Aerospace Diary

Posted By Neelam Mathews March 30, 2015 Welcome to Episode 022 of the #PaxEx Podcast. Our guest for this episode is Neelam Mathews. Based in Delhi, India, Neelam has been writing about Asian aviation and beyond for over a decade. She has done long stretches of writing for  Aviation Week ,  AIN ,  Jane’s Airports , and  is now a contributor to  RGN . The aviation industry is grappling with another tragedy, the crash of a Germanwings Airbus A320 in the French Alps. Audio from the cockpit voice recorder indicates that the captain was locked out of the cockpit, and couldn’t get back in. The French prosecutor in the case   asserts that the first officer deliberately flew the A320, with 150 people on board, into the French mountainside . However, the guts of the flight data recorder have not yet been found. This crash – and the fact that sourcing information from the physical black boxes is crucial to understanding what happened in any accident –...

AVIATION INTERNATIONAL NEWS  »  MARCH 2013 by    NEELAM MATHEWS  and  CHARLES ALCOCK March 3, 2013, 2:15 AM Though largely overshadowed by a heavy military presence, the business aviation sector made its voice heard at last month’s  Aero India show  in Bangalore (February 6 to 10). Serious obstacles continue to stand in the way of those trying to fulfill bizav’s undoubted potential in this vast emerging market  (see box) , but this has not deterred the major manufacturers from increasing their presence in India. During the show  Embraer  signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Mumbai-based  Indamer to provide maintenance support for the Legacy 500 . The midsize jet, which is expected to enter service next year, is currently in the flight-test stage following last year’s  maiden flight of the first prototype . Certification now is expected by the middle of next year, ac...

AIN NEWS LIVE FROM AEROINDIA  »  2013 by    NEELAM MATHEWS February 6, 2013, 1:14 PM Mahindra Aerospace, currently India’s only manufacturer of light aircraft for private/utility use, is preparing to open its new 270,000-sq-ft facility near Bangalore. This will be used for manufacturing metal components, aircraft assemblies and aerostructures, according to executive director and global  CEO  Arvind Mehra. The company is part of a public-private partnership with the Bangalore-based, government-backed National Aerospace Laboratories that is developing the  CNM5  light utility aircraft. This program is currently seeking an Australian type certificate. Meanwhile, Mahindra also is involved in developing the GippsAero  GA10  single turboprop, which is due to complete certification in 2014. “We believe it will have a wider [market] reach because of its lower price, efficiency and in its use of jet fuel,” sai...