Latest news with #Airbus
Sky News AU
3 hours ago
- Sky News AU
'Very serious': Air India warned by country's aviation regulator for breaching safety rules days before mass casualty disaster
Air India was warned for breaching safety rules by the country's aviation regulator before it made global headlines following a mass casualty disaster. Flight AI171 crashed shortly after take-off from Ahmedabad en route to London's Gatwick Airport last Thursday. According to government documents, planes flew despite being overdue checks on emergency equipment and for being slow to address the issue. While the warning notices, as well as an investigation report, were not in any way related to last week's crash of an Air India Boeing 787-8 plane that killed everyone onboard except one man, they were sent days before the catastrophic incident. In the report, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation said spot checks in May on three Air India Airbus planes found that they were operated despite mandatory inspections being overdue on the "critical emergency equipment" of escape slides. In one case, the watchdog found the inspection of an Airbus A320 jet was delayed by more than a month before being carried out on May 15. AirNav Radar data shows that during the delay the plane flew to international destinations such as Dubai, Riyadh and Jeddah. Another case, involving an Airbus A319 used on domestic routes, showed checks were over three months late, while a third showed an inspection was two days late. "The above cases indicate that aircraft were operated with expired or unverified emergency equipment, which is a violation of standard airworthiness and safety requirements," the DGCA report said. Air India "failed to submit timely compliance responses" to deficiencies raised by the DGCA, "further evidencing weak procedural control and oversight," it added. Checks on escape slides are "a very serious issue and "in case of accident, if they don't open, it can lead to serious injuries," said Vibhuti Singh, a former legal expert at the government's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau. The DGCA said in its report the certificates of airworthiness for aircraft that miss mandatory checks were "deemed suspended". An Indian aviation lawyer said such breaches typically attract monetary and civil penalties on both individual executives and the airline. The sole survivor of the Air India crash, Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, 40, has since attended his brother's funeral in the western Indian coastal town of Diu on Wednesday. Ramesh, grief-stricken, had just left hospital and had bandages on his face from the cuts and bruises sustained from the crash which killed 241 people on board, including dozens on land. Funerals have taken place in Ahmedabad for the victims of the crash, with scores of heartbroken relatives farewelling family members and friends who tragically perished. -with Reuters
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Paris Air Show: Airbus gets nearly $21 billion in orders
June 19 (UPI) -- During the Paris Air Show, Airbus on Thursday reported robust orders of nearly $21 billion, while Boeing was in the background as it struggles with a host of issues. The European aircraft manufacturer reported 142 firm orders and an additional 102 jets under provisional agreements. Airbus customers include Saudi lessor AviLease and LOT Polish Airlines, with 40 orders each. All Nippon Airways ordered 27 jets and Riyadh Air ordered 25 A350-1000 wide bodies. Starlux in Taiwan ordered 10 Airbus airliners and EgyptAir expanded an order from 10 to 16 jets. Boeing kept a low profile at the Paris Air Show, but recently got a Qatar Airways 210 airliner order during an official U.S. government diplomatic visit in the Middle East. Despite Airbus orders surging at the air show, both aircraft manufacturers are experiencing backlogged orders as they continue to face supply issues. Air Lease Corp CEO John Plueger told CNBC, "Both Airbus and Boeing are all sold out to 2031 and '32 anyway. So how many follow-on orders into the '33, '34, '35 time frame are you really going to see? ... But overall, the demand environment remains very robust." An Airbus order and delivery summary as of May 2025 shows total orders at 24,836. Boeing did not do aircraft fly-bys or major promotions at the Paris show. CEO Kelly Ortberg was to attend, but that plan was disrupted by the Air India Boeing Dreamliner crash, which claimed at least 280 lives, including 39 people on the ground. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Yahoo
Why a Toronto-bound flight from Amsterdam turned back after five hours in the air
A flight this week from Amsterdam to Toronto spent more than five hours in the air before landing — in Amsterdam. The cause was a missed scheduled maintenance that was discovered while the plane was over the Atlantic Ocean, requiring it to do a U-turn and return home. The aircraft, an Airbus A330-303, had already been delayed 90 minutes from its original departure time of 11:20 a.m. local time, for what should have been an eight-hour flight from Schiphol airport to Toronto. That was due to a last-minute change of plane because the air conditioning on the original one wasn't working. But the new plane had its own issues. As reported on the website View from the Wing and elsewhere, the crew realized only en route that there was required maintenance for the aircraft that had not been performed. KLM confirmed to Business Insider magazine that the U-turn was caused by the aircraft reaching what it called a 'maintenance deadline.' 'During flight KL691 from Amsterdam to Toronto, it was decided to return to Schiphol as a precaution after it became apparent during the flight that the replacement aircraft (PH-AKA) would reach its maintenance deadline,' the airline said in a statement. 'The aircraft was fully airworthy at the time of departure,' it added. 'To prevent the license from expiring during the flight, it was decided to return to perform the maintenance in the Netherlands.' The delay — more than three hours on a flight of more than 3,500 kms — means that, due to European laws, each passenger is entitled to 600 euros in compensation, as well as rebooking by the airline. 'Although all passengers were rebooked upon arrival, we naturally find it very unfortunate for the passengers who were affected by this,' KLM said in its statement. Flight data from shows that the aircraft was south of Iceland and nearly midway across the Atlantic when it turned around. Last-minute aircraft swaps have caused issues in the past. View from the Wing details how, earlier this month, American Airlines swapped out a Boeing 787-8 for a similar 787-9, then sent the latter on a flight from Philadelphia to Naples, Italy. But the runway at Naples wasn't certified for the 787-9, so it had to be diverted to Rome, 200 kms to the north. National Post has reached out to KLM for further comment. Do airlines owe you compensation for turbulence-induced damages? Here's what we found out Flying into Turkey? Wait your turn to stand up on the plane or face a fine Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark and sign up for our newsletters here.
UPI
6 hours ago
- Business
- UPI
Paris Air Show: Airbus gets nearly $21 billion in orders
Airbus executive vice president for sales of the commercial aircraft business, Benoit de Saint-Exupery (L), the Airbus chief executive officer of the commercial aircraft business Christian Scherer (C) and the chief executive officer of LOT Polish Airlines, Michal Fijol show agreement documents for purchasing Airbus A220-100 and A220-300 passenger jets at the 55th edition of the International Paris Air Show on Monday. Photo by Christophe Petit Tesson/ EPA-EFE June 19 (UPI) -- During the Paris Air Show, Airbus on Thursday reported robust orders of nearly $21 billion, while Boeing was in the background as it struggles with a host of issues. The European aircraft manufacturer reported 142 firm orders and an additional 102 jets under provisional agreements. Airbus customers include Saudi lessor AviLease and LOT Polish Airlines, with 40 orders each. All Nippon Airways ordered 27 jets and Riyadh Air ordered 25 A350-1000 wide bodies. Starlux in Taiwan ordered 10 Airbus airliners and EgyptAir expanded an order from 10 to 16 jets. Boeing kept a low profile at the Paris Air Show, but recently got a Qatar Airways 210 airliner order during an official U.S. government diplomatic visit in the Middle East. Despite Airbus orders surging at the air show, both aircraft manufacturers are experiencing backlogged orders as they continue to face supply issues. Air Lease Corp CEO John Plueger told CNBC, "Both Airbus and Boeing are all sold out to 2031 and '32 anyway. So how many follow-on orders into the '33, '34, '35 time frame are you really going to see? ... But overall, the demand environment remains very robust." An Airbus order and delivery summary as of May 2025 shows total orders at 24,836. Boeing did not do aircraft fly-bys or major promotions at the Paris show. CEO Kelly Ortberg was to attend, but that plan was disrupted by the Air India Boeing Dreamliner crash, which claimed at least 280 lives, including 39 people on the ground.
News24
7 hours ago
- Business
- News24
Air India under fire for flying planes with overdue emergency equipment checks
Aviation regulator warned Air India for operating three Airbus planes with overdue mandatory inspections on emergency escape slides. The regulator's report indicated "systemic control failure" at Air India, citing the airline's slow response to safety concerns and poor internal oversight. Air India said it is 'accelerating' the verification of all maintenance records, though the airline has previously faced multiple safety violations, including 12 instances that resulted in warnings or fines last year. India's aviation regulator has warned Air India for breaching safety rules after three of its Airbus planes flew despite being overdue on checks on emergency equipment and for being slow to address the issue, government documents show. The warning notices and an investigation report - both reviewed by Reuters - were not in any way related to last week's crash of an Air India Boeing 787-8 plane that killed all but one of the 242 people onboard and were sent days before that incident In the report, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said spot checks in May on three Air India Airbus planes found that they were operated despite mandatory inspections being overdue on the "critical emergency equipment" of escape slides. In one case, the watchdog found that the inspection of an Airbus A320 jet was delayed by more than a month before being carried out on 15 May. AirNav Radar data shows that during the delay, the plane flew to international destinations such as Dubai, Riyadh and Jeddah. Another case, involving an Airbus A319 used on domestic routes, showed checks were over three months late, while a third showed an inspection was two days late. "The above cases indicate that aircraft were operated with expired or unverified emergency equipment, which is a violation of standard airworthiness and safety requirements," the DGCA report said. Air India "failed to submit timely compliance responses" to deficiencies raised by the DGCA, "further evidencing weak procedural control and oversight," it added. Air India, which was taken over by the Tata Group in 2022 from the government, said in a statement that it was 'accelerating' the verification of all maintenance records, including the dates of the escape slides, and would complete the process in the coming days. In one of the cases, Air India said, the issue came to light when an engineer from AI Engineering Services "inadvertently deployed an escape slide during maintenance". The DGCA and Airbus did not respond to Reuters queries. Checks on escape slides are "a very serious issue. In case of accident, if they don't open, it can lead to serious injuries," said Vibhuti Singh, a former legal expert at the government's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau. The DGCA said in its report that the certificates of airworthiness for aircraft that miss mandatory checks were "deemed suspended". The documents showed that Animesh Garg, a deputy director of airworthiness in the Indian government, sent the warning notices and the report to Air India CEO Campbell Wilson, as well as the airline's continuing airworthiness manager, quality manager, and head of planning. An Indian aviation lawyer said such breaches typically attract monetary and civil penalties on both individual executives and the airline. Wilson told Reuters last year that global parts shortages were affecting most airlines, but the problem was "more acute" for Air India as its "product is obviously a lot more dated", with many planes not refreshed since they were delivered in 2010-2011. The Indian regulator, like many abroad, often fines airlines for compliance lapses. India's junior aviation minister in February told parliament that authorities had warned or fined airlines in 23 instances for safety violations last year. Around half of them - 12 - involved Air India and Air India Express, including in one case for "unauthorised entry into cockpit". The biggest fine was $127 000 on Air India for "insufficient oxygen on board" during a flight to San Francisco. Last week's crash, the causes of which are still being investigated, will further challenge Air India's attempts to rebuild its image after years of criticism from travellers for poor service. Air India's Chairman N. Chandrasekaran on Monday told staff the crash should be a catalyst to build a safer airline, urging employees to stay resolute amid any criticism. In its report, the DGCA also said several Air India aircraft checked by officials had outdated registration paperwork. Air India told Reuters all but one aircraft complied with such requirements and this "poses no impact" to safety. The DGCA investigation report pulled up the airline for what it described as "inadequate internal oversight." "Despite prior notifications and identified deficiencies, the organization's internal quality and planning departments failed to implement effective corrective action, indicating systemic control failure," it said.
