onetrack

.....the glass-less Anson, that someone asked, "Wouldn't that be a little breezy to fly?" Sanjay replied, "Yes, it is a little, but think of the improved safety levels, where the glass is eliminated! No more flying glass cuts! And besides, most aviators love the feel of the wind in their face! And besides, I've invented a vastly improved set of goggles to go with the design, which will make flying it, so much more........

The economic fallout of the crash is going to have substantial ramifications for Air India and its subsidiaries. According to preliminary estimates, the insurance payout for the disaster could reach $475 million, making it one of India’s costliest aviation payouts. The payout figure includes $125 million for the aircraft hull, and approximately $350 million in fatality/injury compensation. Insurance premiums for Indian carriers, especially those operating Boeing fleets, are now expected to rise by up to 100% in the next underwriting cycle. Air India and SpiceJet, both major Boeing customers, may see premiums increase from $28 million, to up to $40 million or $50 million annually. The substantially increased insurance cost will likely be passed on to passengers through higher ticket prices, estimated to rise by 2% to 5% in the near future - and even higher on local routes. Aircraft leasing costs are also expected to increase, especially for Boeing models. Lessors will now factor in increased risk and insurance liabilities. Then there's the impact of a loss of passenger trust in Air India safety and management of its aircraft and employees - something that is bound to have a major effect on Air India's bottom line.

Not a setup, and the things that look like clecos, aren't. I'm not sure what they are exactly. It IS a Hermes 900 drone, and an Israeli one. The Iranians are crowing about knocking this one out - what they fail to reveal, is that Israel smuggled dozens and dozens of their drones into Iran, on a par with the Ukrainian technique, and did quite a bit of damage to Iranian military assets with the ones that did get through the Iranian repelling efforts.

Complete with self-destruct explosive charge, set to go off, right as a crowd of Iranian senior military personnel gather around it. 🤯

This is India - Bureaucracy Central. Where you need to fill out 300 forms to get a simple decision from the Govt, and it will take 3 years to come to that decision. I can well imagine the number of Indian Bureaucratic Depts who are demanding to be the primary agency for disseminating information from the crash. The Indian Ministry of Civil Aviation has requested a preliminary report within 30 days, and I cannot see anything being officially released until that 30 days is up. Here's the 15 pages of fine print definitions, rules and procedures for the Indian, "Aircraft (Investigation of Accidents and Incidents) Rules, 2012". https://www.civilaviation.gov.in/sites/default/files/migration/moca_003427.pdf

Gary Baumgartner ("GaryBPilot") has done some more research on the Dreamliner systems and what he finds is less than reassuring. Possibly the most alarming thing he's found is that the B787-800 has spring-loaded High Pressure Fuel Shut Off Valves ("HPFSOV's"). There are actually two valving systems that can stop fuel feed to the engines, the second system is the Spar Valve. The systems are designed to automatically shut off the fuel to the engines in the event of electrical failure to the fuel metering/supply systems. In Boeings presumption, this is to stop fuel from feeding an engine fire. This makes sense in the basic design. However, there is the possibility that a chaotic electrical event on the B787-800 could shut off the HPFSOV's via the spring activation (and perhaps the Spar Valves as well), and this is something that Gary B is questioning. According to the authoritative "tdracer" on forums (who I believe is a senior Boeing LAME or engineer), the spring-activated B787-800 fuel valves are solenoid-activated, in both directions - on and off. He states that this is to prevent fuel shutoff to the engines in the event of total electrical power loss. That also makes design sense. So according to this information, power is needed to actually shut the fuel supply off. The big question is, what could cause an unintentional solenoid activation of either of the spring-loaded fuel valve systems to the "OFF" position? The possibility of a totally unforeseen method of activation of the fuel valves to the "OFF" position, is a possibility that Boeing engineers may have overlooked. If you watch the video on YouTube, the authoritative and informed comments below the video are interesting.

O.K. Apparently "Third World", is now an antiquated term, and India is now classed as "First World", due to advances in many parts of the country. But my comment is relevant as regards rubbish. Try looking up, "does India have a rubbish problem", and tell me if their rubbish production and handling is First World.

India's Ministry of Civil Aviation is a bit annoyed with media reports that their ability to read the black boxes is inadequate, and they will be sent to the U.S. or Singapore for data extraction. This is because India spent 90M rupees (AU$1.6M) in April 2025, on a new "black box lab" facility, with their DFDR & CVR Laboratory at the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) at Udaan Bhawan, New Delhi. This state-of-the-art facility is obviously their pride and joy, and it was developed and built with assistance from Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). The IMCA is at pains to state that a decision on where to disassemble and extract the information from the black boxes has not yet been taken, and "The decision regarding the location for decoding the flight recorders will be taken by the AAIB after due assessment of all technical, safety, and security considerations. The Ministry of Civil Aviation urges all stakeholders to refrain from speculation on such sensitive matters, and to allow the investigative process to proceed with the seriousness and professionalism it warrants." https://www.businesstoday.in/latest/corporate/story/ai-171-crash-an-upgrade-for-indias-own-black-box-lab-481055-2025-06-19

It's a training aircraft for those students who wouldn't know up from down!

The IO-540 is an extremely popular engine, although it comes in 90 different design variations, with 29 of them being basically similar to the S1-A5 version. The S1-A5 is 300HP, but the engine is produced in versions up to 360HP. Perhaps the restriction on a sale of the engines is that they're counter rotating on the 601P.

Danny - India may be quite advanced in some areas, but as far as rubbish generation and failure to collect it, they're still third world. FactHunter - Yes, redundancy in electrics on aircraft would certainly be well addressed, but every LAME with electrical knowledge would quite likely assert that all bets are off once a rodent starts chewing on electrical components. Thruster88 - I'm not so sure about the early warning via error messages. It would only take destruction of wiring to the engine fuel valves to cause double engine failure. A rodent biting into a high voltage aircraft harness would cause a major short circuit instantly. A major short circuit would trip circuit breakers and shut down critical systems at a critical time.

They're worth what you can get someone to pay for them. Is the shop backing their overhaul with a warranty? That would increase their sale value, and most prospective purchasers would be keen to find out the length and viability of any warranty offered, if any. Your major selling point is your engines are ready to go, no waiting.

No, they're a problem worldwide, but the so-called "Third World" countries have an increased rodent problem due to the higher level of general rubbish and lax collection of that rubbish.

They are all named for convenience and reference purposes. The first one in MB's list is called Chadwick Roadstrip. https://www.google.com/maps/place/Chadwick+Roadstrip/@-31.5739973,130.1602548

Further to my suggestion that a rodent on board Flight 171 could be responsible for electrical damage leading to the crash - I find that the crash aircrafts, sister aircraft (VT-ANA), was involved in a flight diversion when a rat was spotted on board, mid-flight, in 2015. That reported rat was never found after landing. It is significant, IMO, that other Air India aircraft have had rodents on board. They enter via catering vans, and once on board, food dropped by passengers keeps them alive. Rats need to chew constantly to keep their teeth to a healthy length, as their teeth grow constantly. A rat chewing wiring on a fly-by-wire aircraft is the stuff of nightmares. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/four-hours-into-journey-rat-grounds-air-indias-milan-flight/articleshow/48288464.cms

The latest information is one of the two black boxes has sustained damage. The Indians state the damage is from "a fall", and from fire. I get the impression the outside casing has suffered extensive damage, no doubt from impact and post-crash fire, which is making the Indians jittery about opening it, and potentially losing critical data. They are weighing up whether to attempt opening it (obviously with advice from the likes of the NTSB and Boeing), or whether to send the damaged black box to Singapore, or the U.S., where there is more extensive knowledge and experience available, when it comes to opening damaged black boxes and extracting the data. https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/exclusive-air-india-flights-black-boxs-outer-surface-damaged-after-fall-8713835

It's amazing to see the wingspan of the PC-24 in relation to the highway reserve width. Even with the additional width of sealed highway edges, there's not a huge margin for drift error in the event of a strong crosswind. One of my former business partners owned a Piper Cherokee, and about 1985/86, he took a young girl for a joyflight, departing Kalgoorlie to the West. Not long after becoming airborne, the engine stopped due to fuel starvation. He put the Cherokee down on the (recently-widened, fortunately) highway between Kalgoorlie and Coolgardie. All went well, avoiding the low level of traffic, until the middle of the rollout, when a large roadside sign loomed up! The roadside sign was well built with dual heavy pipe uprights, and he had no chance of avoiding it due to inadequate control surface authority at low speed, and he clobbered the sign with a wing, doing major structural damage to the aircraft. No-one was hurt. He claimed to me in later discussion that the crossover fuel tank selector valve failed. Knowing him and his generally erratic style, I suspect he was lax when it came to correctly setting the fuel tank valve, and inadvertently shut off the fuel supply.

.....squawked and flapped, escaped from Ahlocks clutches, and flew up into the buildings rafters, whereupon it started crowing loud and long, with a raucous call. As it was already well past midnight, the crowing awoke many people within an 800M radius, whereby they all thought it was near daylight, so they stumbled out of bed, got dressed, and started making breakfast. However, one by one, they realised they'd been "had" by a rogue rooster, and set out to find the source of the crowing - and the owner. They gradually gathered at the Blue Oyster, as it rapidly became obvious, that was where the sound was emanating from. Ahlocks sighted the angry crowd after being alerted by Cappy, and he became.........

Turbo, I can't see any tie-up between the Gulfstream crash and your personal experience, as there was no company or other entity involved in a sale and transfer of assets and liabilities in your event. Your event would come under "chain of responsibility", would it not? A company is a distinct stand-alone entity which can be sold or traded, along with its assets and liabilities, but those assets and liabilities are normally clearly defined at the point of sale or trade. However, I must admit, it has been the case on more than one occasion that new company directors or owners have discovered that liabilities attached to the sale were not fully listed, and undisclosed liabilities were only discovered after the handover. But I have never known of liabilities incurred by breaches of laws or operating procedures by previous owners or directors, to be included as part of a corporate structure handover in any sale. The new owners would have to be total mugs to knowingly accept such liability. This crash appears to be a pretty straightforward case of failure to adhere to even basic aviation regulations and aircraft manufacturer instructions, and I find it incredible that an aircraft operator could get away with such lax procedures and illegality in this age of ever tightening controls and scrutiny.

Yes, several locations on major highways in Western Australia, in particular, are specially widened and painted with piano keys to facilitate the landing of RFDS aircraft for highway crash emergencies, and other local medical emergencies. The reason they do not appear on OzRunways is because traffic control must be formerly initiated with the Police or Main Roads W.A. staff, before they can be used as airstrips. The highway is effectively and officially closed to traffic for the duration of RFDS aircraft use. See 6.4.1 "Traffic Management Plan" below. As all major W.A. highways permit the use of triple road trains running to 120 tonnes gross (and oversize loads to considerably larger levels, up to 300 tonnes and occasionally even higher) - and that the frequency of road trains in rural and remote locations is at a considerable level (I've come across 8 double road trains in a row, on a rural highway. They are obliged to stay 200M apart) - then you can imagine that the authorities don't want to see serious interaction between the likes of a large road train and an aircraft, thus the reason for intensive traffic management when aircraft traffic and road traffic are likely to come into conflict. https://www.mainroads.wa.gov.au/49c4d6/globalassets/technical-commercial/technical-library/road-and-traffic-engineering/guide-to-road-design/additional-road-design/emergency-landing-strips/emergency-landing-strips-policy-and-application-guidelines.pdf Main Roads W.A. actually provide instructions on the construction of airstrips on the major highways under MRWA control. https://www.mainroads.wa.gov.au/globalassets/technical-commercial/technical-library/guideline-drawings/emergency-runway-strip-details/200431-0003-emergency-runway-strip-details.pdf

There's an interesting previous incident in 2020, involving a B787-8 Dreamliner on descent into Kansai International Airport, Osaka, Japan, when at 15,000 feet, the flight crew of Jetstar Airways flight JQ15 received an engine thrust warning on the number 2 engine, which subsequently started to surge. The crew then received an engine fail indication on the number 1 engine, without any shift in parameters indicating any engine power loss. That warning was followed by an engine fail warning on the number 2 engine. The number 2 engine auto relight activated, and the engine continued to surge during the descent. High concentrations of biocide in outer tanks resulted in magnesium salt residue jamming fuel controls at low fuel flows, so both engines momentarily dropped below idle on descent. The conclusion of investigators was that a dose of biocide containing magnesium salts was poured into the outer wing tanks, but this dose of biocide didn't mix properly with the fuel in other tanks (or it was an inaccurate dosage), and the high concentration of the magnesium salts caused the fuel metering spools to become impeded in their travel range and thus caused fuel supply disruptions to the engines. Same type of aircraft, and same types of engines. https://asn.flightsafety.org/wikibase/223675#:~:text=As for the higher accumulation,was fed to the engines.

.....the problem with that idea, was no-one had asked the rooster if he wanted to be part of the show. As the old saying goes in the media/entertainment world, "never work on-stage with children or animals" - but no-one had told Ahlocks that wise old saying, and he proceeded to dress the............

I would opine that all liability for aviation laws and procedures breaches at the time of the crash, or prior, would be on the directors and management of the company at that time. When a company changes hands, only the assets and liabilities and contractual obligations in place at handover, or those items specifically listed at handover, are transferred to the new owner/s. Liabilities for previous statutory breaches would most certainly not be listed as being one of the liabilities being transferred.

The Chairman of TATA Sons/Air India, N. Chandrasekaran, has stated he expects to hear some preliminary crash findings within a month.

Yes, my apologies, I was going on my faulty memory, thinking FADEC instead of ADIRU, and I should've checked the official incident summary before posting. The Incident Summary for VH-QPA, 07/10/2008: "The official investigation into the incident concluded that the accident 'occurred due to the combination of a design limitation in the flight control primary computer (FCPC) software of the Airbus A330/Airbus A340, and a failure mode affecting one of the aircraft’s three air data inertial reference units (ADIRUs). The design limitation meant that, in a very rare and specific situation, multiple spikes in angle of attack (AOA) data from one of the ADIRUs could result in the FCPCs commanding the aircraft to pitch down'." Yes, no conclusive proof of the cause was ever derived - from the available evidence. That evidence was lacking, because the U.S. Navy refused to reveal what type of radio transmissions are generated from the Holt VLF station. They merely state their transmissions don't affect aircraft systems. But what are the chances of TWO separate incidents, involving TWO different makes of aircraft, BOTH happening in the vicinity of the Holt VLF station? And what exactly is that "very rare and specific situation"? "On 27 December 2008, a Qantas A330-300 aircraft operating from Perth to Singapore was involved in an (uncommanded control) occurrence, 350 nautical miles (650 km) south of Learmonth Airport while flying at 36,000 feet. At this time, the autopilot disconnected. The crew actioned the revised procedure released by Airbus after the earlier accident, and returned to Perth uneventfully."