2008 was the year reality struck home in the Indian airline industry. One whiff of the downturn exposed the lack of robust business planning, and abundance of financial vulnerability of Indian carriers, leaving all of them battered and bruised, some more than others.

We saw mass-scale defaulting on payments by carriers in India to everyone from airports to aircraft manufacturers.

Touted as THE growth sector of the future by both Boeing and Airbus in 2007, in the last nine months, domestic airlines have slashed capacity and with very shallow pockets, pulled back at least one-third of their aircraft orders due for delivery this year.

India’s domestic airline capacity shrank by more than 8%, compared with 3.5% in Japan and growth of 18% in China.

As late as mid 2008 Boeing, Airbus SAS and Empresa Brasileira de Aeronautica SA (Embraer) were projecting delivery of 91 aircraft during 2009. They will now thank the stars if they can deliver the reduced quantity of 57 aircraft expected this year.

Both Boeing and Airbus are claiming that no airline has "cancelled orders", but this statement does not account for the deferrals in delivery and the diversion sales of aircraft by Indian carriers to foreign airlines.

In this highly competitive market, it appears that Boeing has the upper hand. It is facing deferral of only two of its 22 expected deliveries down 10%, while Airbus is down 53% expecting to deliver only 32 out of the expected 68 aircraft in large part due to Kingfisher. Embraer increased its delivery tally to five aircraft up 500% from the projected one thanks to the phenomenal growth of Paramount Airways their main customer

Boeing Customers

Jet Airways with fleet of 111 aircraft accounts for the two deferrals of Boeing. One 777-300ER and one 737. Jet has leased out a significant portion of its wide-body fleet. A total of seven of its eleven uber-luxurious Boeing 777-300ERs to Turkish Airlines THY and Gulf Air, and two each of its Airbus A330-200s to Oman Air and Gulf Air. Jet has called for a further ten per cent cut in seat capacity and is now trying to leasing out its narrow body Boeing 737s.

Image courtesy and copyright A.J. Best. Used with his permission. Please do not re-use without permission.

SpiceJet with 12.5 per cent growth will take delivery of 12 Boeing 737-800s/900s, one each quarter for the next three years adding to its fleet of 14 Boeing 737-800s and 900s.

Air India backed by the Government of India, will take delivery of its new Boeing 737-800s, four 777-300ERs and and three 777-200LRs by September, as scheduled. Air India (domestic and international combined) has a fleet of 150 aircraft. The combined order to Boeing and Airbus was for 111 aircraft.

Airbus Customers

The largest domestic carrier and most aggressive Airbus customer Kingfisher Airlines is in terrible financial shape. It led all Asian carriers with a 17.1 per cent capacity cut and has held its expansion to its existing 76 aircraft not withstanding the fracas with GECAS on four of its aircraft. It has diverted its three of its five A340-500s to Arik Air of Nigeria, the balance two have become "white tails" at Toulouse. Of the five A330-200s delivered, two are lying idle. Kingfisher is now in talks with Arik Air in an effort to lease them. The deliveries of the A380 have been deferred yet again. Even pending deliveries of ATR42s and 72s from the Air Deccan days are languishing at Toulouse. Kingfisher has been forced to defer delivery of 32 of 48 Airbus A320 planes that were due for delivery in late 2008 and in 2009 and is also diverting its narrow body A320 family orders to foreign airlines like Turkish THY. So while Airbus may deliver planes to an Indian airline, the aircraft may never come to India.

IndiGo along with fellow value carrier SpiceJet has been registered increasing market share, and has recently taken delivery of its 19th Airbus A320. It is maintaining a more conservative but steady delivery rate.

Air India domestic (formerly Indian Airlines) will maintain its delivery with Airbus for the narrow body A320 family having recently taken delivery of three each A321-200s and A319-100s. Airbus has also commenced discussions with Air India on the A380 superjumbo and hopes to convince the airline to buy a few.

While both Boeing and Airbus do not expect any new orders from the Indian market in the near to medium term, they continue to be bullish on India and maintain their market forecasts which estimates that the country’s airlines would buy up to 1,100 planes over the next 20 years.

A Jetlite Boeing 737-800, registration VT-SJH performing flight S2-320 from Kolkata to New Delhi with 140 persons on board, was forced to make three landing attempts due to weather and a fault Instrument Landing System at New Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport.

The flight was on approach to New Delhi's runway 29, when a thunderstorm went into its final approach and landing path. The crew aborted the landing and requested for a different runway.

Air Traffic Control (ATC) vectored the aircraft for an ILS approach to runway 11 (the opposite side of runway 29). However, when the crew attempted to intercept the ILS localizer on runway 11, the ILS was found to be malfunctioning.

Air Traffic Control then instructed the pilots to swing over to runway 10. However, while the airplane manoeuvred to align with runway 10, Air Traffic Control reported that the ILS on runway 11 was now working.

The airplane finally landed on runway 11 on the third approach 20 minutes after the first approach attempt.

JetLite refused to answer my queries if they have lodged any complaint or protest about the malfunctions with either the Airports Authority of India (AAI) whose controllers operate the ATC or with the airport operator Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL). They issued me this statement

"Due to weather detected on the aircraft weather radar S2 320 requested a runway change from R/W 29 to R/W 11. While the aircraft was being vectored for an approach to R/W 11, non-availability of the ILS (Instrument Landing System) of R/W 11 necessitated the change of the approach to R/W10. However, during the approach to R/W 10 a downgrade of the R/W10 ILS and subsequent availability of R/W 11 ILS resulted in the approach and landing being made on R/W 11. The changes in the approaches did not result in any go-arounds."

METARS:
VIDP 291300Z 00000KT 3500 HZ SCT035 FEW040CB BKN090 23/19 Q1010 TEMPO TSRA
VIDP 291230Z 18005KT 3500 HZ SCT035 FEW040CB BKN100 23/19 Q1009 TEMPO TSRA
VIDP 291200Z 18006KT 3500 -DZ SCT035 FEW040CB BKN100 23/18 Q1009 TEMPO TSRA
VIDP 291100Z 18005KT 3500 HZ SCT035 FEW040CB BKN100 26/17 Q1009 NOSIG
VIDP 291030Z 20005KT 3500 HZ SCT035 FEW040CB BKN100 26/17 Q1009 NOSIG
VIDP 290930Z 31005KT 2800 TS SCT035 FEW040CB BKN100 27/17 Q1010 BECMG 3000
VIDP 290900Z 28003KT 2800 HZ SCT035 FEW040CB BKN100 28/17 Q1010 NOSIG
VIDP 290830Z 01005KT 2600 HZ FEW035 FEW040CB BKN100 28/17 Q1010 NOSIG
VIDP 290730Z 32005KT 2800 HZ FEW035 FEW040CB BKN100 27/18 Q1010 BECMG 3000
VIDP 290700Z 34005KT 2800 HZ FEW035 FEW040CB BKN100 27/18 Q1011 NOSIG

Thanks to Simon Hradecky at Aviation Herald for the tip.

Firstly, many thanks to all the Bangalore Aviation readers who participated in last week's trivia question - Which is the longest scheduled commercial airline flight ?

For the purpose of definition I placed four criteria for an ultra long-haul non-stop flight:

1. Operated by a commercial airliner with a definite schedule
2. No intermediate stop-over point within its scheduled duration
3. More than 12,000 km in route length
4. Over 15 hours of scheduled flying time

The correct answer is Singapore Airline's flight SQ21 from Newark to Singapore, 16,600km (10,314 miles, 8,963 nm), 18 hours 40 minutes scheduled flying time. Congratulations to Dominik from Poland for the right answer.

Incidentally Singapore Airline's SQ22 from Singapore to Newark follows a "great circle" route of 15,700 km, while SQ21 follows a "polar" route which is 16,600 km.

The second longest route is also by Singapore Airlines. SQ37 (formerly SQ19) from Los Angeles to Singapore takes 18 hours 10 minutes to complete the 14,033 km (8,771 mile, 7,577 nm) trip.

Both these flights are operated by the Airbus A340-500.

Delta operates India's longest flight, the world's fourth longest from Mumbai to Atlanta using the Boeing 777LR. DL185 takes 17 hours to cover the 13,739 km (8,537 mile, 7,395nm) journey. This is also the longest currently scheduled flight by the Boeing 777LR. For a full list click here.

On 10 December 2005, a Boeing 777-200LR completed the world's longest non-stop passenger flight, travelling eastwards from Hong Kong to London a 21,602 km (13,422 miles) in roughly 22 hours and 40 minutes. This was not a scheduled flight and although the airplane seats 301, there were only 27 passengers aboard this flight, I guess the balance weight being made up by fuel.

This is not, however, the record for longest time staying aloft for an airliner. This record is held by the 1939 Berlin-New York non stop flight of a reciprocal piston powered Focke-Wulf Fw 200 built for Lufthansa (flight time 24 hours and 56 minutes). Now that would be a very painful flight.

Image courtesy Singapore Airlines

Two deliveries of "first" of aircraft model occurred on March 27th.

Airbus delivered the first A330-300 to Finnair, out of an order for eight. Powered by General Electric CF6-80E1 engines, the new aircraft is in a two class configuration 42 Business, 229 Economy for a total seating for 271 passengers.

On the same day, Boeing delivered the first 777 Freighter to Emirates SkyCargo via Dubai Aerospace Enterprise (DAE). Coincidentally, Dubai Aerospace Enterprise Capital, the leasing arm of DAE, also has a total of eight 777 Freighters on order.

Images courtesy and copyright of Airbus and Boeing

Follow Bangalore Aviation on Twitter

For quite some time the rumour mill had it that the Indian Ministry of Defence (MoD) was going to scrap the $550 million tender for 22 attack helicopters. Earlier today this rumour was confirmed.

According to a spokesman the tender had to be cancelled since 'the remaining three companies still participating in the tender were unable to meet the requirements of the tender'.

"The Request for Proposals (RFP) for the 22 attack helicopters have been retracted and cancelled, as the three offers received from foreign defence companies did not meet the Staff Qualitative Requirements set by the government,”

The spokesman also clarified that other tenders such as the $1.5 billion tender for 384 light utility helicopters are not affected by this cancellation.

The cancellation is widely seen as being of direct benefit to Boeing and its AH-64D Apache Longbow helicopter with the new tender being seen as giving Boeing a second chance to participate.

India began a competition in May 2008, to procure 22 attack helicopters for its air force as a replacement for the ageing Mil Mi-25 and Mi-35 fleets.

Boeing image. Copyright Boeing Company

India requested a 2.5 tonne twin-engined copter with all-weather, day and night operations, and all-terrain ability. The helicopter is be highly manoeuvrable, able to deploy 20mm turret guns, rockets, air-to-air and air-to-ground missiles, able to employ air-to-ground, fire-and-forget mode missiles with a range of at least seven kilometres (4.375 miles), equipped with anti-armour capabilities and be capable of operating at high altitudes such as in the mountainous borders India shares with Pakistan, Afghanistan and China in the Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir. Specifications suiting the Boeing AH-64D Apache Longbow to a tee.

With a budget unit price of $25 million, the contract called for the first two helicopters to be delivered within two years of contract signing with completion of the contract within three years.

Initially seven companies participated the tender:

1. Agusta Westland AW129,
2. Bell AH-1Z SuperCobra,
3. Boeing AH-64D Apache Longbow,
4. Eurocopter Tiger HAD,
5. Kamov Ka-50,
6. Mil Mi-28 NE
7. Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL) Light Combat Helicopter.

By the final leg only Agusta-Westland, Eurocopter and Mil were left in the fray, Bell and Boeing quit the race, Kamov and HAL did not qualify.

Since Bell, ceased production of the AH-1Z Cobra it withdrew. Boeing had requested a two month extension last August to submit a proposal that met all the requirements of the Indian Air Force (IAF) which was denied, upon which Boeing refused to submit a proposal.

The MoD spokesman said that a new tender will be announced soon since the air force aims to modernising the service by the middle of the next decade, but this tender cancellation will definitely delay the 2010 target date of the IAF to begin with the deployment of the new attack helicopters.

Observers and analysts of the Indian Air Force (IAF) and the Ministry of Defence (MoD) are completely baffled. No one has been able to arrive at a conclusive logical explanation for the MoD actions.

By maintaining that the three remaining helicopters do not meet their qualitative requirements the MoD effectively implies that their requirements were (a) unrealistic, or more likely (b) tailored for a specific model that did not made it to the short list.

Clues to the second option being the real reason come from the fact that there is only one in-service helicopter-launched fire-and-forget mode missile WITH a 7 kilometre range in the world today -- the AGM-114L Longbow Hellfire; which is equipped on the Boeing AH-64D Longbow Apache.

One can safely surmise that the Indian Air Force brass was not happy that the Apache Longbow was no longer in the competition. This move to cancel the ongoing tender and start afresh is clearly intended to give Boeing a second chance. The outcome of the new “tender” appears to be already clear.

Not that I am complaining. Reading about the experiences of the Apache Longbows in Iraq, I have always felt that a squadron of these supremely deadly helicopters, with their armour, chain-gun and night-vision capabilities, would be more than enough to solve the problem of terrorists sneaking over the border from Pakistan to India.

Follow Bangalore Aviation on Twitter

On March 12th, I had written about the "urgent" safety recommendations by the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) regarding the Rolls Royce Trent 800 RB211 engines which are used by many Boeing 777 operators. It is estimated that there are currently about 220 Boeing 777s powered by Rolls-Royce Trent 800 engines in operation with 11 airlines around the world.

The list includes Air New Zealand, British Airways, American Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Delta Airlines, El Al, Emirates, Kenya Airways, Malaysia Airlines, Singapore Airlines, and Thai Airways.

Image courtesy Singapore Airlines

I was concerned about the impact on my favourite, Singapore Airlines (SIA), who with 77 aircraft, happens to be the world largest operator of Boeing 777s. The 777 makes up more than 75 per cent of Singapore Airlines' fleet (77 777s out of a fleet of 101 aircraft), and this will only grow as more join their fleet, and the 14 venerable Megatop Boeing 747-400s are retired from service by next year.

SIA has 58 Boeing 777s, that are powered by Rolls-Royce Trent 800 engines. These are the 31 Boeing 777-200 (Trent 884), 15 777-200ER (Extended Range), and 12 777-300 (both Trent 892) models. 19 are 777-300ER (also called 77W) powered by General Electric GE90-115B engines, and which are used primarily in long haul flights.

I wrote to Stephen Forshaw the spokesperson for Singapore Airlines with my concerns. He has assured me and all passengers of Singapore Airlines of the airline's confidence in the Rolls Royce Trent 800 engines powering their fleet, and the short-term fix addressed by the NTSB, with training and procedures mandated the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) minimise the risk while engine manufacturer Rolls Royce rolls out the re-designed Fuel Oil Heat Exchanger (FOHE) as a longer term and more permanent solution.

He also clarified in depth about the routes that Singapore Airlines flies which are more tropical in nature when compared to the extended polar routes flown by some other airlines.

I posed to him that even Singapore Airlines flights flies polar routes. and "with the -40 Deg and colder temperatures experienced at high altitude the route really does not have an impact on the potential for icing. i.e. whether it is a polar or tropical route."?

Stephen Forshaw explains

You are correct that temperatures can reach -40 or lower at cruise altitude, whether in the tropics or the polar region. That is not really the concern. As you would be aware, jet fuel has a very low freezing point - the variety used for commercial aircraft is Jet A1 and has a freezing point of -47 degrees Celsius. Sometimes, the temperature outside the aircraft will reach below that point, but the fuel tank ambient temperature is always higher than the outside temperature, and this prevents fuel from freezing.

Where icing potentially occurs is where the fuel has prolonged exposure to temperatures outside the aircraft at the more extreme end. [In] the BA [British Airways] case, outside temperatures for much of the polar journey reportedly reached as low as -70 degrees. The concern is the prolonged exposure to excessively low temperatures.

What is meant by my comment on the tropical nature of our operations is that, while the aircraft is on the ground, the ambient temperature very quickly warms up to a point well above zero degrees and will quickly melt any ice particles that may form. The difficulty in the BA case was that the ground temperature in Beijing was still well below zero for the entire time the aircraft was in transit. With a small number of exceptions, our RR [Rolls Royce] powered 777s tend not to operate to points where they are likely to face prolonged exposure to extreme cold conditions, both in cruise and on ground.

It would seem, from the available reports, that there were a set of circumstances that contributed to this accident; not merely that the temperature was low. Low temperatures are nothing new for jet fuel systems; it is the prolonged exposure and lack of understanding at that time of the remedial actions that we know are now necessary that are learning points. These points have all been incorporated into our procedures and pilot training, and our pilots are well aware of the issues.

In response to my query "has any SQ B777 flight experienced an in-flight un-commanded engine roll back ?" He said

We have not experienced any similar incident, and this is possibly because, as I said, our RR-powered 777s tend not to be operating in the prolonged extreme cold conditions that the BA flight experienced. Those of our aircraft operations with prolonged exposure to polar routes are only using the B777-300ER (GE-powered) and A340-500 (RR powered but with a different fuel flow system).

To clarify, the A340-500 series used on the non-stop Singapore Los Angeles and Singapore New York service are powered by the Rolls Royce Trent 553 engines. Having flown these flights right from their inaugural, I can attest to their reliability.


In response to my queries "on the "mood" of the airline about the Boeing 777 powered by the Rolls Royce Trent 800 RB211 engines, the fix that is being planned, and whether the recent developments will have any impact on SQs decisions on the engines for future B777 purchases ?" Stephen replied

The 777 will remain an integral part of our fleet operations for many years to come. It is an exceptionally good aircraft with a high level of reliability and customer appeal. We don't see that changing as a result of this finding, because (a) the fix developed has already been rolled out through training and procedures, and (b) RR is engaged on a longer-term redesign. I want to be clear on your question about 18 months as a time to fly with these "risks"- if there were no other mitigation measures, that would be a concern, but the procedures jointly developed and approved by the FAA and EASA provide a solution in the meantime to minimise the risk while the longer-term R&D work is done by RR.

Stephen Forshaw also confirmed that the recent developments will have no impact on the plans of Singapore Airlines to phase-out of the Boeing 744-400s by early next year.

This issue will not affect our plans to retire the B744s from service - that is a wholly different question and contingent on deliveries of newer, more fuel-efficient aircraft such as the A380 and B777-300ER.

It is clear that while the short-term training and procedural fix recommended by the NTSB, FAA and EASA is acceptable for now, it is surely not acceptable for the long term. By then Rolls Royce will have implemented the re-designed FOHE.

Would I fly aboard a Rolls Royce Trent 800 powered Boeing 777 of Singapore Airlines -- ABSOLUTELY!!!!!!!

On a side note, with the phase-out of the B744s, Singapore Airlines' long association with US engine manufacturer Pratt & Whitney will come to an end, as their entire fleet from the mighty Airbus A380 to the Boeing 777s to the Airbus A330 will be powered by Rolls Royce and General Electric engines. At one point about 10 years ago, Singapore Airlines was PWs largest customer in Asia. Singapore Airlines Cargo though, will continue using the PW4056 powered B744s.

and finally .... Stephen Forshaw is leaving Singapore Airlines for other career prospects. I wish him all success. His successor Nicholas Ionides who takes over as Vice President Public Affairs, with effect from 4 May 2009 is well known in the blogosphere. Mr Ionides, 37, is currently the Singapore-based Managing Editor (Asia) at Reed Business Information, publishers of Flight International and Airline Business Magazines and the Air Transport Intelligence and Flightglobal news websites

Follow Bangalore Aviation on Twitter

First posted - March 23, 01:00 GMT

A FedEx MD-11 freighter registration number N526FE performing flight 80, from Guangzhou, China crashed at Tokyo Narita International Airport in heavy winds, and burst in to flames. The two crew on board were killed. The main runway at the international gateway airport to Tokyo has been shut down.

Image courtesy Wikipedia

Most airlines have been forced to divert incoming flights to Tokyo Haneda, Osaka, Nagoya and other airports, as the longest runway of two at Narita has been closed.

The FedEx plane landed hard, tipped onto its left wing and burst into a bright orange fireball of flames, the video of the crash from Tokyo Broadcasting System shows. I have upload the video since the TBS website does not allow resizing of the small video window. The copyright remains that of TBS.

The three engined MD-11F an improvement of the old DC10 made by McDonnell Douglas, now a part of Boeing, is the mainstay of FedEx's freighter fleet who has 58 aircraft in its fleet.


This crash is reminiscent of the July 31, 1997 crash of another FedEx MD-11F at Newark. The US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) faulted the pilots for the crash of FedEx Flight 14, from Anchorage, Alaska to Newark.

Airport officials are unclear how long the main runway would be closed at Narita. International Japanese carriers Japan Airlines (JAL) and All Nippon Airways (ANA) have cancelled 29 and 10 flights respectively.

Having flown frequently to Narita I can attest to the tough time pilots have in the frequently occurring crosswinds. Both runways are aligned in a roughly North South direction (156/336 degree headings on the compass), and the airport often has strong crosswinds in an easterly and westerly direction. Paucity of land prevents the authorities from building a crossing runway at the airport.

METARS (21:48 UTC):
2009/03/22 21:00 RJAA 222100Z 30013G28KT 260V330 9999 FEW020 13/M01 Q0998 NOSIG RMK 1CU020 A2948
2009/03/22 21:00 RJAA 222100Z 30013G28KT 260V330 9999 FEW020 13/M01 Q0998 NOSIG
2009/03/22 21:08 RJAA 222108Z 31025G35KT 9999 FEW020 12/M01 Q0998 RMK 1CU020 A2949
2009/03/22 21:30 RJAA 222130Z 32026G40KT 9999 FEW020 12/M02 Q0999 WS R34L NOSIG
2009/03/22 21:30 RJAA 222130Z 32026G40KT 9999 FEW020 12/M02 Q0999 WS R34L NOSIG RMK 1CU020 A2952 P/RR
2009/03/22 21:30 RJAA 222130Z 32026G40KT 9999 FEW020 12/M02 Q0999 WS R34L NOSIG

Japan's meteorological agency had issued an advisory of gales for the area around the airport.

Update 1 - 04:30 GMT

FedEx has put out a statement

A FedEx Express MD-11 was involved in an incident today en route from Guangzhou to Narita, with two crew members on board. The incident occurred upon landing. We are sad to report that there were no survivors.

Our deepest sympathies go out to the family and friends of these crew members. This loss pains all of us at FedEx. Right now our focus is on doing everything we can to assist those involved at this difficult time.

We are thankful for the quick response of emergency teams on the ground and will continue to work closely with the applicable authorities as we seek to determine the cause for this tragic incident.

Update 2 - 06:00 GMT

Widespread flight disruptions are being reported at Narita airport. Read the full article.

The sixth and final Boeing 787 Dreamliner designated for flight test is now undergoing final assembly in Everett, Wash. The airplane, designated ZA006, will be powered with General Electric GEnx engines.

Boeing photo

Progress continues on the fleet. The first flight test airplane, ZA001, is getting its paint touched up this week before finishing factory testing. Power was brought onto the second airplane, ZA002, in late February and build verification tests are progressing well. Production work continues on ZA003, ZA004 and ZA005. In all, assemblies for 31 Dreamliners are currently in production throughout the supply chain.

Also observe the pre-painted doors in the aircraft. I wonder why? since the aircraft will in any case undergo a painting. Any answers ?

I had gone to Bengaluru International Airport for a meeting, and took my camera along. Got some great shots of Kingfisher Airlines and Jet Airways at the field. Hope you enjoy. Visit my photo album on Flickr.

VT-VJK (the first KFA A330), performing flight IT2 coming in from London Heathrow. Sorry about the heat haze. The flight comes in the afternoon.


VT-VJN performing flight IT001 takes off for its ten hour trip to London.


Observe the lack of winglets on this Jet Airways Boeing 737-800 Next Generation


A nice northerly wind ensured all the planes showed me their belly while taking-off


One of Kingfisher's newer ATR72-500s (model AT72-212A)



I wonder who came or departed on this Cessna 525B Citation Jet 3?
Please do leave a comment, and spread the word.

Ten days ago, on March 3rd, Gulf Air received the first of the four Boeing 777-300ER (VT-JEG) aircraft leased from Jet Airways. Two more aircraft are expected to join the Gulf Air fleet later this month while the fourth one will join in May.

The 312 seat uber-luxurious Jet Airways Boeing's are well known. See a photo gallery of the interiors here.


Photographer Antony Best caught VT-JEG painted in the Gulf Air livery at London's Heathrow airport early in the morning of March 12th. Please note the image above is copyright of A.J. Best. Bangalore Aviation has taken permission for its use, my thanks to Mr. Best. Use this image only after obtaining permission of Mr. Best.

Skyliners has a similar image here. User Allan has an image, but the registration number appears to be doctored. The aircraft still retains its Indian registration VT-JEG.

I find the Gulf Air livery one of the most beautiful in the world. What is your opinion ? Share a comment.

Following two engine thrust rollback events on Boeing 777 aircraft powered by Rolls-Royce engines, the United States National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) issued an urgent safety recommendation today calling for the redesign of a Rolls- Royce engine component.

The Safety Board also recommended that, after the redesign is completed, the new system be installed on all affected B-777 airplanes at the next maintenance check or within six months.

These recommendations are being issued in response to the findings in two investigations, one accident and one incident, involving engine thrust rollbacks on Boeing 777-200ER airplanes powered by the Rolls-Royce RB211 Trent 800 Series engines.

In both cases a build-up of ice (from water normally present in all jet fuel) on the fuel/oil heat exchanger (FOHE) restricted the flow of fuel to the engine, resulting in an un-commanded engine rollback.

The first event, which is still being investigated by the UK's Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB), occurred on January 17, 2008, when a British Airways Boeing 777 experienced a dual engine rollback on final approach and crashed short of the runway at London's Heathrow International Airport. One passenger was seriously injured, eight passengers and four of the flight crew sustained minor injuries; the airplane was substantially damaged.

The second event occurred on November 26, 2008, when a Delta Air Lines Boeing 777 experienced a single engine rollback during cruise flight over Montana while en route from Shanghai to Atlanta. Normal operations resumed after the flight crew followed Boeing's published procedure to recover engine performance; the airplane landed safely in Atlanta.

Testing in support of the UK accident investigation led Boeing to develop procedures to help prevent ice accumulation, and to recover thrust in cases of ice blockage. As more information from the Delta rollback event was developed, Boeing modified the procedures, which became the basis of an airworthiness directive issued by the Federal Aviation Administration.

While the procedures may reduce the risk of a rollback in one or both engines due to FOHE ice blockage, they add complexity to flight crew operations, and the level of risk reduction is not well established. And because the recovery procedure requires a descent, the aircraft may be exposed to other risks such as rising terrain or hazardous weather, or the inability to achieve maximum thrust during a critical phase of flight, such as during a missed approach.

Because of these hazards, the Safety Board has determined that the only acceptable solution to this safety vulnerability is a redesigned FOHE that would eliminate the potential of ice build-up. On February 23, 2009, Rolls-Royce indicated that a redesign of the FOHE was underway, and that they anticipated the redesign to be tested, certified and ready for installation within 12 months.

NTSB Acting Chairman Mark V. Rosenker said

"With two of these rollback events occurring within a year, we believe that there is a high probability of something similar happening again," "We are encouraged to see that Rolls-Royce is already working on a redesign, and we are confident that with the FAA and EASA (European Aviation Safety Agency) overseeing the process, this flight safety issue - even one as complex as this - will be successfully and expeditiously resolved."

The NTSB has made the following two recommendations to both the Federal Aviation Administration and the European Aviation Safety Agency:

• Require that Rolls-Royce redesign the RB211 Trent 800 series engine fuel/oil heat exchanger (FOHE) such that ice accumulation on the face of the FOHE will not restrict fuel flow to the extent that the ability to achieve commanded thrust is reduced.
• Once the fuel/oil heat exchanger (FOHE) is redesigned and approved by certification authorities, require that operators of Boeing 777-200 airplanes powered by Rolls Royce RB211 Trent 800 series engines install the redesigned FOHE at the next scheduled maintenance opportunity or within 6 months after the revised FOHE design has been certificated, whichever comes first.

Download copies of the safety recommendation letter :

• to the Federal Aviation Administration
• European Aviation Safety Agency

Qatar Airways unveiled an aggressive expansion plan today, with plans to expand operations to India and Europe, and launch new flights into Australia from the start of the Northern Winter 2009 schedules.

Over the next nine months Qatar Airways will commence flights from Doha to Goa and Amritsar, taking their count to 11 destinations in India, Sydney and Melbourne in Australia, and two European cities which have not yet been announced.



Qatar Airways has a fleet of 68 aircraft out of which there are eight Boeing 777's; six Boeing 777-300ERs (extended range) and two February delivered Boeing 777-200LRs (long range). Qatar Airways is deploying the latter aircraft on its Doha-Houston service due to commence on March 30th. At close to 17 hours, it will be one of the longest non-stop flights in the world.

Qatar Airways Business Class seats

The Australian services will require the same Boeing 777-200LRs which will be joining the fleet during this year.

The Dutch investigation board headed by Pieter van Vollenhoven, examining the crash of the Boeing 737-800 Turkish Airlines flight TK1951 at Amsterdam Schiphol last week, released its preliminary report.

Simply put it was a combination of a faulty instrument, a breakdown in "artificial intelligence" (AI) of the plane, pilot error, and poor weather.

The instruments and "artificial intelligence"
The plane had a faulty radio altimeter (radalt). At 1,950ft altitude, one of the two radalts suddenly gave a wrong reading which fooled the autopilot into thinking the plane was just few feet above the runway. Since the auto-throttle was also engaged, which is a perfectly normal procedure, the autopilot reduced the engines thrust to 'retard' or 'idle' mode as we normally experience just before touchdown, except this was 2,000 ft up in the air. Naturally the plane started slowing down.

Distracted pilots
In the right seat the co-pilot was receiving training in making a landing by automatic pilot. The investigators say that too much time was spent exchanging information between the instructor and the trainee, and not enough was spent checking the actual readings which would have alerted the crew to the problem in time to override the automatic pilot.

Thick fog and low cloud may also have played a part in their failure to realise their actual height.

The plane slowed down in to a stall, which is when the alarms sounded. The pilots tried to spool the engines back up, but it was too late.

Turkish Airlines' maintenance conflict
Another fact has arisen. Two weeks ago, a serious conflict arose between the union representing maintenance workers and the management of Turkish Airlines. The union warned the management of serious shortcomings in the maintenance system, including inadequate staff to cope with the rapid growth of the airline fleet, which could lead to safety risks in the air.

Sharing the blame
The investigators have concluded that blame for the accident must be shared between Turkish Airlines THY, the pilots, and the manufacturer, Boeing. The involvement of human error means that there will be legal repercussions, civil and possibly criminal, but then the pilots have already paid the ultimate price.



Is time to return to the basics ?
For long airplane manufacturers have tried to reduce the workload on pilots by automating tasks. One could say, they are trying to design the pilot out of the cockpit. The pilots have become increasingly dependent on the computers and their AI. It has become a vicious cycle to the point, many pilots now feel they are flying a computer not a plane.

Since the second radalt was working fine, one would naturally pose the question, why did Boeing build in to their AI some failsafe when the two radalts are giving conflicting information? Should Boeing not have put more thought in to this situation? A simple "whoop whoop" alarm that alerts pilots especially in this situation of conflicting instrument information before putting the engines in to idle?

Across the blogosphere I have seen many Boeing fans criticising the AI on the Airbus "Fly By Wire" system, and citing the June 26, 1988 crash of an Air France Airbus A320 as AI gone haywire.

It appears, that Boeing's AI is not much smarter either. Is it time for both these plane manufacturers to return towards the basics and give more control to the pilots? Machines are fallible, but it is humans who pay the price.

Share your thoughts via a comment.

In the mean while, Turkish Airlines has made an offer of compensation. Full details are in this release.

March 2nd, the crew of a Singapore Airlines Boeing 747-400 freighter, registration 9V-SFK performing freight flight SQ7344 from Nairobi, Kenya to Amsterdam Schiphol, Netherlands, declared an emergency reporting a fire alert and automatic activation of the cargo fire suppression system and diverted to Munich, Germany.

The aircraft landed safely, and the crew remained on board while the emergency services checked the aircraft after which they could not determine if there has been any fire or not.

The airplane was subsequently towed off the northern runway and subject to a detailed inspection. As per Singapore Airlines, the airplane was carrying flowers, mangos, other fruit and vegetables. It appears that the emanations by the mangos caused the smoke detectors to trigger, resulting in a false alert.

The airplane was allowed to take off again and reached Amsterdam with a delay of approximately 8 hours.

In India, the mango is the king of fruits and thousands of tons are grown, sold, and consumed each year. The Alphonso mango is a prized export in markets as far as the United States. No reported problems with Indian mangos or their emanations.

May be the Dutch importer should buy Indian mangos instead of African ones.

Read the incident report at AVHerald.

Wired has a nice story on the constant efforts by both Airbus and Boeing to increase fuel savings by their aircraft.

The latest technology which appears promising is "moving winglets" or "morphlets" whose configuration can be changed in-flight to suit flying conditions to deliver fuel savings. The two airframe makers are taking different approaches to the same goal.

Read the full story here.

At the start of this month, Irish low-cost carrier Ryanair announced it has invited proposals from both its sole vendor till date, Boeing, and competitor Airbus for 200 to 300 new single-aisle aircraft in the Boeing 737 and Airbus A320 category, for delivery between 2012 and 2017.

I had a chance to interact with senior Airbus executives during the recently concluded Aero India show in Bangalore, about the RFP from Ryanair. I was told that Airbus had an "unpleasant history" with the carrier, and that they were least interested in pursuing any deal.

The angst of Airbus can be felt in the words of Airbus chief commercial officer John Leahy, “We don’t plan a sales campaign with Ryanair, which would be very expensive and very time consuming,”.

This despite production cutbacks recently announced at the European plane maker.

Ryanair has a known history of ordering extensive capacity at discount prices and then re-negotiating outstanding orders for even lower prices than originally agreed upon.

Going by statistic compiled by Aviation International News, since 1998, if we count the order announcements between Boeing and Ryanair it adds up to almost 540, whereas in reality, Ryanair has placed firm orders for 338 airplanes.

Its now over to Boeing.

Image Courtesy Matt Cawby
Boeing delivered the second of eight 777-200LRs (Longer Range) ordered by Qatar Airways on February 24th. A7-BBB took a near 15-hour journey to its new home in Doha with guests on-board who included a selection of journalists from the United States, India and the Gulf and a high-profile delegation of bankers and financiers.

Along with its sister A7-BBA, A7-BBB will operate the Doha – Houston route, linking the energy capitals of the world, which is scheduled for launch on March 30.

Boeing Image

Breaking from tradition Qatar Airways has officially named the aircraft “Gaza” in solidarity with civilian victims in the recent conflict in Gaza.

Qatar Airways Chief Executive Al Akbar Al Baker said

“I know many of us have been deeply touched by the civilian deaths in the recent bombing of Gaza. Qatar Airways wants to recognise that innocent people, and in particular large numbers of children, were killed in these bomb attacks, and naming our latest aircraft “Gaza” is a symbolic gesture to commemorate and honour these victims.

“The name ‘Gaza’ will fly around the world on Qatar Airways and spread a message of peace and humanity,”

“Qatar Airways customarily names each of its aircraft after place names within the State of Qatar. But we have made an exception in this case,”

Manal Timraz with her son
Image Courtesy Qatar Airways

At the start of February, Qatar Airways offered its support to the One Million Candles campaign, an initiative launched by UK resident Manal Timraz in response to the death of 15 of her family members in a single bomb attack on the Gaza Strip. Twelve of those who died were children – the Palestinian woman’s nieces and nephews. Timraz asked that people donate candles to remember the loss of lives on the West Bank and as a peaceful but powerful signal that public opinion in Britain was against such attacks where innocent victims were killed unnecessarily.

High profile donations included that of British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who donated a candle to the campaign which grew to involve over 75 countries.

Qatar Airways and Qatar Airways Cargo offered to transport the candles from Britain to the Middle East in sending a peaceful message of support.

Qatar Airways has ordered 17 777-300ERs (Extended Range), five of which have been delivered, and two 777 Freighters for future delivery.

A Turkish Airlines (THY) Boeing 737-800 registration TC-JGE performing flight TK1951 crashed at Amsterdam's Schiphol airport at 10:30 local (09:30Z)

The plane carrying 135 passengers on a flight from Istanbul, broke in to three parts when attempting to land on Runway 36L near motorway A9.

There is a massive presence of emergency vehicles and crew on the scene, and there are reports of survivors. There are conflicting reports of casualties. Turkish Airlines officials claim no casualities.



All flights at Schipol have been suspended or cancelled.

Dutch newspaper AD has published this photo of the crash.
TC-JGE, pictured below at Schipol was delivered by Boeing on March 27, 2002. Construction number CN29789. The plane named Tekirdag after the city in Thrace in Turkey, was powered by two CFM56-7B26 engines and had a capacity of 165 passengers.

METAR about accident time:
250925Z 20010KT 4500 BR SCT007 BKN008 OVC010 04/03 Q1027 TEMPO 2500=

Weather. Wind 200 deg/10 kts, visibity 4500m in mist, scattered clouds 700 ft.,broken clouds 800 ft, overcast 1,000 ft,temp. 4 deg. C, barometric pressure 1027QnH.

Some more pictures :


Update 1 - 18:00GMT

Video from Reuters

As per officials 84 people were taken to hospitals, including 25 who were severely hurt. Six in critical condition. Nine fatalities have been confirmed. The pilot and co-pilot are among the dead.

The bodies of three crew members in the cockpit are still in the plane's wreckage, as per investigators who need to complete their investigations before taking apart the cockpit.

The passenger count has been revised to 134 which includes, rather ironically, four employees of the plane manufacturer, Boeing.

This is the second crash of a plane just near the runway, recently. The previous one being the crash of a British Airways Boeing 777 at Heathrow.

Update 2 - 01:00GMT 26-Feb-09

Turkish Airlines issued the following statement

25.02.2009
Turkish Airlines regrets to confirm that its flight Number TK 1951 from Istanbul to Amsterdam the capital of The Netherlands was involved in an accident today near the Amsterdam Airport.

The aircraft, a B737-800 was during the landing when the accident occurred, at around 10:30 a.m. local time.

At this time, after the search and rescue operations, we have 9 casualties, and 50 passengers were injured. Turkish Airlines staff has been doing everything possible to assist the emergency services and local authorities.

There were 127 passengers and 7 crew members on board Flight Number TK 1951 and we are currently confirming the details of the passenger manifest for this flight.

Turkish Airlines has established a passenger information centre, and a toll-free number is available for family or friends of those who may have been on board Flight Number TK 1951. The phone number is: 0800 219 80 35. For those who are calling from outside Turkey, please call + 90 212 465 21 60.

Turkish Airlines will release further information as soon as it is available. Updated information will also be posted on the Turkish Airlines’ website, at www.thy.com

Update 3 - 17:00GMT 26-Feb-09

Turkish Airlines refutes speculation on reasons for crash.

Last week Air France took delivery of the first Boeing 777F freighter.

Every new aircraft is given a water cannon salute, and for aviation romantics like me, it is always a poignant occasion, and one we do not see too often.

Courtesy Liz Matzelle enjoy these two videos of the new "Le Freighter" being given its first shower, and then taking off for its new home at Paris Charles De Gaulle airport.

Special thanks to Liz Matzelle and Jon Ostrower. Liz is a wonderful observer of birds and has some excellent videos. Jon, I cannot say enough compliments about him. His title says it all - FlightBlogger!!!

Do take the time to visit their respective sites. It will be time well spent.

Bahrain based Gulf Air has confirmed an agreement to lease four new Boeing 777-300ERs (B77W in industry parlance) from Jet Airways of India. The agreement which was signed on February 22nd, calls for three aircraft to join its fleet in March, and the fourth in May.

This deal was expected since January. Gulf Air is already wet-leasing two Airbus A330-200s from Jet on a temporary basis. Gulf Air was looking to replace its A340-300s with larger capacity B77Ws. Jet Airways has been actively leasing out most of its 11 award winning, uber-luxurious Boeing 777-300ERs in a desperate bid to stem the losses bleeding the airline.

Jet Airways has already leased out four B77Ws to Turkish THY Airlines, and with these four to Gulf Air, it will be left with just three aircraft in its fleet. Since Jet Airways sources confirmed to me they will operate four aircraft, two on the Mumbai London Heathrow route and one on the Delhi London Heathrow route, and one aircraft to be kept in the rotation, I can surmise that one more aircraft is expected to join the Jet fleet.

Jet Airways recently firmed up a deal to lease two A330-200s to Oman Air.

With an award winning cabin product like First Class suites, and herring-bone lie flat business class, these B77Ws will give Gulf Air an immediate product which can compete head-on with neighbours Emirates and Etihad in the luxury category. Gulf Air has indicated these aircraft will be used for services to several destinations such as London Heathrow, Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur as well as within the Middle East.

Jet officials claim the four 777-300ERs will be leased to Gulf Air for 42 months. The reports say the aircraft will be on wet-lease for the first six months, after which they will revert to dry leases. I only hope that Gulf Air looks after the aircraft well, a reputation which Turkish THY Airlines sadly lacks.