Latest news with #pilots
Daily Mail
a day ago
- General
- Daily Mail
Final moments of doomed Russian passenger plane before it crashed in fireball killing all 49 on board in remote mountain range
The final moments of a passenger plane carrying 49 people that suffered a fiery crash in a remote region in Russia's Far East have been revealed in sombre footage. The An-24 twin-turboprop aircraft operated by Angara Airlines dropped off radar as it came into land at Tynda airport in the mountainous Amur region earlier today. Footage shared to Russia's Telegram messaging app by onlookers on the forest floor showed the plane soaring dangerously low over the tree line as it made its final approach to Tynda. Weather conditions were poor with low cloud and rain, but the pilots did not report any problems to air traffic control before losing contact. The plane was confirmed to have gone down after helicopters dispatched by Russia's Ministry of Emergency Situations spotted remnants of the plane's fuselage on a mountainside some 16 kilometres from Tynda. Videos shared on Telegram by emergency workers riding in rescue helicopters showed the smouldering ruins of the plane scattered amid the trees. The fuselage looked to have completely broken apart and caught fire upon impact. 'During the search operations, the Mi-8 helicopter of the Federal Air Transport Agency discovered the fuselage of the plane, which is on fire. Rescuers continue to proceed to the scene of the incident,' a statement from the Ministry read. Of the 49 people on board, six are crew members and five passengers are listed as children. Preliminary reports from emergency services suggest everyone was killed, according to RIA Novosti. 'No survivors have been found from the air,' an emergency services report said. Search and rescue parties were dispatched after air traffic controllers lost all communication with the pilots making their second approach to the airport, having circled around on their first attempt. The town of Tynda is extremely remote and is surrounded by dense forest and mountainous terrain. It is located some 5,170 kilometres (3,213 miles) east of Moscow and just 273 kilometres (169 miles) from the Chinese border. The doomed plane had taken off earlier today from the eastern city of Khabarovsk and landed for a brief layover in Blagoveshchensk before continuing on to Tynda. It underwent a technical inspection while on the runway at Blagoveshchensk's Ignatyevo airport and was found to be technically sound, according to emergency services. The Amur regional government declared that air ambulances had been dispatched along with search and rescue parties to administer medical treatment to survivors. 'So far, the helicopter with rescuers cannot land in the area of the crash - it is a hard-to-reach area, a mountain slope,' a spokesperson for emergency services told TASS. Vsily Orlov, Governor of Amur, wrote in a statement: 'All necessary forces and means are involved in searching for the plane. I kindly ask you not to trust unverified information.' A hotline for relatives of passengers has been set up by the Ministry of Emergency Situations, Orlov added. An investigation has been opened by Russian authorities into the cause of the crash. The An-24 is an ageing propeller aircraft developed in the Soviet Union during the late 1950s as a transport plane. It has long been converted for civilian purposes and is frequently used as a passenger plane, particularly in remote regions of Russia, where air safety records are poor. The crashed An-24 was manufactured almost 50 years ago, but recently had its airworthiness certificate extended until 2036, according to Russia's Lenta news service.
Daily Mail
a day ago
- General
- Daily Mail
Passenger plane carrying 49 people goes missing in remote Russia
A Russian passenger plane carrying 49 people has disappeared from radar and lost contact with air traffic controllers over the Amur region. The An-24 turboprop aircraft operated by Angara Airlines dropped off radar 'several kilometres from Tynda airport', according to Russia's Ministry of Emergency Situations. Search and rescue parties have been dispatched amid fears the plane crashed after air traffic controllers lost all communication with the pilots.
The Herald
2 days ago
- Business
- The Herald
Family time request by pilots is reasonable, union says ahead of CCMA meeting with FlySafair
A roster system that allows for family time and adequate rest periods is a priority for pilots, the Solidarity trade union says as it prepares to meet FlySafair in a mediation process. The Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) will on Wednesday seek to help broker a deal between the airline's management and the union. A rostering system recently implemented by FlySafair is a bone of contention for pilots. Solidarity said: "It has drastically changed the established working conditions of pilots which have been in place for the past decade." "The new schedule impedes adequate rest periods and undermines pilots' family life. "As pilots' work days often start before sunrise and last until late at night, sufficient rest is of utmost importance for the safety and well-being of pilots and passengers. "In addition, pilots work seven days a week on a rotating schedule, which significantly impacts their family life compared to those who work standard office hours." Solidarity will ask the CCMA to help it secure a deal that allows: Pilots will have at least one weekend off within each five-week schedule cycle and two consecutive days off to properly rest and spend quality time with their families.; The opportunity for pilots to exchange shifts with colleagues in cases where family responsibilities necessitate flexibility. If they have to fly on their days off, they will be compensated for within the next schedule cycle. "Additional schedule proposals will be submitted to FlySafair's management during the mediation. A schedule compromise will not incur any additional costs for the employer. If FlySafair complies with the reasonable requests, Solidarity will be prepared to review the salary increase demand and all other related claims and be willing to compromise." While some flights had to be cancelled due to a pilot strike on Monday, FlySafair has implemented contingency arrangements. This includes a reduced number of flights and a deal with SAA to operate some of its routes. TimesLIVE
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The Independent
2 days ago
- General
- The Independent
Fire breaks out on Air India's flight from Hong Kong after landing in Delhi
Air India grounded an aircraft for inspection after a fire broke out in its auxiliary power unit, or APU, shortly after landing in New Delhi on Tuesday. The fire was detected while passengers were disembarking flight AI315 from Hong Kong, the airline said in a statement. 'The incident occurred while passengers had begun disembarking and the APU was automatically shut down as per system design,' an airline spokesperson said. The APU is installed at the rear of the aircraft and serves as a backup power source. It is primarily used to start the main engines and operate critical onboard systems while the aircraft is on the ground. Passengers de-boarded safely but the aircraft, which landed in Delhi at 12.31pm local time, was damaged, the airline said. Flight tracking service Flightradar24 identified the affected aircraft as an Airbus A321. This was the third Air India scare in two days. A flight from the southern city of Kochi veered off a rain-soaked runway in Mumbai on Monday. All passengers got off safely but the aircraft's engine and runway infrastructure were damaged. The plane was grounded and both pilots de-rostered. A few hours later, flight AI2403 from Delhi to Kolkata aborted take-off at high speed after a technical issue was detected. The pilots stopped the aircraft, and all 160 passengers were safely disembarked. The flight was rescheduled for later in the evening. These incidents come amid heightened scrutiny of flight safety following last month's deadly Air India crash in Ahmedabad that killed 260 people. A preliminary investigation report released a month after the crash revealed the Boeing Dreamliner's fuel control switches flipped from 'run' position to 'cutoff' within seconds of the take-off. The report said that one of the pilots was heard on the cockpit voice recorder asking the other why he had cut off the fuel. The other responded that he hadn't. The report caused an uproar with pilot associations accusing the investigators of indirectly blaming the pilots for the crash. A subsequent report in The Wall Street Journal suggested that pilot error could have played a role in the incident. However, Indian authorities condemned the report as speculative and irresponsible. Meanwhile, Air India said it found no problems with the fuel control switch mechanisms across its Boeing 787 and 737 fleet during inspections carried out after the Ahmedabad crash. India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau expects to give a final report detailing its investigation into the crash within a year.
Bloomberg
2 days ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
Extra Cockpit Safety Barrier Grills on New Planes Delayed by FAA
US airlines won more time to install an additional security barrier on planes to prevent cockpit break-ins, a delay that pilots criticized for leaving the flight deck vulnerable to attack. The Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement that it gave carriers an extra year to comply in order to allow time for certification and installation. The secondary barrier rule, which came into effect in August 2023, had required US airlines to make the changes on newly manufactured aircraft within two years.
