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Showing posts from August, 2020

Boeing grounds eight Dreamliners after finding fuselage flaws

Boeing  Co. found “two distinct manufacturing issues" affecting the fuselage of eight 787 Dreamliner jets and said the planes must be removed from service for repair. The flaws were found in the joint of sections toward the rear of the wide-body aircraft, the company said by email Friday. The jets, all of which have been grounded, “must be inspected and repaired prior to continued operation," Boeing said. The company said it has notified the Federal Aviation Administration and is “conducting a thorough review into the root cause." Air Canada, United Airlines Holdings Inc. and Singapore Airlines Ltd. said they each had one of the affected planes. The problems add to a series of woes for Boeing, most notably for its workhorse 737 Max, which hasn’t flown since March 2019 after two crashes killed 346 people. Changes to the narrow-body’s flight control system are being testing by regulators, and the plane is expected to be cleared for flight by year-end. Air travel, particula

Meals Allowed On Domestic Flights; No-Fly List Warning If Without Mask

The government has permitted airlines to serve pre-packed snacks, meals and beverages on domestic flights and hot meals on international flights, according to an official order. Moreover, any passenger who refuses to wear a face mask in a flight can be put on the no-fly list by the airline, said a senior official of the aviation regulator DGCA. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, in-flight meal service was not permitted on domestic flights since their resumption on May 25. On international flights, only pre-packed cold meals and snacks were being served depending on the flight duration since May this year. In an order issued on Thursday, the Civil Aviation Ministry said, "Airlines may serve pre-packed snacks/meals/pre-packed beverages on domestic flights depending on the duration of flight." Airlines and charter flight operators can "serve hot meals and limited beverages" on international flights "as per the standard practices", it added. The ministry said on

IndiGo’s New A321XLR Fleet – What We Know So Far

In October 2019, IndiGo placed a massive order for 300 A320neo family of aircraft, including the A321XLR. IndiGo plans to use the A321XLR to expand its market coverage and start long-haul operations. Now that it has been nearly a year since the order, has there been any change? What have we learned? The A321XLR is expected to drastically reshape long-haul flying, especially  after the current crisis . With its 4,700nm range, the plane can fly high-frequency, trans-Atlantic flights and even open up new routes to underserved markets. Full service carriers such as  United ,  Qantas , and  American  have all ordered the plane along with low-cost carriers such as IndiGo. New destinations The A321XLR might play a pivotal role in the IndiGo fleet when it comes into service in 2023. IndiGo has long wanted an aircraft that can fly popular long-haul routes in Europe and East Asia and has even considered  wet leasing aircraft  for the same. However, it can now do so in a narrowbody. The A321XLR c

2,173 killed in air crashes since 1947

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Eighteen people, including both pilots, died on August 7 when an Air India Express flight carrying 190 people crashed at Kozhikode airport in Kerala. With this, the number of people to have died in commercial airline accidents in independent India has reached 2,173, a Hindustan Times analysis found. An overwhelming 80% of them have died in accidents caused by pilot error – an action or decision taken by the pilot which was the cause or a contributing factor in an accident. The analysis is based on data compiled by the Aviation Safety Network, a privately run initiative that keeps track of aviation accidents, incidents and hijackings. The cause of most accidents has been sourced from accident investigation reports by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, and of remaining from the Aviation Safety Network. The analysis has looked at only passenger flights and only those accidents in which at least one passenger or crew member died. Chartered flights, training flights, cargo flights a