraft maker Boeing has offered to pay $500 million to Air India as compensation for the delay in deliveries of new-age B-787 Dreamliner aircraft. The package is more than three times what Boeing was willing to pay earlier, but the civil aviation ministry says it is still inadequate. 

"It appears now that Boeing intends to offer half-a-billion dollars as compensation to Air India," a senior civil aviation ministry official told ET. "But this is too less and we are trying to ensure better compensation." Boeing India President Dinesh Keskar refused to give details. 

" Air India is our valued customer and we will not discuss the issue of compensation in media," he said. Air India had ordered 27 Dreamliner jets in 2006, which were to be delivered by September 2008. But Boeing says it can hand over the first of these planes only in the quarter beginning July. 
AI Claims $1-Billion Loss 

Dreamliner is a 250-seater aircraft made of composite materials and is considered very fuel-efficient. The multi-version aircraft has a list price between $140 million and $200 million. Air India says the delay in handing over the jets has caused the airline both opportunity and operational losses amounting to over $1 billion. The official quoted above said the compensation Boeing plans to offer includes $145 million in liquidated damages, which are part of the contract and should not be included in the compensation value. 

Liquidated damages on account of delay are usually 0.5% of the total contract value and they are to be paid on a weekly or monthly basis for a specified time as mentioned in the contract. 

"Air India is not only eligible for liquidated damages, but also for the loss in revenue it suffered because its expansion plans were impacted due to the long delay," the official said. Air India says it had planned to fly new routes to Australia and Africa, besides expanding services to the US with the B-787s. 

In January 2009, the airline had sought $710 million from Boeing as compensation for the delays in deliveries of B-787s. The carrier raised this figure to $840 million in August last year. The airline argues the compensation is on the grounds of loss of opportunities, business & market share, inability to use more fuel-efficient aircraft, leasing of jets at high cost, and additional interest burden on pre-delivery payments it made for the planes. 

Air India, which has a fleet size of 133 aircraft, is under a colossal debt of Rs 40,000 crore and accumulated losses of Rs 13,000 crore. The airline had placed a $15-billion order for 111 aircraft in 2006. Of this, 68 aircraft were to be purchased from Boeing and the remaining from Airbus . Of the Boeing order, 50 aircraft were for Air India's own fleet and 18 for its low-cost subsidiary Air India Express , which flies on short-haul international routes. 

Apart from the 27 B-787 s, the other aircraft include a mix of B-777 s and B-737s. In India, Boeing also has an order from Jet Airways for 10 Dreamliners. Boeing's order book for the B-787 worldwide currently stands at nearly 900 aircraft.

DGCA PROBE POINTS TO BAD WEATHER

Govt sets up special panel to look into air crashes

New Delhi, May 26
Bad weather appears to be the cause of air ambulance crash in Faridabad yesterday that claimed 12 lives. This was indicated by Directorate General of Civil Aviation’s preliminary investigations, reports emerging from the aircraft’s operator and aviation experts.
It was on a particularly windy evening that the single-engine PC-12 aircraft hired by Delhi’s Apollo Hospital crashed into a densely-populated residential colony on the approach path of the Delhi airport, just about 15 minutes before its scheduled landing.
High-velocity winds may have caused some technical malfunction in the light-bodied aircraft, leading to its crash, said sources.
The crash has resulted in the government creating an independent panel to probe major aviation accidents. The move has separated the role of a regulator and an investigator which was being performed by the DGCA alone so far.
“The commander of the ill-fated aircraft reported to the Air Traffic Control that he was facing bad weather,” the Civil Aviation Ministry said.Aviation expert AN Hanfee terms the mishap as “one-off incident in which weather played an important part”. Hanfee says several aircraft coming to land at the Delhi airport around that time had experienced the weather trouble. “Many bigger aircraft reported similar situation, finding it difficult to land around that time. PC-12 (Pilatus) was fatally affected because of its smaller size,” he said.
Elaborating on prevailing conditions, he says the plains of North India are experiencing turbulence at higher altitudes because of a sustained high temperature hovering around 45 degree C at the ground. High temperatures heat the surface of the earth and subsequently the air above. When the air gets heated at different temperatures, gust and turbulence are created. They have the capability of destabalising even a huge aircraft like Boeing-777. “We know a case wherein a Boeing-747 lost 25,000 feet, dropping from the height of 40,000 feet to 15,000 feet after encountering an air pocket,” he says.
The PC-12 is a small aircraft in the 4740-kg category. In comparison, an Airbus-321 weighs around 82,500 kg, while the Boeing-777 is a mega 1,50,000- kg aircraft.
Besides the limitation of small size, the ill-fated aircraft was flying at such a low level that the pilots had no altitude to recover after encountering bad weather. Facing the storm, the commander of the aircraft sought permission to land, which was granted by the ATC, sources say.
Since PC-12 is a small aircraft, rules applicable to bigger aircraft do not relate to it. The aircraft does not either have the flight data recorder (DFDR) or the cockpit voice recorder (CVR). It just has small weather radar and a storm-scope, which gives the position of any static change in the atmosphere.
The problem with winds is that there’s no radar to make them visible, clouds and dust. “In such conditions, it is pure past experience that works,” says an experienced pilot.
This Air India pilot, who did not wish to be named, says that even though the two pilots of the aircraft did not have thousands of hours of flying experience, the crash was possibly neither due to pilot-error or any technical failure. “While flying, we follow the rule: fly-navigate-communicate. Had there been a technical failure, the pilot would have reported it to the tower, which he never did,” he said.
However, he does say that rules regarding small aircraft should be made more stringent. “At least an FDR should be fitted so that in case of the crash one knows what happened. Cockpit experience should be of a certain minimum level and in my opinion single engine aircraft should always fly under VFR (Visual Flight Rules)and during day. Even they are flying IFR (Instrument Flight Rules), they should only fly during daytime so that they know what is happening around them. Single-engine aircraft should not be allowed to fly in unpredictable weather,” he says, advising periodic checks of experience of the crew and maintenance of the aircraft.
The DGCA has formed a working group to review existing safety regulatory framework of general aviation, non-scheduled operators and air ambulance operations. It is also checking the maintenance record of the ill-fated aircraft. Meanwhile, the aircraft operator, Air Chartered Services India Private Ltd said the aircraft was in good condition “We have been flying the air ambulance service for the Delhi Apollo Hospital for the past six years,” an official said.