Air India crash aftermath: What are the steps Centre is taking to strengthen India's aviation sector? Union Minister answers
In a written reply to Rajya Sabha, Murlidhar Mohol, MoS, Civil Aviation said that the data from one of the Flight Recorders of AI-171 (VT-ANB) has been downloaded in the Flight Recorder Lab of the AAIB at Udaan Bhawan. He also stated that the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has undertaken several efforts to strengthen the country's aviation safety on a regular basis.
'An Investigation has been ordered by Director General (DG), Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) under Rule 11 of the Aircraft (Investigation of Accidents & Incidents) Rules, 2017 to determine the probable cause(s)/ contributory factor(s) leading to the accident. Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) – India has a robust mechanism to enhance the aviation safety to ensure the safe operations,' the Union Minister said.
A look at the steps taken by the DGCA for ensuring safe flight operations in the country:
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News18
14 hours ago
- News18
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India Today
15 hours ago
- India Today
Engines dead, pilots glided plane for 120km over ocean, saved 306 lives
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An emergency descent over the dark, freezing Atlantic, with a plane gliding for 120 km with two flamed-out trans-Atlantic flight could land safely only because of the sheer brilliance and composure of Captain Robert Piche, with First Officer Dirk DeJager backing him every second of the way, in what is now known as the Miracle on the 306 souls on board, including the crew, survived. It was a textbook glider landing and created the world recordUnlike the famed "Sully" landing on the Hudson River in 2009, when both engines failed due to a bird strike shortly after takeoff, the Air Transat flight lost power mid-Atlantic and had to glide for nearly 120 kilometres before Transat Flight 236's landing sounds easy now. But inside that aircraft, the calm was paper-thin. The passengers had been told to brace for a ditch. The Atlantic below was black, cold, and unforgiving. Most believed they were about to die. And yet, in the cockpit, Piche and DeJager fought back against a total engine flameout, hydraulic system loss, electrical failure, cabin depressurisation, and the challenging physics of a powerless a quarter-century later, aviation scares have made their momentary appearances in news headlines. That's after the crash of Air India Flight 171 in Ahmedabad, where a Boeing 787 Dreamliner plunged just 32 seconds after takeoff, killing 241 on board and 29 on the ground, with only one survivor onboard. The investigation into the Air India crash is on and India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau has released a preliminary to an analysis, the pilots of Flight 171 faced a situation that no aviation course prepares crew for. The plane's digital control system, Fadec, over-rode the cockpit crew, and the pilots valiantly tried to reverse the situation by moving the fuel switches from RUN to CUT to RUN even as the plane started to lose altitude. Their effort actually might have worked had the plane gained some more the news of recent scares, aviation remains one of the safest and efficient modes of travel, and pilots do everything in their capacity for a safe and relaxing what the pilots of Flight 236 did in 2001 when they realised that both the engines had flamed out with the nearest airstrip still over 100 kilometres away."When you don't have that other engine, sooner or later you're going to go down, you know... That's just about it. You don't have time to think about anything else than taking care of the safety of the passengers. You do as you've been taught," Captain Piche said after returning to Flight 236 from Toronto to Lisbon, quick thinking, skills, and calm came together to glide the 250-tonne aircraft for nearly 120 kilometres, engine-less, over an open ocean, and land it safely. Air Transat Flight 236 was scheduled to fly for about 7 hours from Toronto to Lisbon. It was carrying holidayers bound for the tropical sun of Portugal. (Image: Google Earth/Author/India Today) FUEL TROUBLES OVER MID-ATLANTIC TURNED AIRBUS A330 INTO A GLIDERadvertisementAir Transat Flight 236 took off from Toronto Pearson International Airport at 52 minutes after midnight on August 24, 2001, for Lisbon, Portugal's capital. There were 293 passengers and 13 crew members aboard the Airbus A330-243, one of the most advanced twin-engine jets at the appeared normal until the aircraft crossed into the mid-Atlantic is a stretch of sky where aircraft are farthest from any airports, runways, or even remote, unpaved landing strips. It was here that the pilots began noticing unusual fuel imbalance the pilots didn't know at the time was that a fuel pipe on the right engine had started leaking, caused by an improper maintenance replacement of the hydraulic pump of shutting down that engine immediately, which would have isolated the leak, the crew attempted to correct the fuel imbalance by transferring fuel between tanks. The transfer of fuel to the leaking engine only worsened the fuel left to burn, the right engine died out soon. The pilots declared a fuel emergency and began descending toward Lajes Air Base, a military-civilian airport on Terceira Island in the Portuguese Azores, some 130 kilometres six minutes later, disaster truly struck. The left engine too flamed both engines dead, the A330 lost its main source of electrical power and hydraulics. Though a backup Ram Air Turbine (RAT), a small wind-powered generator, was deployed to provide emergency power, the aircraft had now effectively become a big powerless glider. According to CCTV footage, the Air India Boeing 787-8 deployed its ram air turbine (RAT) in a bid to have some power, so the flight could be steered to safety. (Image: Social Media) FREEFALL FROM 39,000 FEET; CAPTAIN'S 16,000 HOURS OF EXPERIENCE TAKES OVERAt the time of the double engine failure, Flight 236 was at about 39,000 feet. From that height, the plane could glide about 27 to 31 kilometres for every 1,000 feet it lost in actually, glide distance depends on wind, turbulence, how heavy the plane is, and how it's set rudder, reverse thrusters, and flaps, which could have aided in slowing down, steering, and stabilising the aircraft, were not working due to the total engine failure. The pilots had to rely only on controlling the aircraft's nose, up or down, to manage their glide the aircraft was effectively a powerless glider in the hands of the pilots. The 48-year-old Captain, Robert Piche, had 16,000 hours of flying experience. Piche's unusual experience was that he had served 16 months of a 5-year prison sentence (released in 1986) for smuggling a small plane full of marijuana into the began a gentle but steady descent toward followed was 19 minutes of nail-biting silence, broken only by cockpit coordination and pilots managed all aircraft movements manually. They kept tabs on speed, rate of descent, and course without the assistance of engine thrust or the modern hydraulics impaired, flight control responses were pressure was lost and oxygen masks deployed. Electrical systems went offline. Flight attendants braced passengers for a possible ocean ditching. The sea below was hostile, it was dark, and there were no ships nearby. Water landing was one of the options but considered yet, somehow, the A330 made it. How? Before the Azores emergency landing, Piche had flown for regional airlines, served prison time for smuggling marijuana by plane, was later pardoned, and rose to become an Airbus A330 captain at Air Transat. (Image: Robert Piche) NO THRUST, NO SECOND CHANCE, HOW PILOTS LANDED 250-TONNE DEAD JETAs the aircraft neared Lajes Air Base, Piche had the task of landing the 250-tonne wide-body jet without thrust. No go-around, no second the engines were dead, the plane would lose speed quickly. So Captain Piche chose a steep approach and waited until the final moments to lower the wheels. While the landing gear did come down, the nose gear didn't extend landing had to be partially chin-up. However, Piche maintained the speed and made sure the aircraft could still glide far align with the runway despite strong crosswinds and limited control, Captain Piche performed a 360-degree turnaround. In doing so, the aircraft lost some desired altitude too. Then, the S-shaped glide manoeuvre was performed, which helped the aircraft to stabilise its speed and shed off excess altitude. The runway lights were in the powerless A330 was positioned for then, emergency teams and fire trucks were already lined up beside the runway, ready to respond the moment the plane touched 06.45 UTC, the A330 touched down hard on Runway 33 at Lajes, bouncing once, but staying on the 3,300-metre runway. The jet came to a halt after over 2,000 metres, with brakes, spoilers, flaps and reverse thrust all had glided more than 120 kilometres without 306 people on board survived the emergency landing, with only two sustaining minor injuries. The safe evacuation using inflatable emergency slides was quick and orderly. The high-stress landing was a miraculous end to a near-catastrophe. Two of the three landing gear sets were destroyed during the hard landing, but all 306 people on board were safely evacuated. (Images: FAA) INVESTIGATION REVEALS FATAL MAINTENANCE ERROR IN MONTREALAviation authorities immediately launched an was soon found that the fuel leak had been caused by a faulty part installed during maintenance in Montreal. The part used was incompatible with the engine, and belonged to a different model of crew, while credited with saving all lives onboard, did not go uncriticised. The BEA (Bureau of Enquiry and Analysis for Civil Aviation Safety) concluded that had the fuel leak been diagnosed earlier, the crisis could have been avoided Transat was fined CAD 250,000 for improper maintenance procedures. The airline later revised its training and Piche and First Officer DeJager, meanwhile, were hailed as heroes. Airbus engineers reportedly said it was "the longest dead-stick glide of a commercial airliner in aviation history".And for the passengers that night, life was never the described it as a second birth, yet the trauma left lasting they kept the gift of life, the psychological toll was profound, even if it could never compare to the unbearable loss endured by the families of the Air India crash Miracle on the Azores shows how experience and skill come to the rescue when gadgets fail. Though avionics are developing fast, it all ultimately rests with the human beings in the cockpit, two beating hearts and cool minds. Investigators found the fuel line cracked (right) because it rubbed against a hydraulic line due to a wrongly installed engine part belonging to a different aircraft model. A passenger after the emergency landing said he didn't slide down the inflatable, he ran down it. (Images: FAA) GLOSSARY: WHAT IS REVERSE THRUST, WHAT IS WIDEBODY JETWidebody Jet: A plane with two aisles inside, allowing more seats and space. They are typically used for international or long-haul Air Turbine (RAT): A small, foldable turbine that pops out during emergencies to generate power from the System: A network of pumps and fluid-powered lines that move key parts of the aircraft, like brakes, landing gear, and flight Gear: The front wheel of the landing gear. It helps steer the aircraft while on the ground and supports the nose during landing. A labelled side-view diagram of an aircraft in landing configuration, showing the deployed Ram Air Turbine, nose and main landing gear, spoilers, and flaps. (Image: Author/India Today) Dead-stick Glide: Flying and landing an aircraft without engine Hinged parts on the back edge of the wings that increase lift, helping the plane take off and land at slower Flat panels on the top of the wings that rise to reduce lift and slow the plane down, mainly used during descent and after Thrust: A feature that redirects engine thrust forward to slow the plane after landing. Without it, stopping requires more When a pilot aborts a landing and circles back to try again.- EndsTune InMust Watch
Time of India
a day ago
- Time of India
Teacher faces show-cause as AI tigers visit madrasa campus
1 2 3 4 5 6 Kolkata: An AI-generated video showing three tigers on a madrasa campus at Barasat went viral on Wednesday, causing panic among students and guardians and leading to a sharp drop in attendance on Wednesday and Thursday. The video was later found to have been created by a teacher of the madrasa. The madrasa issued a show-cause notice on Thursday, after which the teacher claimed it was part of an awareness campaign to educate students about dangers of blindly trusting AI-generated content online. According to sources, a viral video on social media claimed that not one, but three tigers were prowling on the campus of Ula Kalsara Qadria High Madrasa in Barasat's Kadambagachhi. You Can Also Check: Kolkata AQI | Weather in Kolkata | Bank Holidays in Kolkata | Public Holidays in Kolkata "We were extremely shocked after watching the video showing tigers roaming the campus. It had already gone viral on Facebook, and we decided to stop sending our kids to school," said a guardian. Upon hearing the news, concerned parents started calling the headmaster, demanding clarity and safety assurances. Headmaster Monirul Mallik confirmed that the video was digitally created by assistant teacher Mohammad Yamin Mallik, the geography teacher. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like 5 Books Warren Buffett Wants You to Read In 2025 Blinkist: Warren Buffett's Reading List Undo "The video was created using AI by our geography teacher. We are still not clear about his intentions. After receiving calls from parents, we spoke to the teacher and had the video deleted immediately. The madrasa managing committee will take appropriate steps to ensure such incidents do not happen again," the headmaster said. Mohammad Yamin Mallik said: "I created the video using AI technology to make students aware that not everything they see on social media is real. It was meant to align learning with modern technological trends, beyond textbooks. But I sincerely apologise for the panic it has caused. I want to clarify that there are no tigers or any wild animals on campus. I have already deleted the video," he said. "The incident has highlighted the double-edged nature of AI tools in educational spaces — while they can be innovative, they must be used responsibly," said Joydeep Lahiri, an AI expert.
