India's tallest Air Traffic Control tower, at Mumbai airport, inaugurated

By BA Staff

Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA), inaugurated India’s tallest ATC tower with a height of 83.8 metre and built within an area of 2,800 square metres.

The location and the height of the new ATC tower will enable the tower controllers to have unobstructed view of the entire operational area, which will help in optimizing air traffic separation and increase the traffic handling capacity at the airport.

The tower will be equipped with the latest technology including electronic flight strips which will soften the work load of the tower controllers, enhance safety and overall capacity of the airport.

The airport operating company Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL) is upgrading the air-side with new taxiways and rapid-exit taxiways to help reduce the time aircraft occupy the runway to further increase the ability of the airport to handle more flights per hour.

GVK CSIA awarded the iconic design and architecture project to Hong Kong based renowned architectural design firm HOK and international engineering design firm ARUP following a global architectural and engineering design competition. International lighting consultant Spiers and Majors were mandated for the innovatively designed lighting of the tower to bring out the sculptural qualities of the tower.

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Philips Healthcare to install 100 defibrilators at Mumbai airport

Under its sponsored Globally, Save Lives initiative Philips Healthcare will install 100 Automated External Defibrillators at Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji International airport (CSIA) by year end.

An AED is a portable device which is attached via paddles to a patient suffering signs of a sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) or myocardial infarction (a heart attack). The AED will automatically confirm the diagnosis, and if the person is indeed suffering a heart attack, will give the needed electrical jolt to stabilise the heart-beat and help save the life with the press of a button. The AEDs can be used by anyone without formal training—each AED comes with audio and visual instructions for its operation.

With more than 660,000 deaths occurring every year in India alone as a result of SCA, the survival rate is less than one per cent as emergency medical services do not reach on time. This actually means that this is the leading cause of death and accounts for greater than 50 per cent of cardiovascular deaths in India. An AED, if used during an SCA within the first four to six minutes, can save more than 95 per cent of lives, stated the release.

Jitesh Mathur, Senior Director, Philips Healthcare, India said

"The instances of deaths due to SCA have been on the rise. Long working hours, hectic lifestyle and unhealthy eating habits are the main causes behind rising incidences of SCA”, “Unfortunately, an SCA does not happen only to people who suffer from heart diseases or with age or only to men. SCAs are unrelated to age, sex, existing heart ailments and family history. Recently we have seen increased incidences of deaths due to SCA in women and children,”

Highlighting the importance of AEDs in public places, Dr. Vijaya Reddy, Senior Consultant Emergency Medical Services, Max Hospital, stated,

“An AED and Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) combined can save lives to a large extent but their availability in public places in India has still not happened. We have seen an increase in AEDs in aircraft and at airports where it is mandatory but an AED is still not mandatory in metros, malls, cinema halls or even ambulances.”

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GoAir replaces Kingfisher Airlines at Terminal 1A at Mumbai

by Devesh Agarwal

From July 1, 2013, Wadia group promoted GoAir will be moving its operations at Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, from Terminal 1B (the private airlines' terminal) to Terminal 1A (Air India / Indian Airlines terminal). GoAir will occupy some of the space that has been vacated by the cessation of operations of Vijay Mallya promoted Kingfisher Airlines.

GoAir currently operates 360 movements per week from Mumbai. A dedicated aisle of check-in counters at terminal 1A shall now be available for GoAir passengers. The airline will be also moving its ticketing office to the new premise.

The traffic at Terminal 1B has congested for some time thanks to the diversion of passengers from the implosion of Kingfisher, and the growth of domestic passenger traffic at the commercial capital of India. It would have been better if one of the larger incumbents like IndiGo or SpiceJet would have shifted, when compared to a smaller operator like GoAir which operates about 360 weekly movements i.e. about 26 departures per day.

When queried, persons with knowledge of developments but who preferred to remain anonymous, told Bangalore Aviation that this move has been planned for a long time, and all airlines were given the offer to shift operations. Only GoAir opted for the shift. We can surmize, that GoAir faced the least disruption to their operations since they are a purely domestic airline at present, and the others would find it more convenient to remain in Terminal 1B which is closer to the international terminal T2.

What are your thoughts on this shift? Post a comment.

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Video: The making of Terminal 2 at Mumbai airport

While Delhi's IGI airport is India's biggest, arguably the busiest is Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA). The $2 billion Mumbai Airport Expansion project is one of India's most ambitious undertakings ever and uses some extremely innovative construction techniques to overcome problems, bottlenecks, and even local sentiments.

From Discovery Channel's Build It Bigger programme, watch the making of CSIA's Terminal 2.

Don't forget to read host Danny Forster's introduction to the programme, just below the video.

The Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport in Mumbai is hopping. But the busiest airport in fast-growing India, it is also the most delayed airport in the world. It ushered through 17 million passengers a few years ago, 20 million the next, 24 million the next.. And having made two separate trips to Mumbai to shoot this episode, I can tell you firsthand: it′s an unmitigated madhouse. The chaos begins the moment the plane touches down, with an abnormally long delay to get the airplane to a gate. Once off the plane, the sheer volume of people fighting their way through immigration and baggage claim is mind-bending. Abandon hope of personal space, all who enter here! (For added fun, try elbowing through the crowds while trying to get high-definition television camera equipment though customs.) The airport is so insanely busy it has to be expanded.

But the airport is so insanely busy, how can it possibly be expanded?

That′s the challenge facing construction crews here as they build a brand new international terminal and renovate the domestic one on the original footprint—while 400 flights a day come and go. One engineer compared the whole endeavor to doing open-heart surgery in the middle of a marathon.

Even that doesn′t do justice to the challenges here. India has the highest population of first-time flyers in the world, travelling for education and for work. And in India, a first-time flyer typically has his whole family accompany him to the airport to see him off. And I′m not talking Mom, Dad, and Sis. I′m talking about 37 of his nearest and dearest (affectionately referred to as "weepers and wailers"). Throngs of people. Which means traffic flow in and around the airport has to be negotiated with even greater care.

Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill—SOM—the lead architects, have designed a terminal that accommodates this tradition. But their sensitivity to place and culture doesn′t end there. First, and most incredibly, they built this multi-billion-dollar project around a revered statue of 17th century king Shivaji, after whom the airport is named, to leave access for worshippers. Throughout the terminal, they have incorporated art from different parts of India, unified by the recurring ocellus pattern of a peacock, India′s national bird. That pattern adds lightness and delicacy to an enormous roofscape.

Airports, are, if you take a step back, really just massive roofs under which people and luggage move. In this case, lots of people. SOM used that basic structural fact—airport=huge roof surface—and turned it in to a central theme. The roof rests on mega columns that branch out like trees. They are both decorative and functional: they drain the rainwater, let in a dappling of daylight light, hold up the entire structure and are just plain beautiful. Extremely high-tech, extremely functional, but aesthetically linked to the history and culture of India.

But let′s go up above the roof for an aerial view of this project. Now the heart transplant in the middle of the marathon looks like the easy part. Because the airport is surrounded by slums—in fact, 300,000 people live in slums on airport property. Along with the building of the terminal (and the ongoing operation of this airport) will be the largest slum resettlement project in India′s history. They have resettled 1,000 people; they are planning to resettle 85,000 . . . in a city that′s already unbelievably crowded and comically congested. Mumbai has a population of 20 million, densely packed. It can take five hours to travel the 15 miles from the city center to the airport. Which reminds me: there′s a highway being built as part of this project too.

When it′s all done in 2014, the expanded airport will be an oasis of calm and of careful planning, accommodating 45 million travelers a year. You math types are thinking, "at the rate I mentioned above, they′ll have outgrown the new space by then, right?" Yeah, that′s why they′re building another international airport, Navi Mumbai, about twenty miles away. Can you say, "fast-growing economy"?

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Jet Airways offer direct transfers for morning international to domestic flights

Jet's international passengers to transfer direct to domestic flights through international terminal security hold area.

International Jet Airways' passengers landing at Mumbai's CSI Airport, and connecting on to domestic flights will now have the option of being able to transferred to the domestic terminal to board their flights directly. This facility is available to passengers of Jet Airways flights arriving at Mumbai between 2:30am and 6:45am and connecting to domestic flights.

The airport operators, MIAL, have assigned gate numbers 4 and 5 in the security hold area of the international terminal for this facility. For now this security hold area will be open only between 3am and 7am, but should provide major relief to many of the middle east flights of Jet Airways that arrive in to Mumbai at this time.

Guests still have the option to leave the international terminal and go on their own to the domestic terminal if they wish to do so.

Incoming Jet passengers connecting to domestic flights are required to clear Immigration and Customs formalities, collect their bags, and have them screened. Once completed, guests may proceed to the domestic transfer check-in counter to drop their bags, proceed to the security hold area in Terminal 2C, complete their security checks and awaiting board for their respective flights. The security hold area has refreshments and light snack facilities along with wash rooms.

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Delhi, Mumbai and Hyderabad airports amongst best in the world

by Devesh Agarwal

Three of India's airports have placed amongst the best airports in the world in the 2012 airport service quality (ASQ) awards of the airports council international (ACI).

The nation's largest two airports, New Delhi's GMR operated Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) and Mumbai's GVK operated Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA), placed second and third respectively in the category of airport size from 25 million to 40 million passengers per annum.

In the category of 5 million to 15 million passengers per annum (mppa), Hyderabad's Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) airport placed second.

Last year saw New Delhi and Mumbai at the same position as this year, and Hyderabad at third place in the 5~15 mppa category.

Two years ago, Hyderabad RGIA won top honours in the 5~15 million passenger size category, while Mumbai CSIA was placed second in the 15~25 million passenger category, and New Delhi IGIA was placed fourth in the 25~40 million passenger category.

As per ACI

The annual ASQ Awards recognize and reward the best airports in the world according to ACI's ASQ passenger satisfaction survey. The ASQ Awards are the only global airport rankings to be based on a measure of the passengers’ satisfaction taken while the passenger is still at the gate.

To be eligible for the annual ASQ awards, an airport must have participated in the ASQ Survey every month of the year. The survey must be carried out in strict accordance with the airport’s sample plan, developed by ACI, which guarantees a representative sample of the flights, destinations and passenger groups served by the airport. ACI regularly audits participating airports to ensure compliance and to validate the results.

This year the survey was conducted across 275 airports across the world.

For some strange reason, Bangalore's Bengaluru International Airport does not feature in the ACI list. Bangalore Aviation has been unable to obtain a clear answer as to why, but we are on the job.

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Photo: Unusual Antonov An-74TK-100 STOL cargo freighter at Mumbai airport

As I was returning to Bangalore on Saturday, I spotted this very unusual aircraft at the ramp across the passenger terminal at Mumbai CSI airport, an Antonov An-74-TK-100.

UR-CKC belongs to Cavok Air, a Ukranian cargo operator. The striking feature of this aircraft is the overwing engines which are used to perform short take-off and landings by using the Coandă effect.

As per Wikipedia

.... An-74 was initially the upgrade of the An-72 test aircraft to be used in the Arctic and on Antarctica and had the designation An-72A "Arctic". The aircraft's main purpose was to deliver cargo, equipment and personnel over short and medium range routes in climatic conditions ranging from −60°C to +45°C anywhere in the world, including the North Pole, and at high altitudes. It can operate from low grade airstrips made with concrete, pebble, ice and snow aerodromes.

The aircraft pictured here is the An-74TK-100 which allows conversion flexibility in seating up to 52 passengers or cargo or a mix of both. It also has an additional navigator station. This particular airframe was built in 1992.

Apparently this aircraft suffered an emergency when landing at Mumbai. A statement from the airport details the situation.

At about 12:43 hrs MIAL airside team detected a landing Russian charter cargo aircraft (AN 74) had caught fire as a lot of smoke was seen from undercarriage. The airside safety team immediately coordinated with ATC, entered runway and detected both starboard tyre burst due which the thick smoke and fire was seen. MIAL Apron control immediately requested ATC to advise the pilot to switch off engines, fire assistance was called and all emergency systems were activated. The aircraft was stuck on Taxiway N7 due which RWY 27 was blocked for 3 hours. Runway 32 was immediately activated for all incoming and outgoing flights. Aircraft was towed to stand 40 at 15:43 hrs after both the tyres were replaced. No airport operations were affected due to this incident.

Observe, even the emergency cannot resist taking pictures of themselves next to this unusual aircraft.

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The Kingfisher Airline's Airbus storage at Mumbai airport, ATR72 graveyard at Bangalore airport

In the Google Maps photograph below, you can see the storage yard, some may say, graveyard, of the Airbus fleet of Kingfisher Airlines at Mumbai airport.


View Larger Map

This parking area is at the 14 end of runway 32-14 next to the Kalina hangars of Air India.

From the top you can see an Airbus A330-200 parked in an East-West alignment next to the private jet. In the lower part of the image, from left to right, a representative of each of the Airbus jets in the Kingfisher fleet. 2 x A321's, 1 x A320, 1 x A319.

From a ground view the planes look somewhat like this.

Mean while, Bangalore airport is host to the ATR graveyard of the airline. This photo taken by me on October 24, shows the ATR 72-500 aircraft parked. The aircraft on the left of the picture have their engines stripped. The ones on the right are more recent additions, two of them without any logos on their tails, which typically means the airline does not own/lease them any more.

In related news, The Economic Times reports the Mumbai airport operator, MIAL, may ask Kingfisher to vacate the terminal, due to non-payment of dues.

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A PPP proposal to rescue Air India while retaining government ownership

Yesterday the government announced a massive Rs. 30,000 Crore ($5 billion) bailout of national carrier Air India.

The government has justified this this bailout to ostensibly protect the jobs of the over-bloated workforce of 30,000 employees at the airline.

Simple maths effectively translates the infusion to Rs. 10 million per employee, a figure the average Indian cannot even hope to earn in their lifetime.

All four aircraft types operated by Air India.

A good way to understand why the government is doing what it is with Air India, is to read this article by TN Ninan titled "Do-gooder economics and the LokPal", which shows how the powers that are, distort the market to create un-level playing fields for the personal enrichment of a feeding train all the way from the very top of the political food-chain to the lowest.

The bailout of Air India is not for its employees. They are just the pawns on whose shoulders the justification gun is fired from. The real beneficiaries are elsewhere.

Corruption, not necessarily financial, rears its ugly head in all aspects of the airline's operations.

Management is beholden to the political class for their jobs, so the leadership merely accepts the status-quo with minor window dressing to protect their chairs and by extension, their careers, for their tenure at the airline. Any effort by the management to change the working is met with political interference or labour resistance, the latter, being supported by the politicians who want to protect their vote-banks. The middle and junior management and the rest of the work force mimic this attitude raising lethargy and tolerance to inefficiency to unacceptable levels.

The only way to remove this governmental operation and political interference is to remove government from the operations of the ailing carrier, which means privatisation, and herein lies the billion dollar hurdle. There is no way any government, let alone the current, weakened, UPA-2 government, can politically sell even the notion of the privatisation of Air India.

To get around this, we propose to the Government of India, that they should consider leasing out Air India to a private player under the PPP (Public Private Partnership) model, as it has done for airports at New Delhi and Mumbai.

Under a competitive and open bidding, the airline can be leased out for a period of 15 or 20 years to a bidder leading a consortium which includes an airline of any origin, subject to a maximum of 49% share, in return for a share of revenue, or a share of profits.

The government should reserve an option of the employees of Air India coming together and bidding for the company which would bring the trade unionists at bay.

The government will have a 26% shareholding in the new company, along with representation on the Board of Directors. The government will not have any role to play in the daily operations of the company. In return the government should spell out in its tender document a time-table of financial goals the lessee must achieve, with the needed penalty clauses put in place.

What are your thoughts on this proposal? Share a comment.

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Plane spotting photos: Two 'Top shots' in two days. Night photography at Mumbai airport

Earlier this year, the Aviation Photographers India Foundation, had a chance to go airside at Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport and take photos, thanks to the support by the DGCA and MIAL.

Two night pictures in the spirit of Christmas both of which made 'Top Shot' at JetPhotos.

British Airways Boeing 777-300ER G-STBB. Observe the "Sky Interior" with the soft blue mood lighting showing through the windows in the premium classes while economy gets a full dose of regular simulated daylight. The pilots conduct final checks in the cockpit before lights out and taxi, and who can overlook the massive and beautiful GE90-115B engines.

The Star alliance ramp at the international terminal at Mumbai. Left to right: Singapore Airlines Boeing 777-300ER, Austrian Airlines Boeing 767 with winglets, Thai Airways A330-300, Continental (United) Airlines Boeing 777-200ER.

To see more photos, please click on the photo images in the boxes on the top right.

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Mobile phones popularise use of self check-in facilities at Mumbai airport

The growing popularity of web, kiosk and mobile check-in has almost doubled passenger self-service check-in at Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA), Mumbai over the year, up from 36% to 65%.

The 2011 SITA/Air Transport World Passenger Self-Service Survey found that the web check-in rate was higher in Mumbai than at any of the other airports included in the survey. 70% of Mumbai passengers said they use it occasionally or frequently compared to a global average of 65%. The survey also showed that the mobile phone is now an integral part of the passenger experience in India.

The survey was carried out at Abu Dhabi International Airport, Beijing Capital International Airport, Frankfurt International Airport, São Paulo Guarulhos International Airport and Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, Mumbai, which serve about 283 million passenger a year.

98% of all passengers carry either a cell phone (56%) or a smartphone (42%). The most popular smartphone is the Blackberry at 48% (all you iPhone and Android only app-writers please tattoo this to your eyelids). Smartphones are most popular with 66% of first/business class passengers and 44% of frequent flyers (who take ten or more trips per year).

Smartphone passengers are driving demand for self-service options and Wi-Fi access at airports. 80% of passengers, globally, want free Wi-Fi access (hello airport operators), but 38% of Mumbai smartphone passengers would accept paying for access compared to 10% globally, though we are sure, this number would dive if the amount is more than a few rupees.

Unlike the developed world, and with 56% of passengers carrying a non-smart mobile phone, India still shows a high demand for SMS notifications of flight information. 48% of passengers already receive SMS notifications and a further 46% would like to receive them.


At 63%, online booking was the most popular form of booking among Mumbai passengers compared to a global rate of 57%. Online travel agencies like Yatra.com, MakeMyTrip.com, Travelocity.com, Cleartrip.com, etc., were used by 59% of those who booked online. Airline websites accounted for 34%. May be passengers need to get more familiar with IXIGO.


Airport operator Mumbai International Airport Pvt. Ltd., (MIAL) will be increasing the use of Common Use Self Service (CUSS) terminals. As per Mr Vikram Sethi, Vice President and Head of Terminal Operations, "There will be a further increase in offsite check-in/self check-in as the government requirement for airlines to stamp boarding cards generated from kiosks is being discontinued and airlines will have to conduct identity checks at the boarding gate."

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Photo quiz: What is so special about this Air India tail parade?

Earlier this year, I took this photo at Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport. It shows tails of four Air India group aircraft. Can you identify what is special about this photo. Post a comment, and be specific please.

Photo copyright Devesh Agarwal. All rights reserved. Used with permission.

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Mumbai Police terrorise press photographer. A warning to plane spotting in Mumbai.

The Mid-Day is quite a famous newspaper in the financial capital of India, Mumbai. On July 8th, the Mumbai Police quite literally terrorised one of the papers accredited photographers Sayed Sameer Abedi who recounts the horrors he faced in this article. His alleged crime? Taking photographs of an airplane without the permission of the Mumbai Police.

Bangalore Aviation readers can keep in mind the freedoms enjoyed by the press in India which is a powerful force and that the Mid-Day is a large and recognised newspaper and despite his accreditations, and his employer, the Mumbai police has threatened Mr. Abedi for taking a photograph in which an aircraft is also pictured.

As per the report Mr. Abedi recounts his initial experience with Senior Inspector Samadhan Dhanedhar

He asked me to show him the photographs I had clicked and then asked me how I had dared to take photos of an aircraft without taking permission from him. When I protested and told him that I was just doing my job and was doing nothing that was against the law, he shouted me down and asked me not to raise my voice.

May be the Commissioner of Police of Mumbai should instruct his Senior Inspector that photography in India, is controlled ONLY at airports, and that too by the Director General of Civil Aviation.

If the officer needs to read the law, he should read Rule 13 of the Aircraft Rules, 1937. For Inspector Dhanedhar's quick reference here is a related story with links to all the relevant rules and Gazzette of India notifications.

Senior most officers of the Mumbai police have told Bangalore Aviation that as per the law photography at Jari Mari is permitted. However, police sources also indicate the area is extremely sensitive from both a communal as well as security perspectives.

The fact that the Mumbai Police outright terrorised Mr. Abedia disregarding his proper press accreditations and the power and clout of the Mid-Day newspaper should serve as a fair warning to plane spotters who risk a far worse treatment when taking photographs.

Spotters have reported incidents of the Mumbai Police wielding their sticks mercilessly and targeting equipment. One can only thank god that the Mumbai Police are not given guns across the board.

What are your thoughts on this callous and high handed behaviour by the Mumbai Police? Post a comment.

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DGCA releases investigation report in to Air India Boeing 747-400 VT-ESM Konark fire at Mumbai

India's aviation regulator and inspector the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has released its investigative report in the engine fire incident of Air India Boeing 747-400 VT-ESM Konark at Mumbai on September 4, 2009.

As per the DGCA, the primary cause for the accident was

the complete dislodging of No. 1 strut fuel feed line coupling due to dislodging of tie wire from the failed tie wire hole is the cause for heavy fuel leak and leaked fuel falling on hot #1 engine resulted into fire.

In a damning indictment of the lackadaisical "chalta hai" approach of various operations groups including the airline's engineering, cockpit and cabin crews, and the air traffic control personnel, the DGCA has also opined the contributory factors to include:

1. Not tightening the coupling to the proper specification and procedure during maintenance resulting into ductile failure of coupling material is the main contributory causative factor.
2. Installation , maintenance or environmental variables.
3. Failure of departure AME [aircraft maintenance engineer] in adhering to the standard procedures and his perfunctory function.
4. Lapses/failure of the pilots during walk around inspection
5. Non-conformance by the pilots [to] company operating procedures
6. Failure of ATC-SMC personnel for prompt and effective handling emergency situation.
7. Lack of situational awareness and crew coordination.

The DGCA has provided the following safety recommendations:

• Appropriate corrective action as deemed fit should be taken on the involved captain, first officer, all cabin crew and the Departure AME for their deficient performance and lapses.
• Appropriate corrective action as deemed fit should be taken on the SMC controller for his tardy and ineffective handling of the emergency situation.
• Air India shall Review maintenance program, its schedules and maintenance practices for more stringent, effective and frequent inspection and identification of fuel leak from the aircraft.
• The incident may be brought to the knowledge of all concerned.
• AAI [Airports Authority of India] shall introduce, monitor proper training procedure to all ATC personnel for handling emergency situation.
• AAI shall review the Existing System of documenting Departure/arrival register and flight progress strip for inclusion of information of aircraft registration.
• Installation of SMR [Surface Movement Radar] at Mumbai airport shall be done immediately by concerned airport agencies. [Note: Apparently the radar has been installed, but is not used by the ATC since they want all ground vehicles to also be fitted with a radar transponder. I wonder why can they not commence with surface tracking of aircraft first and push for the early implementation of ground vehicle tracking?]

In a reflection of their sensationalism, the mainstream news media which resorted to extreme scaremongering reporting at the time of the incident have not even reported the release of the DGCA findings. The fire is out, and why should they care about the truth.

The full report is embedded below for online viewing or can be downloaded here.

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Plane spotting picture quiz: Identify the airlines? the aircraft?

Click on the image for a larger view

With the closure of the main runway 09-27 for re-carpeting at Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, only the secondary runway 14-32 is available. This has caused a veritable traffic jam especially in the midday.

Our flight had to wait 20 minutes just to push back, and I managed to take a wing view photograph. How many airlines in can you identify? Name them via a comment.

Special mention for those who can identify the seven aircraft correctly as well, this includes the aircraft I was sitting in, VT-IGX.

Have a great weekend everybody.

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Egypt Air Boeing 737-800 SU-GCR makes emergency landing in Mumbai after false fire alarm

An Egypt Air Boeing 737-800 registration SU-GCR performing flight MS-968 from Cairo, Egypt to Mumbai CSIA, India, with 121 passengers and 7 crew, was on approach to land. At 07:25 (01:55Z) the pilots declared a full emergency after receiving a fire warning in the cargo hold.

The flight landed normally two minutes later and taxied to the gate. Passengers disembarked normally, and all cargo was removed and the plane inspected. The alarm was found to be false.

Full emergency conditions were withdrawn at Mumbai Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport at 08:07 (02:37Z).

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Navi Mumbai International Airport cleared for take-off

After 17 months of delay, India's environment minister Mr. Jairam Ramesh announced approval for the new Navi Mumbai International Airport, which many consider a half-baked idea for meeting the growing civil aviation needs of India's financial capital.


Earlier this month the environment and civil aviation ministries had reached a compromise agreement on the environmental impact of the new Mumbai airport, including potential loss of 400 acres of mangrove forests, re-routing of two rivers and the flattening of a 90 foot tall hill. [Read full details here]. The two parallel runways will now have a lateral separation of 1,500 metres instead of the earlier 1,835. This will still permit parallel operations of the two runways.

The first phase of the new airport will be built by 2014-15, at a cost of around Rs. 42 billion (almost $1 billion) and will have a capacity of 10 million passengers per annum. The airport will be expanded in three additional phases to a final capacity of 40 million passengers, each phase adding 10 million passenger capacity and expected to cost around Rs. 20 billion ($500 million) per phase.

Mumbai International Airport Ltd. (MIAL), the operator of the current Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA) said

We are happy to note that the process for development of the Navi Mumbai airport is moving forward. MIAL has a ROFR [Right Of First Refusal] for the Navi Mumbai airport and we look forward to participating in the bidding process when it is announced by the Government.

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Jet Airways Boeing 737 hits Kingfisher Airlines Airbus A321 at Mumbai - Update 1

In the early hours of October 23, at about 02:05 local (20:35-1 UTC) a Jet Airways Boeing 737-800 registration VT-JBR with 122 passengers and an unknown number of crew [we estimate 8], was being pushed back from parking bay 85 at Mumbai Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, to perform flight 9W-540 from Mumbai, India to Muscat, Oman. The wing-tip of the Boeing hit the tail and stabiliser of a Kingfisher Airlines Airbus A321-232 registration VT-KFQ which was parked on the adjacent parking bay, number 84. There were no crew or passengers on-board the Kingfisher aircraft.

The passengers of the Jet Airways aircraft were de-boarded normally, and safely, via stairs, and sent to Muscat on a replacement aircraft after a delay of almost seven hours.

Both aircraft have been grounded and the extent of damage is being evaluated. The incident has been reported to the regulator the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) who has suspended three ground workers. It is not clear whether the suspended workers are employees of Jet Airways or their ground handlers Cambata Aviation.

Both airlines have put out a statement.

Kingfisher Airlines says

At around 2 am this morning, a Kingfisher Airlines A-321 aircraft (which was parked at the appropriate place for a night halt) was hit by a Jet Airways aircraft while the Jet Airways aircraft was pushing back from the adjacent parking bay. The wing tip of the Jet Airways aircraft hit the left hand stabiliser of our aircraft and the extent of the damage is being evaluated. Meanwhile, our aircraft has been grounded.

An engineering team was carrying out maintenance work on one of the engines of our aircraft at that time and there were no guests or crew on board.

The matter has been reported to the DGCA and is being investigated by them.

Jet Airways says

In a ground incident at Mumbai Airport on October 23, the left wing of a Jet Airways Boeing 737 during push back, hit the stabilizer of an aircraft of Kingfisher Airlines. The incident is being investigated in coordination with the authorities.

Passengers on board the flight 9W 540 to Muscat were flown to their destination by another aircraft.

Jet Airways regrets the inconvenience caused to its guests.

Mumbai airport (VABB) Apron D map

If one looks at the map of the airport, the only way for the left wing tip of the Jet 737 to strike the left tail stabiliser and fin assembly of the Kingfisher A321 would be if the the Jet plane was pushed back out of bay 85, facing south-east and it was moving FORWARD. This would imply a very high level of carelessness by the operational team, especially on the ground.

One has to feel sorry for Kingfisher. The airline is already facing a severe aircraft availability crunch due to widespread grounding of its fleet, which in turn is due to problems the airline has with its engine vendors. A large capacity aircraft which is deployed on trunk routes is needlessly taken out of service. Talk about clipping your competitor's wings.

Update 1 - October 24, 2010

The Government of India issued a release

DGCA Initates Inquiry in the Incident in Mumbai Airport today - One Ground Personnel Suspended and two Derostered

A ground incident took place at the Mumbai airport today, at about 1.50 am. During ‘pushback’ from bay No. 85, a Jet Airways aircraft hit a stationary Kingfisher Airlines aircraft parked in bay No. 84, causing damage to the Left horizontal stabilizer of the Kingfisher Airlines aircraft.

Preliminary facts prima facie revealed certain lapses on the part of ground technical personnel responsible for pushback. Proper procedure was not followed for the push back operation. Overall there was no coordination between the ground crew.

This incident has been classified as ‘serious incident’ and an inquiry has been ordered under Rule 77C of Aircraft Rules 1937 by an Inquiry Officer. Pending investigation, one technical personnel has been suspended and two other are being derostered.

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Jet Airways incident at Mumbai -- DGCA release preliminary report, crew suspended

A Jet Airways Boeing 737-800 registration VT-JGM operating Jet Airways Konnect flight 9W-2302 from Mumbai CSI airport to Chennai Kamaraj airport, India, with 139 passengers and six crew, was taxing on taxiway N parallel to runway 09-27 having pushed back from stand A-6 at 20:47 (15:17Z). At 20:55 (15:25Z) the captain declared a port side engine (i.e. left side , engine 1) fire, which activated the emergency services.

The aircraft rescue and fire fighting (ARFF) vehicles took position on port side the aircraft by 20:58 (15:58Z) and reported there was no visible indication of fire. The crew evacuated the aircraft via slides while on taxiway N which was completed by 21:02 (15:32Z).

Click on image for high resolution view. Photo used with permission of copyright holder.

Doctors at the airport attended to 25 passengers who suffered injuries during the evacuation process. 13 passengers were sent to area hospitals (11 to Nanavati Hospital and 2 to Sujay hospital) for diagnosis and treatment, including suspected fractures.

Jet Airways carried 117 passengers on a delayed flight operated with another aircraft at 23:57 (18:27Z)

The incident has been referred to India's Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).

TV media reports indicate the DGCA has already found the crew actions highly questionable and suspect lapse on part of both the flight and cabin crew, of standard operating procedures. The crew has been de-rostered pending the detailed investigation.

Apparently the "fire alarm" was raised by passenger(s) in the rear of the aircraft who confused the anti-collision beacon and strobes and their reflections of the engine casing, as sparks coming from the engine.

The cabin crew informed the flight commander who declared a fire emergency and ordered an evacuation, without physical verification, despite a lack of any alert on instruments and reports by the ARFF crew of no visible indication of fire.

The cabin crew, lost control of the situation instead of taking charge and attempting to calm the passengers, thus aggravated the situation leading to a panic. The cabin crew allowed passengers to use the slides wearing shoes and carrying bags, a serious breech of safety procedures. This damaged the slides, further constricted the passages and exits which aided the stampede and caused panicked passengers to jump from the aircraft leading to the injuries sustained.

Despite contrary reports and alleged lack of instrument indications, the evacuation was ordered on the single active taxiway of the airport's primary runway, during the peak period, severely hampering airport flight operations.

Bangalore Aviation made multiple attempts by phone, e-mail and SMS text, to contact the airline for a statement of its version of developments, but did not receive any response till the time of this article. We will post the airline's statement when received.


Update 1 - 16:30 IST (11:00Z)
A statement received from Jet Airways

Jet Airways 9W 2302 from Mumbai to Chennai initiated a precautionary evacuation on the taxiway due to a suspected fire around the left engine. The precautionary evacuation was carried out in the interest of safety of the passengers and the crew. The crew carried out the evacuation in accordance with standard operating procedures.

Subsequent inspection of the engine has indicated that there was no fire.

A formal inquiry has been initiated by the DGCA and Jet Airways is fully co-operating and providing all necessary assistance.

The welfare of our guests and crew is of prime importance and Jet Airways is taking appropriate steps to ensure the same.

Guests travelling on that flight were immediately afforded alternate travel arrangements via an additional flight 9W 2302, which departed Mumbai for Chennai at 2357 hrs with 117 guests onboard.

During the process of evacuation, twelve guests sustained injuries and were duly administered medical assistance and taken to nearby hospitals. Out of the twelve guests, 8 have been released this morning and have proceeded to Chennai. Jet Airways Medical personnel have been onsite at the hospitals and have been co-ordinating the medical assistance provided to the remaining four guests.

Safety is of paramount importance to Jet Airways and we regret the inconvenience caused to our guests. Jet Airways would like to express its gratitude to the crew, the airport staff, the medical staff, MIAL and all other agencies for providing their timely assistance and support.

This is the second incident in less than a year where the crew actions of Jet Airways are suspect. About ten months ago on October 20, 2009, a check pilot on-board a Jet Airways Boeing 737-900ER VT-JGC allegedly performed what is consider in aviation circles an extremely reckless and risky act -- he pulled the circuit-breakers on a regular revenue flight from Delhi to Mumbai. It appears that the check pilot is back on duty with Jet Airways despite such a serious lapse.


Update 2 - 18:30 IST (13:00Z)

India's aviation regulator the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has put out this initial report.

DGCA Finds Serious Procedural Lapses In the Incident of the Jet Airways Flight 9W2302 In Mumbai Yesterday

Pilot and Crew Suspended

Preliminary fact finding by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has indicated serious procedural lapses in dealing with the emergency and evacuation situation as per existing procedures laid down in aircraft rules and regulations, by the operating aircraft crew members of the Jet airways flight 9W2302 scheduled to fly from Mumbai to Chennai yesterday. Hence the Pilot in Command (PIC), First officer, four cabin crew members and four ACMs [additional crew members i.e. off-duty crew] have been suspended till further orders. This incident has been treated as serious incident and will be investigated under rule 77C of Aircraft Rules 1937 by a team comprising of Director Air safety Mumbai, Flight Operation Inspector and Cabin Safety Incharge of DGCA.

On 27 August 2010, the Captain and the First Officer were operating the flight 9W2302 on Mumbai-Chennai Sector. There were four cabin crew members, as per the requirements; 131 passengers including one infant and Nine Additional crew members (8 cabin crew + one trainee Pilot). During the taxing of aircraft, an Additional Crew Member (ACM), travelling as a passenger, seated on 35A apparently observed fire on the Left Engine and informed another ACM also travelling as a passenger, seated on 35B, who also claimed to have seen the fire. The ACM seated on 35B immediately went back and contacted Captain from aft right door location(R-2). He also informed Cabin crew assigned for aft left door (L2). Pilot immediately asked L2 cabin crew to confirm the fire and report. She also confirmed to the Captain.

The PIC, on receiving the confirmation pulled the fire handles for left engine, right engine and APU. However he did not discharge any of the fire bottles. PIC ordered the evacuation from the aircraft. Escape slide on front and aft doors on the right side (R1 & R2) and both the over wing emergency exits were deployed. On the left side, the aft door (L2) and rear over wing emergency exit were also deployed. The airport fire and rescue services personnel immediately reached the site. During the evacuation, 14 passengers sustained injuries. After the evacuation the aircraft inspection was carried out in the night time under supervision of DGCA team. No fire or smoke was observed in the engine area. Both the engines were checked and boroscope inspection was carried out. No abnormality was observed in engines and its systems. CVR and DFDR have been removed.

The DGCA has also called for a meeting of the Heads of training of all Airlines to review the training procedures of cabin and flight crews, particularly in emergency and evacuation procedures.

Taxiway N is parallel to the left of the main active runway 27 i.e. the runway would be on the right side of the aircraft.

The main question that comes to mind is that it is normal procedure for crew never to open the exits on the side of the aircraft with the fire, which in this case was the left, yet the exits, especially overwing (closest to a left side engine fire) were opened. Why??

The exits on the right were also opened which is correct procedure, but the main active runway is on the right, and one cannot have evacuating passengers running away from an aircraft towards an active runway. Was air traffic control informed and runway operations suspended prior to opening the right side doors?

There is much more to this incident and the full truth will have to be determined.

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Bangalore airport's hidden brain - the Airport Operation Control Centre

Sitting directly opposite the western-most arrivals gate, in plain sight and yet missed by most passengers is the hidden nerve centre of Bengaluru International Airport (BIA) - the Airport Operations Control Centre or AOCC in short.

The AOCC is the command, coordination and control centre for the whole airport which brings together the diverse processes relating to the three major operational areas -- passengers, baggage and cargo, and aircraft.

Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport was the first AOCC in India followed by Hyderabad's Rajiv Gandhi International Airport. Despite not being the first in the country, the AOCC at BIA has leapfrogged all to become the first and only truly participative AOCC in the country, which in turn has helped the airport bag the prestigious CNBC-Awaaz award for the best managed airport in India.

Genesis of coordination
At any airport in the world there are three main processes i.e. passengers, baggage and/or cargo, and aircraft. Within each main process there are plenty of sub-processes and there are overlap between all the processes. Multiple agencies are involved. Airlines, ground handlers, cargo handlers, fuelling, air traffic control, terminal operations, maintenance, security (airline, terminal, airside, land-side, airport), parking, sovereign functions (customs, immigration, commercial taxes, etc.), VIP handling, etc. The list is very long. Even with the high levels of standardisation prevalent in aviation industry, these are at a macro level and each agency as an individual organisational unit, has their own methods of doing a given process.

For example, Air India carries a fire extinguisher with the push back tractor while an airplane is starting its engines. Since BIA is equipped with a fully functional ARFF (Air Rescue and Fire Fighting) station which calls for a maximum two minute response time anywhere in the airport, this is not necessary, but given the numerous small airports Air India operates at across India and the movement of staff, one can understand the standardisation of the process within Air India.

Each organisation at the airport has its own objective and goals, and sometimes this impacted the overall process or sub-process. There was no common focus and the ultimate loser was the customer -- the passenger or the air freight user.

Each country took are different approach to this free for all situation. Some acknowledged the problem and took coordination action, some did not acknowledge the problem at all. The United States acknowledged the problem and tried to fix it by regulation. In India, in true government style, the problems were acknowledged by the Airports Authority of India, but no action was taken.

Genesis of the AOCC
Thanks to relative small (geographically) countries, married to big national egos, air traffic control in western Europe was a mess. Most of Europe acknowledged the coordination problem and in 1963, Eurocontrol was created. Everyone involved in air traffic management was put in to a room and forced in to collaborative decision making (CDM), which required everyone to take decisions keeping the other's constraints in view, and also created a central flow management unit (CFMU)

Airport operators across Europe modified the collaborative decision making (CDM) philosophy used by Eurocontrol, for airports calling it airport CDM (ACDM), and began the start of the AOCC using a as we know it today. Bengaluru International Airport, with its airport management from Zurich airport, has implemented the European style of AOCC.

It is important to note, due a variety of reasons, mostly because there was no European Union at the time, there was no government regulation forcing the collaborative decision making or the AOCC, the whole process was voluntary participation.

In contrast, the United States with a large monolithic land mass and a massive aviation industry, which allowed for common regulation, has gone on to develop very advanced central flow management units at airports which function using collaborative decision making at extremely advanced levels, enabling some of the highest infrastructure utilisation levels in the world.

Be it the collaborative model of Europe, or the mandated model of the United States, the common thread across all AOCC's is information. All information is the same, and all stake-holders put their inputs and information in to a common repository and each stake-holder takes out their piece(s) of needed information resulting in better decision making, lower disruptions, and seamless operations. All of this is done on a real-time basis.

The BIA AOCC
As expected there was complete apathy in India to the concept of collaborative decision making. It was not limited to only the sovereign functions like security, customs, immigration, security and air traffic control, but also airlines, since most of them do their own ground handling.

The Airport Operations Control Centre at Bengaluru International Airport

The Unique Zurich airport management team commenced the Bengaluru International Airport Airport Operations Control Centre with two main objectives in mind.

A. Ground Objective
Synchronise all processes and sub-processes that happen on the ground to ensure a well structured slot allocation mechanism.

B. Air Objective
Establish an on-ground control centre for the air.

1. Improve air space management which depends on accurate demand forecasting and ground resource availability information.
   
2. Since current information sharing was weak, establish coordination between the AOCC and the Air Traffic Control (ATC) to improve and maximise efficiency on air operations and slot allocations.
   

Keeping to European traditions, the BIA AOCC is based on voluntary participation in the airport collaborative decision making (ACDM) process.

Contrary to popular expectation, the one airline that was gung-ho on ACDM and has participated in the AOCC from day one is, Air India. Air India already had a well established internal coordination cell, similar to the AOCC but at the airline level. This cell used to coordinate all the various internal department to ensure flight operations.

After Air India, Kingfisher joined the AOCC and after that Jet Airways and JetLite. IndiGo has joined the AOCC only about a month ago on a trial basis.

Foreign carriers are handled by the dedicated ground handling companies Air India-SATS (AI-SATS) or Globe Ground India (GGI), both of whom participate in the AOCC.

The AOCC today covers 80% of domestic flights and 100% of international flights at the airport.

Operations
The AOCC commences its macro level planning at a seasonal level. In the aviation world, October 28 marks the start of northern winter season, and March 28 the northern summer. For the season the AOCC stake-holders and air traffic control gather and discuss and prepare a high level operations plan which includes full operational details including slot allocations, etc.

Click on this picture for a high resolution view which shows the real-time planning and monitoring screens. 6MB file.

These high level seasonal plans are used as a master-plan to perform daily operations plans. The plan covers all operations from 05:00 local to 04:59 the next morning. Each morning, while we are snug in bed, at 03:00 (yes, 3am), the stake-holders gather and discuss the daily operations plan and if there is anything out of the ordinary. May be a new aircraft which requires a water cannon salute, or may be a VIP, who most Indians regard as a very intrusive person (sic), or a special aircraft movement like the behemoth Antonov An-124.

This daily operations plan is then monitored on a real time basis, minute by minute for GMPT (ground milestones performance timing):

• Plane off-block at origin station (removed from chocks)
• Estimated Time of Arrival (ETA)
• Plane airborne at origin station
• Plane entering BIA airspace (50 nm out)
• Plane TMO (ten [nautical] miles out)
• Plane touchdown at BIA runway
• Plane on-block at BIA (chocks placed) also called Actual Time of Arrival (ATA)

Airport ground resources such as parking stands are allocated on a dynamic basis based the various GMPT inputs. The GMPT also allow airlines and ground handlers to allocate staff and ground handling equipment, sovereign functions like customs to allocate staff, and cargo terminals to plan loading and off-loading of cargo.

Once the aircraft is on-block another set of ground metrics are monitored to measure and ensure maximum efficiency of the airport. These include timings of:

• Aircraft on block (chocks on, engines off)
• Disembarkation start ~ disembarkation complete
• Baggage off-load start ~ complete
• First bag on baggage collection belt ~ last bag on belt
• Cleaning start ~ complete
• Fuelling start ~ complete
• Catering start ~ complete
• Baggage loading start ~ complete
• Embarkation start ~ complete
• Aircraft doors closed
• Aircraft off-block
• Aircraft airborne

The end result. Bengaluru International Airport has been adjudged as the "best managed airport" in the country. On time departures are above 94%, one of the highest in the country, while on time arrivals still lag at around 76%. "On time" is considered within 15 minutes the scheduled time of arrival or departure.

Airlines love Bangalore. Thanks to the AOCC, the synchronisation and resultant efficiency are so high that the airport helps airlines recover about 85% of their delayed flights. i.e. if a flight arrives 20 minutes behind schedule, the following flight of the aircraft leaves Bangalore only 5~10 minutes behind, helping the airline recover those precious 10~15 minutes.

Passengers love Bangalore since their baggage arrives on the belt typically within seven minutes of "on block" for domestic flights and they can leave the airport quickly.

The owners love the AOCC since it improves the bottom line while happy airlines operate more flights and help improve the top line.

The future
Indranil Gupta, who heads airside operations at BIA and the AOCC, is optimistic. His goal is to take the AOCC beyond the ACDM model in to Total Airport Management (TAM). Something akin to Total Quality Management practised by global leaders in manufacturing, the TAM model will fine tune the synchronisation of all airport operations and tie-in all air and ground processes along with all stake-holders in to a complete chain all the way to back-end systems like yield management, airspace management, etc.

The ultimate goal is to implement SWIM or system wide information management, which also happens to be a key component of the Next Generation Air Transport System the United States plans to implement between 2012 and 2025.

In case Bangalore Aviation readers would like to visit the AOCC, please leave a comment. We cannot promise for sure, but we will try and organise a trip if possible.

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