Happened in India: IndiGo, Air India and SpiceJet Pilots Claimed They Were Short of Fuel to Bag Priority Landing Slots

[JuliusWong 0]

December 8, 2016 — 6:18 AM EST

• IndiGo, Air India, SpiceJet pilots lied about empty tank: DGCA
• India’s aviation safety rating was downgraded by FAA in 2014

Pilots of at least three Indian flights, including one operated by market leader IndiGo, lied to air traffic controllers about being short on fuel to get priority landing at an airport, according to an investigation by the country’s aviation safety regulator.

The incident occurred on Nov. 30, when pilots of an IndiGo plane radioed traffic controllers at Kolkata airport the jet was running out of fuel and it should be allowed to land, bypassing more than half a dozen aircraft waiting in queue. An Air India Ltd. aircraft, ahead of IndiGo, also claimed the same after listening to the conversation, while another plane operated by SpiceJet Ltd. also followed suit, the investigation showed.

None of the aircraft ran the risk of an empty tank, and all of them had enough jet fuel to fly to an alternative airport and attempt at least two landings, or to circle around Kolkata for half an hour, a senior official at the Directorate General of Civil Aviation told reporters in New Delhi, asking not to be identified citing rules.

Read more here: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-12-08/impish-pilots-crying-wolf-over-fuel-raises-india-air-safety-risk

Such dangerous working ethics by these pilots, if proven to be true. They are putting thousands of lives at risk, just so that they can meet the quick turnaround time.

[Radzi 2]

I've heard rumors that this tactic is also employed by some well-known carriers in this region a few years back. Of course, most likely it was just rumors as it was said bo be done by the competitors of the airline I was flying with back then.

 

But what I've heard in real-life was that, after some holdings due to traffic, some aircraft reported getting low on fuel and asked either priority landing or diversion, of which ATC simply told them to divert.

Edited December 9, 2016 by Radzi

[Mulyadir Fitri 0]

I've heard rumors that this tactic is also employed by some well-known carriers in this region a few years back. Of course, most likely it was just rumors as it was said bo be done by the competitors of the airline I was flying with back then.

 

But what I've heard in real-life was that, after some holdings due to traffic, some aircraft reported getting low on fuel and asked either priority landing or diversion, of which ATC simply told them to divert.

I've heard this too first hand from a few local ATCs.

[Robert 0]

I've heard rumors that this tactic is also employed by some well-known carriers in this region a few years back. Of course, most likely it was just rumors as it was said bo be done by the competitors of the airline I was flying with back then.

 

But what I've heard in real-life was that, after some holdings due to traffic, some aircraft reported getting low on fuel and asked either priority landing or diversion, of which ATC simply told them to divert.

 

Presume you are referring to http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/339810.stm ? Edited December 9, 2016 by Robert

[Cire 0]

For this "distress" airliners, the CT may want to request for the aircraft's fuel level to be sent in to them to verify the pilots' claims.

Perhaps information from the ECAMs will provide some fuel level information to the control tower folks.

This may deter this selfish pilots from performing such acts.

[Radzi 2]

Presume you are referring to http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/339810.stm ?

Actually, no. What I was referring to happened just a few years back, before the opening of the 3rd KUL runway.

 

The BBC report from 1999 refers to a darker past, an era where the management coerced pilots to take less and less fuel for economic reason. Some captains followed the order, many didn't. Mostly on the B744 fleet so I wasn't directly affected then as I was a first officer on another fleet.By the time I become a captain in 2000 the management has been revamped and the issue was mostly settled.

Edited December 20, 2016 by Radzi

[JuliusWong 0]

Actually, no. What I was referring to happened just a few years back, before the opening of the 3rd KUL runway.

 

The BBC report from 1999 refers to a darker past, an era where the management coerced pilots to take less and less fuel for economic reason. Some captains followed the order, many didn't. Mostly on the B744 fleet so I wasn't directly affected then as I was a first officer on another fleet.By the time I become a captain in 2000 the management has been revamped and the issue was mostly settled.

This is a very dangerous act by the management as we can see from the recent LAMIA case, emergency fuel is really crucial at critical moment. I hope the previous management is not involved in any business now. Profit over human lives, this is just so sick!

[Robert 0]

This is a very dangerous act by the management as we can see from the recent LAMIA case, emergency fuel is really crucial at critical moment. I hope the previous management is not involved in any business now. Profit over human lives, this is just so sick!

Wow I didn't know that. Thanks Capt.

[KK Lee 5]

An Air India pilot flew a Boeing 737 through a brick wall Friday. Incredibly, that marked the beginning of its journey and not the end.

The jet not only clobbered the top of a five-foot perimeter wall but also destroyed a small landing guide tower as it climbed out of Tiruchirappalli International Airport in Tamil Nadu, India, shortly after midnight, the Times of India reported.

With 130 passengers on board, it was bound from the southern tip of India to Dubai across the ocean. And despite the audible and obvious collision, the pilot apparently saw no reason not to continue on.

“We informed the pilot about the hit,” the airport director told the IANS news service. “The pilot said nothing was wrong with the plane as the systems were functioning normally. But we found some parts of the plane, like an antenna, on the ground.”

Tiruchy, Tamil Nadu. Air India Express flight to Dubai hit the boundary wall of the Tiruchy International Airport during its take off from Tiruchy. No casualties reported so https://t.co/sbL0BxNyOf Ashok Kumar pic.twitter.com/5jn7LI0XJ4

— ASHOK KUMAR (@ashokkumar_TNIE) October 12, 2018

Air India Express flight 611 continued to climb above the cloud line. It crossed the subcontinent and headed out over the Indian Ocean, the pilot apparently unaware that the plane had a gash along its belly and mesh fencing wrapped around the landing gear.

It flew for about two hours before someone in ground control second-guessed the pilot’s confidence.

Eight years earlier, another Boeing 737 flown by Air India had been returning from Dubai when it crashed in Mangalore, exploded and killed 158 people. The government has lately been trying to sell the debt-laden airline, as air travel booms in India despite episodic concerns over safety. Less than a month ago, dozens of people on a Jet Airways flight out of Mumbai bled from their faces because crew forgot to pressurize the cabin.

Flight 611 was about halfway to Dubai when it turned around and headed back to India in what the airline would later call “a precautionary measure.”

The plane landed in Mumbai about four hours after takeoff, according to Air India’s statement. The passengers — all apparently uninjured — were routed onto other flights, and crew began to inspect the plane.

As seen in photos published by Indian journalists, the exterior casing along the bottom of the 737′s fuselage had been torn open like a flesh wound. Scrapes, dings, exposed framework and broken bits covered the plane’s underside.

“It’s a miracle it flew and a miracle that there were no casualties,” NDTV anchor Vishnu Som remarked on Twitter.

The pilot and co-pilot have been taken off the roster pending a review, according to the airline.

The country’s minister of commerce, industry and civil aviation, Suresh Prabhu, said he has ordered a third-party investigation into “various safety aspects” at Air India.

He has also tightened oversight of all the country’s airlines in light of the incident.

“We will take all that’s required to put safety on top of aviation agenda,” Prabhu wrote. “Growth can’t be at the expense of safety.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/transportation/2018/10/13/boeing-flies-into-brick-wall-just-keeps-going/?utm_term=.edf88fe894ea

[Radzi 2]

I did a TRZ flight 2 days before this incident.

Edited October 20, 2018 by Radzi

[KK Lee 5]

MUMBAI -- Jet Airways founder and Chairman Naresh Goyal on Monday stepped down as chairman of the board, making way for lenders led by State Bank of India to take control of the troubled airline and provide a 15 billion rupee ($217.7 million) capital injection.

The Indian carrier will issue 114 million shares, or 51%, to lenders after the debt infusion, the company informed the stock exchanges. Goyal's wife Anita Goyal and Etihad Airway's Director Nominee Kevin Knight will also quit the board.

https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Business-deals/Jet-Airways-chief-Goyal-resigns-clearing-way-for-turnaround

It seems Jet Airways is one of the many Indian companies sitting on debts time bomb.