Pilots to practice in simulated rain

The Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) in India has called upon all airlines and airline pilot to go through a simulated rain training. This additional simulator training is to handle adverse weather condition, a move aimed to improve passenger safety in monsoon. Despite issuing such instructions every year the airlines in India have not seemed to implement it yet, said a DGCA spokesmen hence forth this has been made mandatory from this year and has to be followed strictly regardless of what ever the pilots previous flying experience is, and special attention should be paid to first time commanders during monsoon.

Russian pilots removed from cockpit for being drunk

 A flight with three passengers in Russia was canceled on Friday while on the runway after the airport dispatchers became suspicious that the pilot was drunk. The Tu-134 was owned by Kosomos airline, and the three passengers where sent to hotel. The small airline operators in Russia have a reputation for frequent violations of flight safety rules. The owners don't give the crew a much needed break as per the law and keep pushing them to fly, so the crew at times try to fight fatigue with alcohol. 

Hunt for the crashed Air France jet extended

The French investigators on Tuesday said that the under water hunt for the wreckage of the crashed jet, an A330 killing all 228 people on board has been extended through late May. But the hunt will resume with fewer resources, the French accident investigation agency BEA is still confident enough to zero in on the location of the crash site. The BEA also confirmed that only one of the previous two ships will hunt for the black box as one vessel is carrying US Navy owned equipment and is unavailable. Air France and Air Bus the manufacturer of jet will sponsor euro 1.5 million each for the search operation that will carry on until May 25th.

Russian pilots can no longer fly in Iran

It was reported that the Iran transport minister has said that the Islamic Republic is sending home all Russian pilots and they can no longer fly for Iranian Airlines. The minister has said that terminating all foreign pilots flying in Iran was on their agenda. It seems in March the Iranian President had asked to expel all foreign pilots flying in the country. Following this the transport minister had also hinted that their current fleet of Russian made Tupolev 154 will also be replaced very shortly, but did not reveal any details of which make are they looking to replace with.

Ireland, Britain eye new ash cloud flight ban

The Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) has said that it may have to impose a airspace closure on Tuesday due to a new volcanic ash cloud moving south. The IAA has confirmed that it is based on the alert from Volcanic Ash Advice Center (VAAC). The Irish carrier Aer Arann has canceled few flights on Monday night. A small area of British air space is also expected to be shut down. It is also expected that the major airports in Europe will not be affected this time. 

Jet Airways makes a single engine landing after mid air scare

A Jet airways aircraft just after take off had to make a priority landing due to a instrument false alarm at the Kolkata airport on Sunday. Soon after take off of the Bagdogra bound aircraft the 'reversal anti lock system' indicator started to lit up, and the crew had to react quickly, as per procedures the crew shut down the right engine and decided to land back in kolkata. The aircraft with 42 passengers on board landed safely on single engine.
As soon as the aircraft landed the engineers examined the engine and the instrument and found out that the engine was in good shape and there were no problems with the engine, it was the instrument that gave false alarm. After the examination the same aircraft was flown in the route. The aircraft was a 50 seater CRJ which Jet Airways had  dry leased in 2003 for a period of 7 years.

Air India cancel orders with Boeing

Air India the national carrier of India wants to cancel the order of three Boeing 777-300ER. But it is learn t that Boeing has offered Air India 10 single aisle aircraft's in lue of three long haul aircraft's, Boeing is ready to deliver 10 B737-800 instead of the three B777's. Differences in the pricing remain the main obstacle between Boeing and Air India, as AI wants the aircraft's to be priced at a post dated price when the orders were initially placed. AI had placed an order of 68 aircraft's with Boeing in 2005  which includes 23 B777, (8 B777-200LR and 15 B777-300ER) 18 B737-800, 27 B787-800. Air India has already taken deliveries of  18 B737-800, 8 B777-200LR and of the 15 B777-300ER 10 aircraft's have been delivered and the remaining 5 were about to be delivered over a period of next 15 months. It is estimated that Air India will have to pay Rs22,000 crore for aircraft deliveries this year, were it paid Rs 12,000 crore last year.

United Airlines flight 148 receives bomb threat

United Airlines flight 148 bound to Philadelphia from Chicago received a bomb threat while in flight on Saturday evening. As per procedures the crew had informed the Philadelphia tower about the bomb threat, around 1830 hrs the plane landed safely and the 112 people on board where disembarked safely. FBI and TSA are investigating the issue and all 112 passengers on board and 5 crew were questioned about the bomb threat.

Southwest jet and a Copter on collision path in Houston

A Southwest jet that just took off from the Houston airport had almost collided with a helicopter. The jet which just took off was at 100 feet AGL when the pilot spotted a helicopter on collision path. Both the pilot's had to take evasive action to avoid a crash. The Southwest jet's pilot eased back on the power and slowed down the rate of climb and the helicopter pilot had to bank very steeply to stay away from flight path of the jet. The jet and the helicopter missed each other by 100 feet vertical and 125 feet lateral distance. FAA has probed an investigation.

Angola Airlines confirms' order of two B777

Boeing and Angola Airlines announced the order of two B777-300ER at Washington. The 2 B777 are valued at about $550 million and the airlines have also got purchase rights for two more 777-300ER in future. The flag carrier of Angola is expected to use these two new aircrafts' for route expansion and add new destinations in Europe.
The Boeing 777-300ER is 19 percent lighter than its closest competitor, which reduces its fuel requirement. It produces 22 percent less carbon dioxide per seat and costs 20 percent less to operate per seat. The airplane can seat up to 365 passengers in a three-class configuration and has a maximum range of 7,930 nautical miles (14,685 km). The 777 family is the world's most successful twin-engine, twin-aisle airplane. Sixty customers around the world have ordered more than 1,100 B777s.