Travels And Aviation NEWS: Air India cancels Tokyo flight

1. Air India cancels Tokyo flight
NEW DELHI: Air India Friday said it has cancelled one of its Tokyo flights following the earth quake and tsunami that hit the country but maintained that its seven-flight weekly operations will continue as scheduled.

"Air India flight AI-306 of March 11 to Tokyo stands cancelled in view of the situation due to the earthquake and floods in Japan. The flight AI-314 to Osaka is expected to operate as per schedule," said a statement by the airline.

According to the statement, Air India operates seven flights to Japan every week -- four flights to Tokyo's main international airport at Narita and three to Osaka.

Meanwhile, the Indian government has offered its sympathies and assistance to the Japanese government in the aftermath of a magnitude-8.9 earthquake that hit the north-eastern parts of the country.

The quake generated a tsunami as high as 10 metres that hit the coast of Miyagi prefecture, killing at least 60 people.

Several Pacific coastal cities in different countries are still on tsunami alert.

2. ndia catches 57 pilots over alcohol limit, only grounds 11

(Reuters) - India's airline authorities caught 57 pilots over the alcohol limit about to take to the cabin of passenger-carrying jets over the past two years, but most were cleared to fly again, media said on Friday.

Only 11 of the pilots found to be under the influence of alcohol in random pre-flight medical tests between January 2009 and November 2010 lost their job, the Times of India newspaper said, citing a statement by Aviation Minister Vayalar Ravi to lawmakers.

The rest were hit with varying punishments determined by their airline, such as warning letters or a fine.

To combat the rising number of inebriated pilots in India's skies, authorities brought in a rule last year grounding first-time offenders for three months and stripping the flying licence from repeat offenders.

Since the rule came into effect in December, a month when cases have traditionally peaked, no cases have yet been reported.

Reports of Indian passengers complaining of poorly behaved pilots are not uncommon. Two years ago, national carrier Air India grounded two pilots and two cabin crew after a four-way fracas in the passenger cabin left the cockpit unmanned mid-flight.

3. SpiceJet plane suffered bird hit: officials

JAIPUR: A day after a SpiceJet flight from Jaipur to Ahmedabad made an emergency landing due to a snag in one of its engines, senior airport officials and the airline's ground staff concerned have said the aircraft suffered a bird hit.

Following the incident, the Airport Authority of India, Jaipur, has intensified measures to scare the birds away even as the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has yet to ascertain the cause of the engine problem.

As part of the measures, AAI has increased the frequency of firing guns to create bubbles of LPG gas in the air to scare away the birds besides inspecting the runway by a team from the air traffic control before every plane lands or takes off.

Unconfirmed reports said in 2010, seven bird hit cases took place resulting in delay of flights and causing loses to the airlines.

There are 28 flights operating from the Sanganer airport currently.

Airline officials admitted a slight rise in the number of bird hits in the last few years. "Increasing density of population in residential colonies surrounding both the terminal buildings has become a breeding ground for birds," an airport official said.

Almost two weeks ago, the air traffic control pressed the panic button after it detected a jackal on the runway minutes before a take-off.

The incident happened in broad daylight giving jitters to airport authorities and forest department which failed to reason as to how the animal reached the runway.

Even dogs can be seen roaming in the parking bay and on the runway. Stray dogs enter from the rear walls which are normally not manned. "A wild goose chase by airport officials to catch hold of stray dogs is very common phenomena at the airport," an airport source said.

Ever since the airport shifted to a new terminal building there has been a continuous rise in the number of bird hits. Sources say the birds are attracted to domestic wastes disposed off by residents of Parshawnath, Gokulpuri and Shiv Sahay areas which are adjacent to the airport.

4. Fake Pilots Busted for Forging Documents

Reports now show that 3 commercial airline pilots have been grounded after local aviation regulators in India were able to determine that they forged documents. These fake documents were used to help the pilots’ credentials, meaning, overall the pilots have been flying illegally.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation in India was forced to ground an Indigo Airlines pilot. They grounded Parminder Kaur after she continually landed her Airbus A320 improperly. This caused a lot of damage to the plane. During the training, it was finally determined that her paperwork was false and she did not pass the Airline Transport Pilot License exam.
The scary thing about this is that she has been flying planes full of people and she did not even know how to safely land the plane. However, the bad news did not stop there. Aviation authorities have already been examining the documentations of other pilots as well. So far they have found two other pilots that have phony licenses and are flying for Indigo and the carrier called MDLR. Of course, MDLR has since gone out of business.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation chief, Bharat Bhushan, said that they are currently examining pilot license. So far they have found two more cases. While the licenses have already been revoked, these cases have been referred to the police for even further action.
The discovery of these fake papers does worry Indian officials. It is not known what is going to happen to the men and women that used these fake papers to get jobs. Either way, officials will continue to check papers to see if any more fake pilots surface.

By
Neha Jain

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