Aviation academy in Coimbatore pays tribute to Air India plane crash victims
HAPS Aviation Academy on Tuesday paid tributes to the victims of the Air India plane crash at Ahmedabad, in a solemn event held at Gandhipark in the city.
Titled 'A Letter to the Sky', the tribute programme brought together nearly 40 aviation students, 10 executives of the academy, and 10 commercial pilots, who launched helium balloons carrying handwritten letters addressed to the departed, expressing that they are missed and remain in the hearts of every Indian.
The academy's management joined the gathering near Gandhipark where participants observed a minute's silence and offered their respects to the departed souls.
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Hindustan Times
2 hours ago
- Hindustan Times
Black boxes from crashed jet under examination, says govt
Investigators have started analysing data extracted from the black box retrieved from Air India flight 171 to find clues on why the Boeing 787 Dreamliner crashed shortly after take off from Ahmedabad airport on June 12 , the government said on Thursday. Both black boxes were found within a week of the June 12 crash in Ahmedabad. (REUTERS) A team led by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), the designated authority for air crash investigations in India, extracted both cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder data after the devices were recovered from the crash site and flown to the bureau's lab in Delhi, the government said in a statement. The team, set up according to International Civil Aviation Organisation norms, is led by the Director General of AAIB and includes technical experts from AAIB and the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), an aviation medicine specialist and an ATC (air traffic control) officer, the government said. The statement indicates a crucial break in the investigation. Investigators typically face lengthy delays in air crash probes when damaged black boxes must be sent to original equipment manufacturers for extracting the data. The Boeing 787 has two black boxes, one at each end of the aircraft, for redundancy. Each black box, which is in fact coloured bright orange, in a 787 contains what is known as the enhanced airborne data recorder (EADR) that includes the flight data recorder (FDR) and the cockpit voice recorder (CVR). One set was recovered from a rooftop of a building at the crash site on June 13 and the other from the wreckage on June 16 and kept under police protection and CCTV surveillance. Shortly after takeoff, the aircraft crashed into a medical college complex in nearby Meghaninagar and burst into flames, killing 241 of the 242 passengers and crew on board and at least 19 more in the vicinity. The tail of the aircraft that was lodged on the roof of the mess of the residential wing of the medical college and other debris strewn over the site are being moving to a building on the airport premises. '..The black boxes were brought from Ahmedabad to Delhi by IAF aircraft with full security on 24 June, 2025. The front black box arrived at AAIB Lab, Delhi with the DG (director general) of AAIB at 1400 hrs on 24 June, 2025,' the statement said. 'The rear black box was brought by a second AAIB team and reached AAIB Lab, Delhi at 1715 hrs on 24 June,' it added. Efforts to extract data began the same evening. 'The Crash Protection Module (CPM) from the front black box was safely retrieved, and on 25 June, 2025, the memory module was successfully accessed and its data downloaded at the AAIB lab,' the statement read. The analysis of cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder data, the government said, aims to reconstruct the sequence of events leading to the accident and identify contributing factors to enhance aviation safety and prevent future occurrences. India, as a signatory to the (ICAO) Chicago Convention (1944), investigates aircraft accidents in accordance with ICAO Annex 13 and the Aircraft (Investigation of Accidents and Incidents) Rules, 2017. 'All actions have been taken in full compliance with domestic laws and international obligations in a time bound manner,' the government said.
India Gazette
2 hours ago
- India Gazette
UK High Commission thanks India for support, says working to repair the F-35B stuck at Kerala
Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala) [India], June 26 (ANI): British authorities on Thursday thanked India for their constant support after the British F-35B fighter jet made an emergency landing at Thiruvananthapuram airport nearly a fortnight ago. The High Commission spokesperson said, 'We are working to repair the UK F-35B at Thiruvananthapuram International Airport as quickly as possible. We thank the Indian Authorities for their continued support' The UK aircraft was unable to return to UK Aircraft Carrier, HMS Prince of Wales due to adverse weather conditions. Prioritising safety, the aircraft diverted to Thiruvananthapuram International Airport in India, where it landed safely. The aircraft has subsequently developed an engineering issue whilst on the ground, which precluded its return to the Carrier. Engineers from HMS Prince of Wales assessed the aircraft, and it was decided that the support of a UK-based engineering team was needed, according to a statement from the UK High Commission The aircraft will be moved to a space in the maintenance repair and overhaul facility hangar once specialist equipment and UK engineering teams arrive. The UK High Commission said, 'throughout this diversion incident, we have worked closely with all Indian authorities, including the Indian Air Force, Indian Navy and Thiruvananthapuram International Airport and are extremely grateful for their support.' The High Commission further stated that continuing security and organisational support provided by India demonstrates close coordination and deepening relationship that exists between the Armed Forces of the UK and India. Earlier, the Indian Air Force (IAF) confirmed that a British Royal Navy F-35B fighter jet made an emergency landing at Thiruvananthapuram airport on June 14 night. In a post on X, the IAF had said, 'A Royal Navy F-35B fighter recovered off an emergency landing at Thiruvananthapuram International Airport on the night of 14 June 25. Operating from UK Aircraft Carrier, HMS Prince of Wales, it was undertaking routine flying outside Indian ADIZ with Thiruvananthapuram earmarked as the emergency recovery airfield.' 'On having declared a diversion off an emergency, the F-35 B was detected and identified by the IAF's IACCS network and cleared for the recovery. IAF is providing all necessary support for the rectification and subsequent return of the aircraft,' the IAF added. (ANI)
The Hindu
4 hours ago
- The Hindu
Power, perception, precision: notes from covering a plane crash
Some assignments outlast deadlines. The recent Air India crash is one such incident. It will remain etched in my memory not only because of the scale of the tragedy — nothing prepares anyone to see an accident site of that magnitude, with so many grieving families — but for other reasons as well. On the afternoon of June 12, when the Air India flight bound for London crashed into a medical college shortly after take off in Ahmedabad, I was assigned to cover the incident. In this age of technology, where reporters are expected to provide updates in real time, our most vital organ is not the pen and notepad, but the mobile phone. Whether we are covering political rallies, protests, natural disasters, or accidents, we are perpetually tethered to our devices. We use them to mail stories, shoot videos, click photographs, make dozens of calls, and coordinate with the newsroom. As our biggest fear is that our phone battery will die, every one of us has a power bank. This has become as essential as a press card. Many journalists carry multiple backups and some even lug around the monstrous 50,000 mAh power bricks that resemble mini-inverters. Our phones are our lifelines. I went to the accident site prepared, with a bag full of devices. Yet during the long hours at the crash site and at Ahmedabad Civil Hospital, where bodies were brought in for identification and autopsy, I didn't use my power bank. This wasn't because there wasn't work. My phone battery dwindled in sync with my energy reserves. Yet somehow, I managed. This is because help came from an unexpected source: the extension boards scattered across the hospital premises. They were not there specifically for journalists, but for everyone gathered there: grieving family members, tireless volunteers, and reporters. The extension boards gave everyone a moment to recharge literally and figuratively. There were people everywhere offering help in different ways. Volunteers from various Hindu organisations, including the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the Vishva Hindu Parishad, and local NGOs, along with a few Muslim groups, ensured that food, buttermilk, cold drinks, and glucose-infused water were being supplied at the hospital round the clock. One scorching afternoon, while I was outside the morgue, a man tapped my shoulder and insisted that I drink glucose water. That small gesture and many others like it revealed the depth of the coordinated relief effort. The premises were always kept clean. Every time someone drank buttermilk or water and leaned to place the empty bottle aside, or looked around for a trash can, housekeeping staff would appear out of nowhere to clear it. Within minutes, every piece of waste was disposed of, no matter how crowded or chaotic the space and the situation. In short, the worst aviation tragedy in recent times in India was being handled on the ground with precision and thought. In retrospect, I realised that this was not surprising. The crash had made international headlines. Dozens of reporters from national and foreign media had flown into the politically significant State of Gujarat, which has been governed by the Bharatiya Janata Party for decades and is the home turf of both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah. Any photograph or short video clip of a stray bottle or pile of trash left unattended in one of Asia's largest public hospitals could have easily gone viral. Apparently, even a stray bottle risked becoming a political statement. And that, it seemed, was not a risk anyone was willing to take. What stayed with me was not just the sorrow of the families, but also the manner in which the tragedy was handled. Even amid the grief, the quiet control being exercised was unmistakable.
