SWISS flight from Zurich narrowly escapes collision at Delhi airport
In the nick of time, the Air Traffic Controller (ATC) asked the SWISS flight to go around instead of landing. The Swiss aircraft was 1400 feet high and therefore could climb-out for a go-around to delay landing and avoid a collision...
...When SWISS plane was 8 nautical miles away from the airport, the A320 plane from Phuket, 4 nautical miles away, slowed down and landed and stayed on the runway for more than usual time and tried a different taxi way to exit, creating a potential disaster in the making.
This incident underscores the importance of strict adherence to runway exit protocols, maintaining safe separation distances, and the critical role of ATC in averting mid-air and runway collisions.
NEW DELHI, July 8: The air traffic control at Delhi airport averted a potential
runway collision involving a SWISS (Swiss International Air Lines) flight on
Sunday night.
SWISS flight LX 146 Airbus A330, arriving from Zurich, was forced to abort
its landing due to another aircraft occupying the runway longer than expected.
The incident occurred around 11:40 pm, when the SWISS flight was on final approach
to Runway 11R.
When SWISS plane was 8 nautical miles away from the airport, the A320 plane
from Phuket, 4 nautical miles away, slowed down and landed and stayed on the
runway for more than usual time and tried a different taxi way to exit, creating
a potential disaster in the making.
The A320 failed to vacate the runway via the first rapid exit taxiway (Y1).
Instead, the A320 pilot chose to exit via Y2, farther down the runway, increasing
runway occupancy time by 25–30 seconds.
This delay reduced the safe separation between the two aircraft to a critical
level.
A collision was averted by the Air Traffic Control (ATC) who asked the SWISS
flight to go round instead of landing. Swiss aircraft was 1400 feet high and
therefore could climb-out for a go-round to delay landing. The incident occurred
at 11:40 pm. The manoeuvre was successfully carried out, and the aircraft landed
safely on its second attempt at 11:51 pm.
A senior ATC official stated: “The spacing between the two aircraft dropped
below the safe threshold. The SWISS flight was asked to go around purely for
safety reasons. The pilots responded promptly and professionally.”
This incident underscores the importance of strict adherence to runway exit
protocols, maintaining safe separation distances, and the critical role of ATC
in averting mid-air and runway collisions.
"Deport all Asian staff at Heathrow, they are not speaking a word of English”
LONDON: A British woman has claimed on X that most Heathrow staff are
Indian or Asian and “not speaking a word of English”. She said the Asian staff
at Heathrow should be deported for not speaking English. “Deport them all. Why
are they working at the first point of entry to the UK?! What must tourists
think.” Lucy White, who described herself as a Public Policy Specialist, posted
on X: “Just landed in London Heathrow (Monday). Majority of staff are Indian/
Asian and are not speaking a word of English.” White said they accused her of
racism in reaction to what she said.
Air India passengers stranded after diversion to Jaipur
DELHI: An Air India flight AI 926 from Riyadh to Delhi was forced to divert
to Jaipur on Sunday due to bad weather over the Capital. Passengers alleged
they were kept inside the aircraft for three hours without food or updates.
Swarm of bees grounds IndiGo Surat flight
SURAT: A Surat-Jaipur IndiGo flight scheduled for departure at 4.40
pm on Monday was delayed by 50 minutes when airline staff noticed a swarm of
bees clustering on the aircraft’s cargo compartment shutter, according to a
TOI report.
Delhi-bound United Boeing returns to Newark due to fault in cooling system
NEWARK: A Delhi-bound United Airlines flight returned to Newark due
to technical fault on Monday.
After about 45 minutes into the flight, cruising at 33,000 feet and about 500
knots, the technical snag was detected. The Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner landed back
safely.
The airlines confirmed that flight UA82’s return was due to a mechanical issue
involving the aircraft’s electronics cooling system. In a statement, the airline
said passenger safety comes first and that the crew followed normal safety protocols.
Raipur-bound IndiGo flight returns to Indore due to technical fault
INDORE: An Indore-Raipur IndiGo flight with 51 passengers on board returned
to Indore shortly after takeoff on Tuesday due to a technical fault.
The flight 6E-7295 had taken off at 6.35 am and a few minutes later the pilot
informed the Air Traffic Control (ATC) of the technical fault and returned.
The CCTV footage and the video circulating on social media do not indicate any serious abnormalities in takeoff or descent, it has been confirmed. The disaster is becoming curiouser and curiouser. The flight path was not curvy. And the aircraft maintained a steady, gliding descent with its nose straight and the wings perfectly level. The pilot's distress call does not specify what prevented lift and climb-out. Here are some expert opinions. The sole purpose is to raise travellers' awareness about air travel.
Many of the victims were charred beyond recognition, making identification difficult. Three hundred nineteen body parts have been sent for DNA matching with relatives to determine the identities.
A comment on social media on Kanimozhi's answer on the question of national language read: "Daughter of Kalaignar M. Karunanidhi. Delivered the Birthday Present to her Father!!" (Karunanidhi was born on June 3, 1924)
(Today's headlines )
Trump said, "Elon is not really leaving" and will be "back and forth" to the White House because DOGE is his "baby." "I think he’s going to be doing a lot of things.”
Musk wrote: "My scheduled time as a Special Government Employee comes to an end... The @DOGE mission will only strengthen over time as it becomes a way of life throughout the government." Now on it will be on auto-pilot.
PROGNOSIS: DOGE was prematurely born to protect the country by aborting an impending socio-economic disaster which very few people could see coming.
Although its immediate job was to save American taxpayers billions by slashing waste, eliminating fraud, cutting Government bloat and ensuring utmost efficiency in administration for the good of the people.
(Today's headlines )
"Coming from a system like in England, empowering," she says she never had an idea of this sort of experience... being asked to “socialise with middle-aged men” who financed the event...humiliating...
Originally from Junagadh, Gujarat, Pataudi was relocated to Etawah Lion Safari in September 2019 before being transferred to Gorakhpur Zoo in 2021. Recently it was receiving treatment for pancreatic and liver infections. After tigress Shakti died in the zoo on May 7 due to bird flu, Pataudi was shifted to Kanpur. Some birds are also reported to have died mysteriously around Gorakhpur. All zoos in UP are closed for fear of a bird flu outbreak.
Three other animals too had died - a tiger, a leopardess and a female wolf. Wolf Bhairavi died last Saturday, leopardess Mona died the Thursday before that and tiger Kesari died on March 30. Some of them had Shakti's symptoms but the cause of death has not been confirmed yet.
As tourist inflow is an indicator of normalcy returning to an erstwhile terrorist infested Valley, the Government has been trying hard to make everything travel-friendly, launching lot many projects and bringing Kashmir on the national rail map that physically completes the process of Kashmir's integration with the rest of India. And that defeats the designs of Pakistan eyeing Kashmir and simply explains a recrudescence of terrorism in J&K.
"It's a big victory not just for Tamil Nadu but for all Indian States. DMK will continue to struggle for and win State autonomy and Federal polity," Chief Minister MK Stalin said.
Of 2.08 km in length, it features 99 spans and a 72.5-metre vertical lift span that rises up to a height of 17 metres, facilitating smooth movement of ships while ensuring seamless train services to the holy town of Rameswaram on Pamban island.
ANALYSIS: There is a lot of hue and cry around the world over Trump's tariffs. But tariff, simply put, is a tax. But unlike tax, it affects the exporting country too. Domestic prices will go up for some time. Nothing more will happen, good or bad!
What motivated Trump's newfound policy, apart from being a stunt to justify his existence in the White House, is a false realisation that increased tariff will make foreign goods prohibitive, thereby boosting local production, and create more jobs, and more prosperity will ring in! If that is true, India would have been shining by now: Producing own Rolls-Royce La Rose Noire Droptail and Scotch Whiskies! And what about coconut and palm oil by America!
(Today's headlines )
PROGNOSIS: It looks a Real New Trump is emerging - courageous, balanced, powerful and disinterested. Determined to save his country from the cliff, he has done quite a few draconian things that will reduce the burden of debts of the Federal entity, like the golden handshake, stopping senseless funding, pulling out of a worthless WHO. Shutting the Education Department is another. On the other hand, running it is also not the Centre's job either (We will convincingly elaborate it in the next chapter).
In India the scene is just the opposite. Centralisation is the core agenda and identity of the ruling dispensation without which it has no existence, or in other words, it exists for that set of schemes only. A realisation of this never dawned upon any Opposition party in 2014 or any time thereafter, what to talk of being able to see it coming 70 years ago! The consequence of all this violation of basic natural law of the universe we cannot predict.
THE AMERICAN CONUNDRUM: Political venom has migrated to top echelons in the US. It was reported last year NASA has become politicised, vitiated. But NASA refuted the charge. How Boeing developed a glitch but its unmanned return was smooth. When Suni-Wilmore were stranded last June, why the return was set for February? Because that comes only after January 20! SpaceX called the shots, for itself and for Trump. Then the mission was manipulated for March for a better bargain! In between, what made Elon Musk 'predict' during campaign if Kamala Harris wins he would be in jail. In politics, it is said, "the only rule is there are no rules." Difficult times for Americans too.
The terminations are part of a large-scale exercise going on all across Fed departments and organisations to reduce wasteful Government expenditure as decided by a Trump in a mess gone berserk, and improve administrative efficiency following the whims of billionaire and his associate Elon MusK and his DOGE. It has not been shared how terminations are going to raise the efficiency bar! It looks like Trump has stolen some of the prescriptions meant for India. But the American problems are quite different.
Suddenly these colonial clerks feel this effortless, little rule will tremendously enhance security and convenience for the railway passengers manifold. More stations will be covered in the next 77 years! (Also See:
New Delhi station stampede... What went wrong?)
ANALYSIS: "The standard operating procedure for deportations by aircraft used by ICE that is effective from 2012 provides for the use of restraints," says the Government. That means, it is taken for granted the US will set the standard for deportations. For another, the Government is more interested in comparing with what happened in 2012 under a different Government to justify its own compliance! No surprise, others are trampling upon us. (How we conduct ourselves inside decides, inherently, how we are treated outside) Thirdly, the Government blamed the gangs doing the business of human trafficking for the illegal migration. For all the crimes taking place in the country, let us blame the criminals! Funny! We will never move an inch forward! The mindset defines what we are.
Meanwhile, a UN-returned Congress leader Shashi Tharoor sounded like a layman when he said, "If they are citizens of India we have an obligation to take them back." Who said 'No'?. He should know that is not the issue now. Who will identify an undocumented person, and how?
OPINION: A nutty 'new' Trump must know checking illegal immigration is his job and not theirs. And 'penalty' tariff is not a solution. However, Trump talking about "major threat" from "illegal aliens" (illegal immigration) is about what he believes, right or wrong, and to that extent he is genuine and honest; it is certainly not a pretension to prop up his political relevance. Bullies are always true to themselves. Look at India's crooked politicians shouting day in, day out to prove they are more patriotic, and to whip up public sentiments for them to ride on!
The function was held indoors from 12 pm (10:30 pm IST) at the rotunda of the US Capitol building because of unusually intense cold and snow. Delivering his inaugural address, Trump remarked, “The golden age of America begins right now," and just hours later signed a slew of executive orders to redeem the election pledges.
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