Aerospace Diary

by Neelam Mathews January 18/21  2019, 1:30 PM Reacting to a recent incident of smoke in the cabin of an Indigo Airbus A320neo fitted with Pratt & Whitney PW1100G engines, India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation on Thursday put into place “additional measures...for immediate compliance by Interglobe Aviation Ltd. (Indigo) and Go Air for identifying and correcting impending failures in dry face seals and LPT (low-pressure turbines).” The DGCA has ruled the operators must carry out weekly inspections of third-stage LPT blades. For newer engines, it requires boroscope inspection at first oil filter change and “at next opportunity or A-Check, whichever is earlier,” for engines that already underwent their first oil filter change and have accumulated less than 1000 flight hours. The regulator also has recommended an awareness program for cabin and cockpit crew on odor and smoke during the approach phase of flight. The notice came within nine days of an interaction amo...

By Neelam Mathews  - January 3, 2019, 11:09 AM IndiGo pix As airlines in India suffer severe losses despite high passenger loads, relief has come by way of an extension of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation's (DGCA) mandatory deadline for installing GPS-Aided Geo Augmented Navigation (Gagan) equipment on all India-registered aircraft from January 1, 2019, to June 2020. A dip in international aviation turbine fuel prices by 14.5 percent has also provided a reprieve. “While we welcome the respite, we hope the prices could be line with the $52 a barrel global price,” said Sanjay Kumar, chief commercial officer of budget carrier AirAsia India. Heavily taxed fuel comprises about 40 percent of total airline operating costs in India. The compulsory use of Indian satellite-based augmentation system (SBAS) called Gagan has faced vociferous opposition from airlines for the past two years. Estimates place costs at about $200,000 for equipment and training per aircraft ...

Neelam Mathews Dec 6, 2018 https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/air-transport/2018-12-06/indias-dgca-mandates-special-procedures-737-max

by  Neelam Mathews  -  October 18, 2018, 11:30 AM India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) awaits a visit by a Federal Aviation Administration team from the U.S. on October 31 and November 1 to review compliance of safety oversight following an audit carried out a few months ago. If the Indian regulator hasn’t addressed major oversights, it risks a downgrade to Category 2 status, similar to that issued in 2014. Such an outcome would result in a grim deceleration in growth plans of domestic carriers with ambitions to fly to the West. Recent incidents include an Air India Express Boeing 737-800 flying for four hours in a severely damaged state after clipping a perimeter wall and instrument landing system antennas at the airport in Tiruchirapalli on takeoff. Others include a case of a technician getting sucked into an engine, near midair collisions, and many bird strikes. Release of investigation reports generally takes at least a year....

13th July 2018 - 03:00 GMT  |  by  Neelam Mathews  in Delhi India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has released draft regulations on requirements for civil UAS operations, but it is yet to release its regulatory policy, ......... ‘We are trying to push the ministries of home and of civil aviation, and integrating the two is proving to be a challenging job,’ said Amitabh Kant, CEO of Niti Aayog, ...Read more in Shephardmedia.com

by Neelam Mathews February 19, 2018, 11:00 AM India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has refuted media claims that that budget airline IndiGo put safety at risk by flying A320neos powered by Pratt & Whitney PW1100Gs following findings of faulty knife-edge seals in some of the engines’ high-pressure compressors. In a caustic statement, it called the allegations “baseless, devoid of technical support, and lacking material evidence…with a view to  create   sensation  in the minds of the traveling public. IndiGo’s fleet includes 32 A320neos, and fellow Indian low-fare carrier Go Air has inducted 13 A320neos powered by the Pratt & Whitney engines. Pratt recently reported it identified the potentially affected engines and communicated with its customers. “As a precaution, aircraft with these engines will be addressed in a manner consistent with the operational instructions issued by Airbus,” it said. In compliance with a February 9 EASA Emerge...

by  Neelam Mathews  - October 23, 2017, 8:53 AM     New-build private aircraft terminal and hangars at Delhi International Airport have been delayed by two years, following a change in their location in the airport’s master plan. The planned site of the multi-FBO facility that was to be ready by 2018 is now being shifted, because it is near an air force base,  AIN  has learned. The revised location is awaiting the demolition of the India government-owned Centaur Hotel near Runway 29, where the FBO will be constructed, according to airport CEO I. Prabhakara Rao. Two consortiums were awarded 20-year deals in late 2015 for the design, construction, finance, development, operation, and maintenance for the FBOs. Concessionaires Bird Worldwide Flight Services-ExecuJet and Indamer-MJets are mandated to invest around $15 million each in the terminal, lounges, hangars, fuel storage and parking. Meanwhile, inte...

Record Info hide Publication Jane's Airport Review Author Neelam Mathews , Delhi Ben Vogel , London Section Equipment Date posted 28-Mar-2017 The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has asked airlines to ban oversized cabin baggage on flights to and from certain "performance-limited" Indian airports. "Since oversized hand baggage can lead to overloading and create safety hazards, the operator shall ensure that size of the hand baggage is restricted as per the dimensions of the overhead bins or available space under the seats of an aircraft," BS Bhullar, head of the Indian aviation regulator, announced in a safety circular. ........In the absence of a global standard, passengers are encouraged to comply voluntarily with airline hand baggage policy by placing items into a simple metal gauge at check-in or at the boarding gate. This method is arguably insufficient - so Malaga-based Ie .....more on jane's air...

AIR TRANSPORT by   Neelam Mathews  -  June 9, 2016, 1:42 PM People Over Profit's non-stop services to the Indian cities of Amritsar and Ahmedabad will be operated by a wet-leased A330-300. [Photo: People Over Profit] Start-up carrier People Over Profit ( POP ) this week launched a crowd-funding campaign to raise up to £5 million ($7.3 million) to start its planned nonstop services from London Stansted Airport to the Indian cities of Amritsar and Ahmedabad. Subject to permits being granted by Indian authorities, the flights are due to start some time after November and will use a 378-seat Airbus  A330 -300 operated under a wet lease by an undisclosed  UK  charter carrier. According to  POP  chairman Navdip Singh Judge,  POP  intends to add a second  A330  within three months of launch. Initially it will fly three weekly roundtrips each to Amritsar (in the northwestern state of Punjab) an...

Neelam Mathews Apr 1, 2016 NEW DELHI: A few years ago a passenger on an Indian budget carrier caused an uproar on learning that the captain was a woman. “I don’t want to die. She can’t take care of the house, how will she take care of a plane?” he  reportedly yelled . Rightfully, he was deplaned. While his knuckle-dragging tribe may have decreased trivially since then, one wonders what the passenger’s reaction would have been if he knew the captain was pregnant. One would assume he would have been scandalized that she had deigned to fly. While Qatar Airways  last year changed its draconian restrictions  on cabin crew concerning marriage and pregnancy, in India the discussion is focused on when the pilot should stop flying when pregnant. Nivedita Bhasin, the third woman pilot to join then government-owned Indian Airlines, now part of Air India, has two children, both pilots. In the last 30 years, she said, the pilot ...

  Neelam Mathews     April 24, 2016 Long overlooked, helicopter emergency medical services ( HEMS ) in India will get a boost through a civil aviation requirement to be issued by the country’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation ( DGCA ) in mid-April. This is the first time separate regulations are being set for the  HEMS  industry in India. Issues to be addressed include eliminating the requirement for  HEMS  operators to file a flight plan and allowing helicopters to fly point-to-point without prior air traffic control clearance in airspace below 5,000 feet and outside of prohibited or restricted areas. The Ministry of Civil Aviation is simultaneously working on a plan to coordinate with the National Highways Authority of India, hospitals, insurance companies, on-ground ambulance services and airports to facilitate rapid medical evacuation. “ HEMS  is critical for India, which has a poor road infrastructure. There is...

Neelam Mathews Feb 17 2017 Sing Air Show The Indian government is considering comprehensive Civil Aviation Requirements to regulate small, unmanned aerial vehicles ( UAV s, or “drones”), following recent incidents of their flying close to the airport, and Indian parliament. Guidelines could include registration, tracking, implementation, and penalties for offenders. Drones are “being discussed internally and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation has to work on this [further],” said to R.N. Choubey, Secretary of the Ministry of Civil Aviation, speaking to  AIN . He acknowledged that the ministry was facing “technical challenges like tracking…how does one track recreational drones? Tracking costs money and increases the weight of a drone. It needs to be monitored, and tracking devices will have to be put across the country,” he added. Administrative issues are getting in the way, too, regarding which authority gives permission for drones to ...

Neelam Mathews Nov 20, 2015 NEW DELHI: In 1998 India released a stamp to celebrate woman in aviation, an important recognition for this ofttimes invisible force. Today, there is a storm of motivation brewing to do more to educate, train and recognize women in aviation, as this journalist recently learned in the green environs of the Dusit Devarana Hotel on the outskirts of New Delhi. There, a group of women has launched the India chapter of Women in Aviation, International (WAI). CJ Collins, who serves as the FAA senior representative in New Delhi covering South Asia, is the brainchild behind WAI’s launch in India. “I was at a WAI event and what hit me was India’s neighbor UAE had a chapter. Why not here?” A couple of chance meetings with Radha Bhatia, chairperson at Indian travel and technology services provider Bird Group, “where we were two lone women” in an all-male crowd, led to their mutual resolve to launch WAI’s 147th Ch...

Neelam Mathews Aug 18 2015 For the first time, India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation ( DGCA ) is proposing to allow different regulatory codes for aircraft based on their all-up weight. The new policy would define two categories of aircraft: more or less than 5,700 kg (12,566 pounds). The country’s Business Aircraft Operators Association ( BAOA ) has welcomed the  DGCA  report proposing this change as a positive first step toward regulations more suitable for non-airline operations. Reacting to the  DGCA report, the  BAOA  is further asking for separate  standards and recommended practices  for scheduled and nonscheduled operators; currently the two types of operation are lumped together under many of the same rules. The association has suggested subclassifications for the two categories. “ You cannot equate a small operator flying three aircraft of Challenger 605 weight class, for instance, with an airline operating 70 nar...