Can an auditor be in command of the aircraft accident bureau?

In a move that has raised eyebrows, an officer from the Indian Audit and Accounts Service (IA&AS) with no technical expertise in aviation has been appointed director general of the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB).

According to a report published in The Times of India, Puja Singh Mandol also holds the post of joint director general, Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), where she handles administrative duties.

Can an auditor be in command of the aircraft accident bureau?

A source said Mandol’s appointment as AAIB director general is a stop-gap measure till the post gets filled. The post was, until a couple of months ago, held by Group Captain Aurobindo Handa.

Capt Amit Singh, an air safety expert, said, “The appointment may be temporary, but the question is can she undertake the jobs and responsibilities that come with heading the accident investigation bureau for that period of time? For instance, final reports into accidents and incidents, documents highly technical in nature, are submitted to the director general for acceptance.”Capt Amit Singh, Air Safety Expert

The ministry of civil aviation was not reachable for comment.

The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) is a division of the Ministry of Civil Aviation, Government of India which investigates aircraft accidents and incidents in India.

Former Indian Airlines director, flight safety, Capt S S Panesar, said, “It is unsafe even if it is for a short period, as an incident or accident can take place any time. The onus of ordering an investigation and overseeing it would then fall on the inexperienced official…The current practice of deputing cadre from DGCA to AAIB and especially the head of the AAIB not being technically qualified not only is a conflict of interest but is demoralizing for the industry.” Capt S S Panesar, Former Director (Flight Safety), Indian Airlines

The agency was established by an order on May 26, 2011. The Aircraft (Investigation of Accidents and Incidents) Rules, 2012 came into effect on July 5, 2012. It provides for the setting up of an Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau.

AAIB, India has carried out more than 150 Accident and Incident investigations so far including a major accident in 2020 of Air India Express Flight 1344.

ALSO READ - AAIB breaks rules by naming pilots in the final report on Gwalior accident

(With Inputs from The Time of India)

Electrical Vertical Take-Off and Landing (eVTOL) technology is touted to rapidly change the face of urban air mobility and this wouldn't be possible without pushing existing infrastructure and technology over their absolute limits.

Representative | New Atlas

Wisk Aero-a leading California based eVTOL developer which also happens to be the developer of the first all-electric, self-flying air taxi in the US, is now set to collaborate with Skyports-the world-leading designer, developer, and operator of vertiports. to integrate autonomous, electric, vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft operations at vertiports and other ground-based infrastructure.

Vertiports are enablers of Urban and Advanced Air Mobility (UAM/AAM), facilitating the movement of people and goods more rapidly and efficiently than traditional transport infrastructure.

A concept Vertiport | Lilium

The Concept of Operations (CONOP) released by the two companies gives an idea of how various autonomous, electric, vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft operations at vertiports and other ground-based infrastructure will be integrated.

We are excited to partner with Skyports, a leader in vertiports and AAM infrastructure. It is critical that future operations are autonomous for safety, scalability, and affordability. With this ConOps, Wisk and Skyports are helping to define those future operations while ensuring the long-term success and full potential of this industry.Gary Gysin, CEO of Wisk Aero

Gary Gysin | The Business Journals

Although the Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) services will commence with piloted aircraft, autonomous operations will soon take over as autonomy is the key to unlocking the scalability, accessibility, and affordability needed to realize the full potential and total addressable market of AAM.

The collaboration between the two companies will evaluate core areas namely-physical aircraft considerations (functions, capabilities, requirements, interfaces, and support), passenger accommodation, schedule management, ground operations management, final approach and take-off management, and navigational aids, situational awareness, contingency management, and airspace design.

It’s important that infrastructure built today can accommodate the aircraft of tomorrow. We are thrilled to be partnered with Wisk as they push the bounds of aircraft systems innovation. The ConOps and our continued work on the development of vehicle-agnostic vertiports and ground-based infrastructure will ensure that this industry is well prepared to safely integrate autonomous operations in the future.Duncan Walker, CEO of Skyports

Dunken Walker | Unmanned Airspace

Apparently, the CONOPs dictate the upgrades, retrofits, and procedure changes required for safe operations of autonomous eVTOL aircraft. Additionally, it also defines the journey of an autonomous eVTOL aircraft and its relationship to UAM-specific, aircraft-agnostic infrastructure and the necessary systems and interactions between the aircraft, the aircraft’s fleet operator, and the vertiport.

Reportedly, Wisk is also currently developing its sixth-generation eVTOL aircraft, backed by Boeing and Kitty Hawk, and hopes to get the model certified by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

Les Numeriques

Meanwhile, U.K.-based Skyports has forged partnerships with various AAM companies around the world, including Los Angeles, Italy, Malaysia and the UK to develop infrastructure for future eVTOL operations.

SOURCE(s)

COVER: eVTOL

The VoloCity is a two-seater urban air taxi. According to the company, Volocity isn't just another aircraft-it's a veritable game-changer.On a chilly December morning, our team was excited because everything was finally coming together. As the VoloCity emerged from the hangar and moved into the airfield, we held our breath for the flight test we’d been waiting no less than 11 years to conduct.Volocopter

Volocopter, an urban air-mobility company based in Germany, is apparently working on three types of eVTOL vehicles:

1. The VoloCity - a two-seater urban air taxi

VOLOCITY

2. The VoloConnect - for travelling between cities and suburbs

VOLOCONNECT | VOLOCOPTER

3. The VoloDrone - for transporting cargo

VOLODRONE | VOLOCOPTER

How is it going to revolutionize urban air mobility?

According to Florian Reuter, CEO of volocopter, customers will now be able to choose one from the many options available at the tap of a button on a smartphone.

Florian Reuter | Capital Finance International

VoloIQ - the company's digital platform has been designed to integrate all the services and thereby allow a seamless booking of flights. Additionally, special focus has been laid on keeping the flights 100% sustainable as well.

Tech and specs

ET Auto

According to the company, Volocity isn't just another aircraft-it's a veritable game-changer.

How?

The aircraft design has been designed to meet the exact aviation standards and requirements mandated by the EASA and has earned multiple certifications already.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YIMYonz2b4

VOLOCITY - First full-size prototype in maiden flight

Capacity2 pax including hand luggageAspired certificationEASA SC-VTOL, category enhancedPower typeElectric / batteriesMax take-off mass900 kgRange35 kmMax airspeed110 km/hNo of rotors18Battery typeLithium-ionEngine typeBrushless DC electric motor (BLDC)No of motors18Volocopter

With multiple redundant systems and at least two replacements for rotors, avionics and batteries, it far goes beyond the mandated technical requirements, thereby making it virtually fail-safe.

Volocity takes "noise cancelling" a notch higher as all its 18 rotors operate within a narrow frequency range, largely cancelling each other out. This also makes it four times quieter than a small helicopter.

It features more than 100 microprocessors and state-of-the-art backup systems, making it exceptionally efficient when it comes to stability and control.

Powered by nine rechargeable batteries coupled with a "battery swapping system", enables quick aircraft "turnaround" times and also underlines the company's continued investment into efficiency and sustainability.

The Volocity is the fourth generation eVTOL aircraft and the former three which were created were used for testing and demonstration purposes.

Today, we celebrate a remarkable achievement: the culmination of our aspiration to create a better future in which electric aircraft and emission-free flights are the new dimension of global mobility. As Volocopter taxis toward this new frontier, it will make urban flights just a few smartphone clicks away. These moments demonstrate how our pioneering spirit will bring our vision to life before our very eyes. And it’s just the push we need as we enter the final leg of the race to commercial launchThe company (13th April 2022)

The company is now gearing up to get the aircraft operational for the 2024 Paris Olympics.

SOURCE(s)

COVER: Tech Crunch

Reportedly, Airbus is now just a step closer to taking its "eXtra Performance Wing" demonstrator to the skies.In what is touted to be a part of the company's ongoing efforts to decarbonize aviation using state-of-the-art technology, the wing demonstrator recently completed wind-tunnel testing at the company's Filton site.

CompositesWorld

Airbus eXtra Performance Wing

Launched last September, the eXtra Performance Wing builds on "AlbatrossOne" - a similar Airbus project which had engineers fly a scale-model airplane with flapping tips.

Albatross inspired flexible wing-tip demonstrator | Flight Global

The dynamics of the wings here are inspired by an albatross's wings-they feature semi-aeroelastic hinges that respond to turbulence and gusts of wind. The hinges apparently reduce the load on the airframe, thereby slashing the need for reinforcing structures and hence saving considerable weight.

The eXtra Performance Wing demonstrator consists of a scaled-down Cessna Citation VII business jet that can be installed with gust sensors, pop-up spoilers that are rapidly deflected perpendicular to airflow and multifunctional trailing edges that dynamically change wing surface in-flight.

Cessna Citation | Representative | Autoevolution

The quest for sustainability and ways to enhance aircraft performance has often had aerospace engineers turn to nature, more specifically "bird flight".

Various research projects featuring shape-shifting wings and others that demonstrate how designs inspired by owls could one day lead to models that could fly more quietly, more efficiently and be able to handle strong winds better.

Shape-shifting wing design | Representative | Airways Magazine

The applications of the extra-performing wing would be compatible with any propulsion solution and aircraft configuration and would reduce CO? emissions, contributing greatly to Airbus’ decarbonisation roadmap.

Airbus’ extra-performing wing demonstrator is another example of Airbus’ novel technology-oriented solutions to decarbonise the aviation sector.Airbus is continuously investigating parallel and complementary solutions such as infrastructure, flight operations and aircraft structure. With this demonstrator, we will make significant strides in active control technology through research and applied testing of various technologies inspired by biomimicry.Sabine Klauke, Airbus Chief Technical Officer

Sabine Klauke | Airbus

The scaled demonstrator will integrate all the aforementioned technologies on the Cessna and for this, the model will be tested in a state-of-the-art low-speed wind tunnel at Filton, near Bristol.

https://twitter.com/AirbusintheUK/status/1513844378082684935

This UK wing project, which spans 6 years since inception, is designed to bolster a production system capable of handling next-generation wings for future aircraft programmes like a mooted 2030s replacement of the best-selling A320/321 or an upgrade to the existing model

The partly 3D-printed wind-tunnel model - expertly built by the aerodynamics team at Airbus' low-speed, wind-tunnel facility in Bristol - is a scaled-down version of the Cessna jet, incorporating the lightweight, long-span design of the eXtra Performance Wing that will provide the emissions benefits we are striving for.Oliver Family, Head of eXtra Performance Wing, UK

"Wing design", is a complex area that requires an optimum balance between weight and size to produce aerodynamically efficient wings. Interestingly, it is also an area where Airbus and Boeing seem to go at loggerheads with each other too.

The demonstrator is hosted within Airbus UpNext (Toulouse), a wholly-owned Airbus subsidiary created to give future technologies a development fast track by building demonstrators at speed and scale.

SOURCE(s)

COVER: AIRBUS

Air India's Chairman N Chandrasekaran on Friday, April 15 affected a major reshuffle in the top management of the recently-acquired airline, with Nipun Aggarwal appointed as Chief Commercial Officer and Suresh Dutt Tripathi as Chief Human Resources Officer.

Aggarwal, who is also Senior Vice President at Tata Sons, replaces Air India veteran Meenakshi Malik, while Tripathi, who was Vice President of Human Resources at Tata Steel from 2012 to 2021, succeeds Air India's, Amrita Sharan.

The order was issued by Chandrasekaran, who is also the chairman of Tata Sons. Malik and Sharan were on Friday, April 15 appointed as Advisors to the CEO of Air India, according to company communication.

As the Tata Group is yet to appoint the CEO of Air India, Malik and Sharan will currently be advisors to Chandrasekaran, it mentioned. Satya Ramaswamy, who has worked at Tata Consultancy Services before, was on Friday appointed as Chief Digital and Technology Officer at Air India, the order stated.

Rajesh Dogra was appointed as the Head of Customer Experience and Ground Handling at Air India, it mentioned. Air India veteran R S Sandhu will continue to hold the charge of Chief of Operations at Air India, it noted.

Air India's top management was reshuffled by N Chandrasekaran

Another Air India veteran Vinod Hejmadi will continue to hold the charge as Chief Financial Officer, it mentioned. "The new appointees will exercise the powers of functional/departmental heads as per the delegation of authority. We wish them all the very best in their new role," Chandrasekaran stated in the order.

After a competitive bidding process, the government had on October 8, 2021, sold Air India to Talace Private Limited — a subsidiary of the Tata group's holding company — for INR 18,000 crore.

Tata Sons last month named N Chandrasekaran as the chairman of Air India, the airline which was acquired by Tata Group from the central government last year.

ALSO READ - Ilker Ayci declines Tata Sons’ offer to be the new CEO of Air India

Air India also begins restoring salaries to pre-pandemic levels gradually

Air India had earlier announced that former Turkish Airlines boss Ilker Ayci declined to take up the top job, despite being named the airline's CEO. Ayci – who oversaw extensive cost-cutting at Turkish Airlines – was chosen as the debt-ridden carrier's first foreign CEO in mid-February after Tata group bought it back from the government following 69 years in state ownership.

ALSO READ - Air India begins restoring salaries to pre-pandemic levels gradually

Air India is also restoring salaries of employees in a phased manner to pre-pandemic levels as the aviation sector is recovering with the decline of COVID-19 cases in the country, according to the airline’s official document.

Indigo, the country's biggest airline owned by InterGloble Aviation, on April 15 announced the appointment of Shell India's former chief Vikram Singh Mehta and former Air Chief Marshal B.S. Dhanoa (Rtd) as the Independent Non-Executive Directors.

The appointments are subject to receipt of security clearance from the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) and approval of the members of the company. Both the appointments will be effective from the date of receipt of security clearance from the MoCA, according to a company statement.

Mehta, who is currently Chairman and Distinguished Fellow of CSEP (Centre for Social and Economic Progress), is being appointed in place of Anupam Khanna, whose second term came to an end on March 26.

Vikram Singh Mehta is currently Chairman and Distinguished Fellow of CSEP (Centre for Social and Economic Progress).

“I am delighted and honoured to be invited to join the Board of InterGlobe Aviation Limited. I have for long admired the success of its low-cost, courteous, efficient and on-time offering from the outside. I now look forward to seeing it cross new frontiers, from the inside," said Mehta.

Mehta is an Independent Director on the Boards of several companies including Larsen and Toubro Ltd, Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd, Colgate Palmolive India Ltd, Apollo Tyres Ltd, HT Media Ltd and Jubilant FoodWorks Ltd.

He is also on the Boards of Thomson Reuters Founders Share Company, Overseers of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University, and the Global Advisory Board of Macro Advisory Partners.

Retired Air Chief Marshal (ACM) B.S. Dhanoa

Along with Mehta, Retired Air Chief Marshal (ACM) B.S. Dhanoa's appointment will replace Meleveetil Damodaran, who is stepping down as an Independent Director on attaining 75 years on May 3, 2022. The appointment of Dhanoa will be effective from the date of receipt of security clearance from the MoCA or May 4 2022, whichever is later.

Dhanoa has served at various ranks with the Indian Air Force (IAF) including Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of South-Western Air Command before taking over as the Vice Chief of Air Staff (VCAS) in May 2015.

IndiGo appoints two independent non-executive directors

He served as the 25th Chief of the IAF from January 1, 2017, to September 30, 2019, and led the IAF when it executed airstrikes over a terror camp in Balakot in Pakistan in February 2019. Dhanoa is currently an Independent Director on the Board of Hero MotoCorp Ltd from October 2020.

He has been awarded the Param Vishisht Seva Medal in 2016, Ati Vishisht Seva Medal in 2015, Yudh Seva Medal in 1999 and Vayu Sena Medal in 1999.

“Delighted to be on the immensely talented Board of IndiGo, the market leader in civil aviation of our country with an inherent belief in performance and safety, values I cherished the most during my service in the IAF," said Dhanoa.

“All of us at IndiGo are absolutely thrilled to have two such distinguished personalities join our Board. Mehta brings years of experience running major corporations and a wealth of knowledge from working on some of the leading Boards in India. We will gain immensely from Air Chief Marshal Dhanoa’s exemplary leadership and crisis management skills. We look forward to the guidance and counsel of these two very special people."Ronojoy Dutta, CEO, IndiGo

ALSO READ - IndiGo emerged as the world’s sixth-largest carrier by passenger volume for March

Recently, IndiGo has emerged as the world’s sixth-largest carrier by passenger volume for March, according to the UK-based Official Airline Guide (OAG). It carried more than 2.02 million passengers in the month, the most by any Asian carrier, according to statistics collected till March 28.

IndiGo was also named the world’s fastest-growing airline by OAG, with a 41.3% growth in frequency in March. The airline also ranked among the top 10 airlines in the world by seat capacity for March.

ALSO READ - Former aviation secretary named as Principal Adviser to MD of IndiGo