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Time of India
6 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
‘Your trust is valued & your journey safeguarded by our entire Air India family:' CEO tries to win back flyers' faith
NEW DELHI: Winning back passenger trust and confidence after a tragic crash is an onerous task for airlines globally. While in India erstwhile Air India and Indian Airlines had undertaken that exercise a few times in their decades as PSUs and managed to win back the faith, the Maharaja has now embarked on a journey to do so for the first time as a private company after the crash of AI 171 in Ahmedabad this June. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now AI MD & CEO Campbell Wilson Wednesday wrote to flyers: 'Whenever you choose to fly with Air India, know that your trust is valued and your journey safeguarded by our entire Air India family, through rigorous processes, advanced technology, and a deeply embedded culture of safety and care.' Wilson then goes on to comfort passengers with the steps taken to ensure their safety like enhanced checks of aircraft and a voluntary reduction in flights to allow the same. Flyers will need all the comforting backed by evidence that AI can provide given the regulatory glare on the airline for several lapses in several fronts including scheduling. The DGCA has after the crash issued several orders, taking the airline to task over these issues. The doomed Dreamliner which crashed while flying as AI 171 was AI's first wide body crash since Jan 1978, when it had lost Boeing 747 'Emperor Ashoka' in Mumbai. An AI jumbo jet 'Emperor Kanishka' had exploded mid-air in June 1985 over the Atlantic Ocean but that was an act of terror. 'At Air India, the safety of our passengers, crew, and aircraft is not just a priority, it is our unwavering commitment and the foundation of every decision we make. Following the tragic accident of AI171 in June, it is understandable that there is heightened scrutiny, coverage, and concern about air travel,' Wilson, a veteran from Singapore Airlines (which owns 25.1% stake in AI, with the rest being owned by the Tatas), said. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now The CEO listed the 'measures taken to reinforce operations.' Detailed inspections of AI fleet of Boeing 787-8 and 787-9 aircraft: '… . no issues were found during these inspections. As with some other international airlines, we also inspected the fuel control switch mechanism of Boeing 737 and 787-8 aircraft, likewise with no findings. We continue to work closely with regulators, maintaining full transparency and ensuring that every action we take aligns with the highest standards of safety and care.' Voluntary safety pause: ' …a temporary reduction in our schedule to accommodate additional pre-flight checks and mitigate the impact of regional airspace closures. We also took the opportunity of additional ground time to accelerate upgrades to improve aircraft reliability and to strengthen how we manage delays and disruptions.' R egular safety protocols are rigorous and multi-layered: 'Every aircraft (is) undergoing thorough checks before take-off by trained engineers and pilots. Maintenance is conducted at certified facilities before and between flights. Our pilots, cabin crew, and engineers train regularly at the Air India Training Academy. C omprehensive safety management system: 'Air India, like all major airlines, undergoes annual audits by our regulator, the DGCA, and a bi-annual IATA Operational Safety Audit conducted by an external team of experts. These audits are part of the aviation industry's process of continuous improvement and, as the DGCA stated in a recent communique, Air India's recent results are 'entirely normal' for an airline of our scale and scope.' Wilson said since privatisation of AI in Jan 2022, the airline has commissioned 'a full safety assessment and engaged Boeing to conduct an operational efficacy programme.' AI will begin a p hased restoration of international operations from Aug1, with full resumption targeted for Oct 1, 2025. 'This measured approach ensures we complete every verification thoroughly and resume service with complete confidence,' he said. Referring to recent issues like delays and minor snags seen post AI 171 crash, the CEO said: 'I acknowledge there have been some operational challenges over the last few weeks that may have impacted your travel experience. Rest assured, we take this seriously and we are committed to strengthening our internal processes to minimise the inconvenience that such circumstances cause to you.' 'So, whenever you choose to fly with Air India, know that your trust is valued and your journey safeguarded by our entire Air India family, through rigorous processes, advanced technology, and a deeply embedded culture of safety and care.' Wilson said. Stay informed with the latest business news, updates on bank holidays and public holidays.
NDTV
14-06-2025
- General
- NDTV
Eerie Parallels Between Ahmedabad Crash And 1978 'Emperor Ashoka' Tragedy
New Delhi: The catastrophic crash of Air India flight AI 171, a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, into a residential area near Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in Ahmedabad on Thursday bears a startling resemblance to the plunge of Air India flight AI 855, the Emperor Ashoka, into the Arabian Sea off Mumbai nearly five decades ago. The Emperor Ashoka crash, 3 km off Mumbai, killed all 213 aboard. In both incidents, the aircraft crashed moments after departure. The 1978 Disaster On New Year's Day, 1978, Air India flight AI 855, named Emperor Ashoka, Air India's first Boeing 747, departed Santa Cruz International Airport (now Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport), Mumbai, bound for Dubai at 20:12 IST. The flight, carrying 190 passengers and 23 crew members, was delayed from its morning schedule due to a bird strike damaging a wing flap the previous day. Approximately one minute after takeoff from Runway 27, having been cleared to climb to 8,000 feet, the aircraft entered a gentle right turn over the Arabian Sea. The Captain's Attitude Director Indicator (ADI), the primary instrument displaying the aircraft's pitch and bank attitude relative to the horizon, malfunctioned. It remained fixed, indicating a right bank, even as the wings levelled. The Captain, 51-year-old Madan Lal Kukar, with nearly 18,000 flight hours, voiced immediate concern. The First Officer was Indu Virmani, 43, a former Indian Air Force commander with over 4,500 flight hours. Flight Engineer Alfredo Faria, 53, one of Air India's most senior engineers with 11,000 hours, observed the discrepancy between the Captain's ADI and the third, standby ADI. With the aircraft now over the Arabian Sea at night, no visual horizon reference existed. Relying on his malfunctioning ADI which still showed a right bank, Captain Kukar applied left control inputs to correct the perceived right bank. "My instruments,'' the pilot said suddenly, according to the recorder recovered from the wreckage. "Mine is also toppled," said the co-pilot. "No, but go by this, captain," Flight Engineer Faria warned. The warning went unheeded or was acted upon too late. The aircraft continued rolling left to an extreme bank angle of 108 degrees and entered a steep, approximately 35-40 degree nose-down descent from around 2,000 feet. It impacted shallow water, only 10 metres deep, approximately 3 kilometres offshore. All 213 on board died. According to a 1982 New York Times report, the official investigation concluded the probable cause was: "Irrational control wheel inputs given by the captain following complete unawareness of the attitude of the aircraft on his part after his ADI. had malfunctioned." The Ahmedabad Incident Forty-seven years later, in the afternoon of June 12, Air India flight AI 171, a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, crashed within seconds of takeoff from Ahmedabad's Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport. Like AI 855, it plunged near the airport, this time into a residential area. Veteran pilot Captain Rakesh Rai who flew the same type of Dreamliner for Air India until last year, speaking exclusively to NDTV, noted the aircraft's undercarriage remained extended throughout its short, doomed flight. "His [pilot's] rate of rotation and the way he has climbed up is very normal. But something has gone wrong towards maybe an altitude of 400 to 500 feet. And the momentum has taken the aircraft to about 600 feet. At this point, the most surprising aspect of this take-off is that the undercarriage has not been retracted," he said. Captain Rai outlined several plausible scenarios. "What happens in a normal take-off is that the moment you start rotating the aircraft for take-off and the aircraft has left the ground, the instruments indicate a positive rate of climb. So, the co-pilot or the pilot monitoring gives a call, 'positive rate'. The pilot flying cross-checks that there has been a positive rate and he gives a call, 'gear up' for the landing gear to be retracted," he said. "But here, what you see is the undercarriage has not been retracted at all. So that raises a lot of questions as to what could be the reason behind the undercarriage not being retracted. We can only speculate. The actual reason behind that will come out only in the DFDR 9black box)," the veteran pilot told NDTV. At least 274 people have died as a result of the Ahmedabad crash, including 241 out of 242 on board.
