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7-hr trip turns into 60-hr nightmare
NewDelhi: Over 200 passengers onboard Air India's Milan-Delhi flight had a harrowing time recently when their Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft had to abort landing at the IGI Airport twice due to dense fog. The flight that was supposed to reach Delhi in seven hours finally landed after 60 hours, spoiling the Christmas plans of many fliers. The incident once again exposes AI's failure to have its Dreamliner aircraft certified for instrument landing system (ILS). Sources say AI's… (epaperbeta.timesofindia.com) More...Sort type: [Top] [Newest]
The extremely high level of entropy of Indian bureaucracy continues to astound one and all . Peruse the following
" NO DGCA NOD - Equipped Dreamliners did not take off in fog "
http://epaperbeta.timesofindia.com/Article.aspx?eid=31808&articlexml=NO-DGCA-NOD-Equipped-Dreamliners-did-not-take-04012015006021
some excerpts
1. " Air India passengers could have been the only ones to fly out of Delhi in airline's Dreamliners even as others faced flight delays owing to dense fog. But the AI's failure to get regulatory nod for a lower low visibility takeoff (LVTO) minima meant that the Boeing 787 too remained stuck on ground at IGI Airport ..... "
2. “We have been asking the DGCA repeatedly to lower the take off minima for our Dreamliners. But this clearance has not been given despite the fact that our Boeing 787s are the only aircraft in India to have HUD,“ an AI official said .......
3. " ... However, sources said the real reason of not being able to land B-787s using Cat II is that pairing of pilots -having both Cat II or III trained pilots in the cockpit of a flight -is not happening due to allegedly faulty rostering. "
At this rate will DGCA, India , ever be able get back the grade they have lost last year at the hands of FAA ?
" NO DGCA NOD - Equipped Dreamliners did not take off in fog "
http://epaperbeta.timesofindia.com/Article.aspx?eid=31808&articlexml=NO-DGCA-NOD-Equipped-Dreamliners-did-not-take-04012015006021
some excerpts
1. " Air India passengers could have been the only ones to fly out of Delhi in airline's Dreamliners even as others faced flight delays owing to dense fog. But the AI's failure to get regulatory nod for a lower low visibility takeoff (LVTO) minima meant that the Boeing 787 too remained stuck on ground at IGI Airport ..... "
2. “We have been asking the DGCA repeatedly to lower the take off minima for our Dreamliners. But this clearance has not been given despite the fact that our Boeing 787s are the only aircraft in India to have HUD,“ an AI official said .......
3. " ... However, sources said the real reason of not being able to land B-787s using Cat II is that pairing of pilots -having both Cat II or III trained pilots in the cockpit of a flight -is not happening due to allegedly faulty rostering. "
At this rate will DGCA, India , ever be able get back the grade they have lost last year at the hands of FAA ?
They can, but it will take some big steps. The aircraft and their capabilities are known. They will have to put the regulations out there and let the airlines go to them. Their problem then goes to enforcement. There is some credibility to the pilot qualifications but if that is the hang up, it needs to be out there rather than non existent aircraft fault.
Big steps ? Not in a thousand years .
A system which is incapable of taking baby steps can't be expected of taking any steps whatsoever .
We create plenty of bumps and bottlenecks at every step and turn !
We are incapable to overcome our inertia to act, a trait we regard so highly .
A system which is incapable of taking baby steps can't be expected of taking any steps whatsoever .
We create plenty of bumps and bottlenecks at every step and turn !
We are incapable to overcome our inertia to act, a trait we regard so highly .
Well, probably not in our lifetime or generation, but it will happen. Hang in there my friend.
And when that happens the minimas of efficiency would have changed and Indians will still be below that ! :-(
" AI `forgets' to roster pilots for London-Delhi flight "
http://uk.flightaware.com/squawks/view/1/1_year/new/45818/7-hr%20trip%20turns%20into%2060-hr%20nightmare
And the opening para says all
" Mumbai:There are possibly a hundred ways an airline can lose money , but if an ailing carrier bleeds cash it calls for a special mention.This honour goes to Air India whose officials somehow forgot that an aircraft needed pilots to fly it! On Tuesday, an Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft at London's Heathrow Airport lay dormant for close to 12 hours as there were no pilots to fly it back to Delhi. The cash-strapped airline had to accommodate around 200 passengers into hotels for the night. "
Followed was the fall out of the " high degree of professionalism " we Indians are so boastful of
"The airline operated its Delhi-London AI flight 111 as scheduled“But, on Tuesday , the departure did not take place at the scheduled hour as the airline had not positioned any pilots in London to operate the return leg to Delhi,“ sources said. "
and
" The pilots who operated the B787 Dreamliner flight into London could not be roped in as they had crossed their maximum permissible duty time. An AI spokesperson said: “Air India had operated B-777 aircraft on January 3, 4 and 5 to London to clear the holiday rush.Thereafter, from January 6, the aircraft was reverted to B-787 and the crew was scheduled accordingly . However, due to fog in Delhi, one of the flights was diverted to Mumbai, which led to lot of changes in crew movement.After giving the pilots minimum applicable rest and keeping in view the night curfew in London, the flight was rescheduled to January 7at 4am. Air India regrets inconvenience to passengers.“
My apologies for taking up 'FlightAware' space to highlight the Indian caliber . And we desire to be among the 8 global leaders !