Month: November 2018

Travel Risk – Air India Pilot (also Air India’s Operations Director) Drunk Again!

Air India operations director stopped from piloting flight after failing breath tests

A senior pilot who is also director of operations for Air India, and has had responsibility for flight safety and training, said he was told by the carrier he failed two breathalyzer tests on Sunday before a flight to London from New Delhi.

It is the second time Arvind Kathpalia, who is also on the loss-making airline’s board, has been in trouble over alcohol tests. He was suspended for three months in 2017 for allegedly refusing to take breathalyzer tests.

Kathpalia told Reuters in an interview by phone that he would contest the results and claimed they were related to internal feuding within the state-owned company.

According to a description for the operation director’s job when Kathpalia got appointed in June 2017, he is responsible for flight operations, ground operations, and flight safety and training operations.

It is unclear if those remain the job specifications.

Air India declined to comment for this article.

Kathpalia failed two breathalyzer tests on Sunday and was declared unfit to fly, according to a pre-flight medical examination report for alcohol, posted on the website of news portal India Today.

Kathpalia, who denies he had been drinking, corroborated the results of the breathalyzer and said he was tested twice in a span of 20 minutes, adding that the second test’s reading was higher than the first.

“It was 1:30 in the afternoon, only a bloody stark raving alcoholic is bloody drunk at 1:30 in the afternoon,” Kathpalia said. “I am going to contest this.”

He said that at Air India “everyone is fighting with everyone,” and that he has been targeted.

In 2017, Kathpalia was suspended for three months when he had allegedly refused to take breathalyzer tests before and after his flight between Bengaluru and New Delhi and back in January 2017, according to a court document available on law portal Indiakanoon.

In August last year, the Indian Commercial Pilots Association, a trade union representing pilots of the state-owned carrier, filed a court case against Kathpalia requesting stern action against him over the missed breathalyzer tests and some other behavior.

Calls made to union representatives late on Sunday were not answered.

Kathpalia was executive director of flight operations during the earlier incident.

When he was promoted to operations director it was contested by the union in its petition to the court.

The court ordered the New Delhi police to file a first information report (FIR), the first step in India’s legal system that can lead to an investigation, against Kathpalia in August this year, according to reports in major Indian newspapers.

New Delhi police officials could not immediately confirm the status of the case.

The 2017 allegation “was a complete set-up,” said Kathpalia, who said it was the result of a scheduling issue rather than his refusal to take tests.

He claims that he is under attack partly because he is an employee of the original Air India, which was India’s international carrier, while the union is from the erstwhile Indian Airlines, which was a domestic carrier. The two airlines were merged into one in 2007.

“There is a lot of animosity after the merger. The animosity exists till today. They refuse to acknowledge each other,” said Kathpalia.

Reported by Reuter’s Promit Mukherjee; Edited by Martin Howell and Andrea Ricci on 12 November 2018.

Boeing 737 MAX Deliveries and Orders – which airlines to avoid after Lion Air Crash

The following graph shows total firm orders and deliveries of Boeing 737 MAX aircraft for identified customers, as of September 30, 2018.

Source: Wikipedia as of September 30, 2018.

 

The following table shows total firm orders and deliveries of Boeing 737 MAX aircraft by variant (where known) and customer, as of September 30, 2018.[5]

Order date[n 1] Customer Variant Total Orders Total Deliveries
-7 -8 -9 -10 Unk
June 12, 2015 AerCap — 85 — 15 — 100 2
September 29, 2016 Aerolíneas Argentinas — 5 — — 6 11 2
November 5, 2012 Aeroméxico — 11 2 — 47 60 4
March 31, 2014 Air Canada — 50 11 — — 61 18
December 22, 2014 Air China — 11 — — — 11 11
December 21, 2015 Air Europa — 20 — — — 20 —
July 3, 2012 Air Lease Corporation — 4 — — 164 168 11
December 1, 2014 Air Niugini — 4 — — — 4 —
September 18, 2018 Air Peace — 10 — — — 10 —
October 31, 2012 ALAFCO — 40 — — — 40 —
October 11, 2012 Alaska Airlines — — 32 — — 32 —
February 1, 2013 American Airlines — 100 — — — 100 15
May 9, 2016 Arik Air — — — — 8 8 —
December 20, 2012 Aviation Capital Group — 70 10 20 — 100 3
September 18, 2012 Avolon — 65 10 20 — 95 —
March 17, 2016 Blue Air — 6 — — — 6 —
August 13, 2014 BOC Aviation — 63 — 10 — 73 2
June 1, 2018 Boeing Capital Corporation — — — — 75 75 —
March 21, 2014 Business Jet / VIP Customer(s) — 1 — — 19 20 1
June 14, 2017 CALC China — — — 15 35 50 —
March 14, 2014 China Development Bank — 68 — 10 — 78 —
June 17, 2014 China Eastern Airlines — 11 — — — 11 11
December 17, 2015 China Southern Airlines — 50 — — — 50 11
June 19, 2013 CIT Leasing Corporation — — — — 37 37 —
December 3, 2013 Comair — 8 — — — 8 —
May 30, 2013 Copa Airlines — — — 15 46 61 1
September 27, 2016 Donghai Airlines — 15 — 10 — 25 —
October 29, 2014 Enter Air — — — — 6 6 —
September 1, 2014 Ethiopian Airlines — 30 — — — 30 3
March 31, 2017 Fiji Airways — 5 — — — 5 —
December 31, 2013 Flydubai — 76 — 50 125 251 7
September 12, 2014 Garuda Indonesia — 50 — — — 50 1
September 28, 2012 GECAS — 150 — 20 5 175 8
October 1, 2012 Gol Transportes Aéreos — 105 — 30 — 135 2
June 28, 2018 Goshawk Aviation — 20 — — — 20 —
July 16, 2014 Hainan Airlines — 3 — — 2 5 5
May 21, 2013 ICBC Leasing — — — — 2 2 2
February 12, 2013 Icelandair — 9 7 — — 16 3
June 29, 2018 Jackson Square Aviation — 30 — — — 30 —
April 23, 2013 Jet Airways — 145 75 — — 220 5
December 11, 2014 Jetlines 5 — — — — 5 —
August 17, 2017 Japan Investment Advisor — 10 — — — 10 —
December 14, 2017 JSC Aircompany Scat — 1 — — — 1 1
November 9, 2015 Korean Air — 30 — — — 30 —
February 22, 2012 Lion Air[n 2] — 9 4 100 138 201 13
July 1, 2016 Malaysia Airlines — 15 — 10 — 25 —
November 18, 2016 Mauritania Airlines International — 1 — — — 1 1
May 16, 2014 Nok Air — 8 — — — 8 —
January 24, 2012 Norwegian Air Shuttle — 110 — — — 110 12
May 27, 2014 Okay Airways — — — 9 — 9 —
October 19, 2015 Oman Air — 20 — — — 20 —
April 14, 2017 Primera Air — — 8 — — 8 —
December 29, 2016 Qatar Airways — 2 — — — 2 2
December 21, 2013 Ruili Airlines — — 6 — 30 36 —
November 28, 2014 Ryanair[n 3] — 135 — — — 135 —
April 29, 2014 Shandong Airlines — 3 — — — 3 3
December 30, 2018 Shenzhen Airlines — 2 — — — 2 2
November 9, 2012 SilkAir — 37 — — — 37 5
March 13, 2018 SkyUp Airlines — 2 — 3 — 5 —
November 10, 2014 SMBC Aviation Capital — 91 — — — 91 1
December 13, 2011 Southwest Airlines[n 4] 30 250 — — — 280 23
October 23, 2013 SpiceJet — 154 — — — 154 1
February 12, 2014 SunExpress — 15 — — 17 32 —
July 16, 2018 TAROM — 5 — — — 5 —
January 15, 2014 Timaero Ireland — — — — 22 22 —
August 6, 2013 Travel Service — 8 — — — 8 1
July 9, 2013 TUI Group — 54 — 18 — 72 5
May 8, 2013 Turkish Airlines — 65 10 — — 75 3
October 1, 2012 Unidentified Customer(s) — — — — 879 879 —
July 12, 2012 United Airlines — — 35 100 — 135 7
April 6 2018 UTair Aviation — — — — 30 30 —
May 22, 2016 VietJet Air — 100 — — — 100 —
July 6, 2012 Virgin Australia — 30 — 10 — 40 —
September 26, 2013 WestJet 23 20 — 12 — 55 8
December 21, 2013 XiamenAir — 8 — — — 8 8
Total 53 2556 136 407 1631 4783 219

As of September 30, 2018

Boeing 737 Max – malfunction issues post Lion Air Crash

Lion Air crash fallout: DGCA alerts Boeing 737 Max pilots on malfunction issues

Lion Air crash fallout: DGCA alerts Boeing 737 Max pilots on malfunction issues

 

NEW DELHI: The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA)+ has asked Indian carriers using the Boeing 737 Max — Jet Airways and SpiceJet — to take corrective action on these planes facing a malfunction that could lead to a “possible impact with terrain”. The US aviation regulator, Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and Boeing had issued a bulletin over last two days after analysing the crash of Lion Air’s brand new B737 Max on October 29 soon after takeoff from Jakarta, killing all the 189 people on board.

DGCA chief B S Bhullar said: “Based on initial investigation of Lion Air aircraft accident, FAA has issued Emergency Airworthiness Directive (AD) (on Wednesday) and Boeing has issued bulletin (on Tuesday). Both the documents address erroneous high angle of attack (AOA) sensor input and corrective action for the same as it has a potential for repeated nose-down trim commands of horizontal stabilizer. This condition, if not addressed, could cause the flight crew to have difficulty controlling the airplane, and lead to excessive nose-down attitude, significant altitude loss, and possible impact with terrain.”

sensor

“Within 3 days after receipt of FAA AD changes to Airplane Flight Manual have to be done, for procedures which have to be followed by flight crew. DGCA has ensured that all Indian operators are aware of the FAA AD and have taken appropriate corrective action,” Bhullar added.

The DGCA had a day after the Lion Air crash reviewed theperformance of the six B737+ Max with Indian carriers, Jet Airways and SpiceJet. It had then said that these “six B737Max 8 aircraft in India have accumulated about 4,000 hours since their induction starting this June. There are no significant technical issues encountered on these aircraft.”

However with US being the original equipment manufacturer (Boeing) country, word on corrective action, if any, was awaited from Boeing and FAA by airlines and regulators. Jet and SpiceJet have ordered 225 and up to 205 B737 Max, respectively. At the moment, Jet is flying five B737 Max and SpiceJet has one.

The last flight before the crash of Lion Air’s Max 8 (registration PK-LQP) was from Bali to Jakarta on Sunday. The aircraft flight maintenance log for this flight JT 43 reported some malfunctions like its indicated airspeed (IAS) and altitude (ALT) indicators had “disagree shown after take off”. This ill-fated Max had been inducted in Lion Air fleet on August 15, 2018, and had done less than 800 hours.

The flight operation manual bulletin issued by Boeing says an erroneous AOA can cause some or all of effects like “continous or intermittent stick shaker on the affected side only; increasing nose down control forces; inability to engage auto pilot; automatic disengagement of auto pilot; IAS disagree alert; ALT disagree alert.” The Bali-Jakarta flight of the ill-fated Lion Air B737 Max had reported at least two of these factors — IAS and ALT disagree.

Reported by The Times of India on 8 November 2018.

Travel Risk – Drunk Pilot

Drunk Japanese pilot arrested at Heathrow Airport

Japan Airlines planeImage copyright GETTY IMAGES

A Japanese pilot who was arrested at Heathrow Airport for being drunk has admitted being more than nine times the legal alcohol limit.

Katsutoshi Jitsukawa, 42, who works for Japan Airlines, was arrested on 28 October after failing a breath test.

He was found to have 189mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood in his system – the legal limit for a pilot is 20mg.

The first officer pleaded guilty to exceeding the alcohol limit at Uxbridge Magistrates’ Court on Thursday.

Japanese broadcaster NHK reported that police were alerted by the driver of a crew bus who smelled alcohol on the pilot.

He had been due to be part of a crew flying a Japan Airlines (JAL) flight JL44 to Tokyo but failed a breath test 50 minutes before the departure time.

The Boeing 777 aircraft took off after a 69-minute delay.

JAL issued an apology and pledged to “implement immediate actions to prevent any future occurrence”, adding that “safety remains our utmost priority”.

The drink-drive limit in England, Wales and Northern Ireland is 80mg, compared to 20mg for pilots.

Jitsukawa was remanded in custody and will be sentenced at Isleworth Crown Court on 29 November.

In June, British Airways pilot Julian Monaghan was jailed for eight months for being caught on duty with 86mg of alcohol in his system. He had turned up for work at Gatwick Airport after drinking three double vodkas.

Reported by the BBC on 1 November 2018.