An Air India pilot lands at the US airport despite multiple system failures, adverse weather conditions and lack of fuel | news from India



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A 15-hour Air India flight between New Delhi and New York fought bad weather and multiple system failures on September 11 before landing at Newark Airport in New Jersey instead of John F. Kennedy International Airport. moments tense following a rare combination of electronic malfunctions.

According to NDTV, who first reported the news, the flight involved was AI – 101 and had 370 people on board.

"Auto Land is not available. We have several instrument failures, "said one of the pilots at JFK's air traffic controllers, according to audio files available on LiveATC.net, a website that archives ATC radio transmissions.

The pilots then informed ATC that the problem was "with the ILS", referring to the instrument landing group which is responsible for the precise alignment and descent of the aircraft. A plane on a runway.

The ILS becomes more crucial in adverse weather conditions, such as those encountered by AI-101 pilots, while they could not visually estimate an approach because of the heavy cloud cover .

The plane was a nine-year-old Boeing 777-300, according to NDTV. A Boeing spokesperson did not respond to requests for comment.

"The weather was bad at the New York airport and, because of the problem, the radar was not visible in the cockpit. The pilot had to land without the help of a radar and as the weather was bad in New York, the aircraft was diverted to Newark, "said a spokesman. Air India at Hindustan Times.

A former Air India pilot suggested that the situation – where hardware malfunction is crucial – was potentially dangerous. "For a visual landing, a pilot must be able to see the runway at least 1.5-2 km away. Visual landing is common in good weather. This is not dangerous if the pilot is equipped (with all the instruments) but that more equipment needs to be detected, "said VK Kukar.

At some point during their communications with ATC, as published on LiveATC.net, one of the pilots was heard telling the air traffic controller that there were "a lot of problems" and asks if there are other "sectors" with better visibility. They finally set to zero on Newark. "I was going to try the VNAV approach in Newark if the ceiling is better than JFK," the pilot told the controller. A "better cap" refers to the height of the clouds below which the aircraft could be flown so that pilots could see the runway.

But before they could do it, the pilots told the controller the extent of the malfunction. "Basically, we have a single-source radio altimeter, we have a breakdown of the collision and traffic avoidance system," said the captain, whom Ranan identified as Rustom Palia. "There is no auto-landing, no wind shear systems, auto brake brakes and the auxiliary power unit," he added. On top of that, they lacked fuel. "We also have some fuel. We burn a lot of fuel, "said the captain to the controller.

There are normally multiple altimeters and the Traffic Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) is considered one of the most important equipment because it automatically detects and avoids collisions between aircraft.

In the end, the flight landed safely in Newark, where emergency crews were put on hold, according to the recording.

"The pilot did a good job in hijacking the flight and landing safely," said an official of the director general of civil aviation, asking not to be named. He confirmed that the aviation regulator had started an investigation. "Our probe will turn on technical problems".

The plane and the pilots returned to India one day after the incident.

First published: Sep 17, 2018 21:47 IST

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