Captain Abhilasha Barak becomes Army Aviation's first woman combat pilot

Captain Abhilasha Barak has created history by becoming the first woman officer to join the Army Aviation Corps as Combat Aviator. The announcement was made on the official social media page of the Additional Directorate General of Public Information, IHQ of MoD (Army) on Wednesday, May 25.

Captain Barak's achievement has been described as a "Golden Letter Day" in the history of Indian Army Aviation. Upon successful completion of her training, Captain Barak was awarded the Coveted Wings along with 36 Army pilots, the post said.

Captain Abhilasha Barak becomes Army Aviation's first woman combat pilot

Captain Abhilasha Barak hails from Haryana and is the daughter of Colonel (Retired) S Om Singh. She was commissioned into the Army Air Defence Corps in September 2018. Captain Barak did several professional military courses before joining the Army Aviation Corps.

She attained ‘A’ grading in the Army Air Defence Young officers course, 75.70% in Air Traffic Management and Air Laws course and passed the promotional exam, Part B, in her first attempt.

"While growing up in military Cantonments, and being surrounded by people in uniform, it always seemed like an ordinary affair. I never realised it (that it was different) until our family moved out of the military life, after my father’s retirement in 2011. The feeling only grew stronger after seeing my elder brother’s passing out parade at Indian Military Academy in 2013. That was the moment I knew what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.After completing my training from Officers Training Academy, Chennai, in 2018, I opted for Army Aviation Corps. As I was filling the form, I knew I was eligible for only ground duty role but I ended up mentioning that I had qualified Pilot Aptitude Battery Test and computerised pilot selection system. Somewhere in my heart, I always knew that the day was not far away when Indian Army would start inducting women as combat pilots."Captain Abhilasha Barak, Combat Aviator, Army Aviation Corps

According to the official website, the inception of the Army Aviation wing of the RAF in India took place in 1942. However, it was only in August 1947 that the first Indian Air Observation Post-flight was raised.

The Army Aviation Corps, in particular, was established on November 1, 1986. It was “immediately inducted into Operation Pawan,” which has been described as a “crucial test” for the Corps that had been newly formed.

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The division is headed by a Lieutenant General rank officer who is known as the Director General of Army Aviation. Over the years, it has expanded with the addition of new units and equipment like Cheetah, Advanced Light Helicopter Dhruv, weaponised ALH Rudra and Light Combat Helicopter. 

In August 2021, Army Aviation got control of the Army’s Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) which were earlier with the Artillery, bringing all aviation assets under one roof.

The main roles of the choppers include observation, reconnaissance, casualty evacuations, load drops as well as search and rescue operations besides attack.

She attained ‘A’ grading in the Army Air Defence Young officers course, 75.70% in Air Traffic Management and Air Laws course and passed the promotional exam, Part B, in her first attempt.

Since the standoff in Eastern Ladakh in 2020, the Army Aviation had seen a quantum jump in the employment of helicopters along the Northern borders.

The three services have gradually opened up key postings for women in the last few years.

In 2018, flying officer Avani Chaturvedi of the Indian Air Force scripted history by becoming the first Indian woman to fly a fighter aircraft solo. She flew a MiG-21 bison on her first solo flight.

In a significant move, the Army 2019 began the process of inducting women into the military police.

Chaturvedi was part of a three-member women team commissioned as flying officers in July 2016, less than a year after the government decided to open the fighter stream for women on an experimental basis.

In 2020, the Navy announced deploying its first batch of women pilots on the Dornier maritime aircraft. In a significant move, the Army 2019 began the process of inducting women into the military police.

The role of the military police includes policing cantonments and army establishments, preventing breaches of rules and regulations by soldiers, and maintaining the movement of soldiers as well as logistics during peace and war.

Over 20 months after the Air India Express Calicut accident which killed 21 people, the role played by the infrastructural inadequacies of the table-top Kozhikode airport runway is in focus.

A government committee, in a report, made public on Wednesday, May 25, recommended that the Airports Authority of India (AAI) acquire land in 11 months for Kozhikode runway extension to provide what’s called a Runway End Safety Area or RESA.

It is an area laid out beyond the runway end to arrest and decelerate overshooting or undershooting aircraft.

AAI recommends runway extension for Kozhikode airport

The Kozhikode airport hilltop runway had a RESA even in August 2020 when the Air India Express accident occurred. But it is entirely paved, with no soft portions. Back then and currently as well, the land-starved Kozhikode airport’s hard surface RESA is used by aircraft to taxi.

“The committee was unanimous in its opinion that safety is paramount and RESA, as mandated in the extant rules and regulations, has to be provided to enhance the safety of operations at Kozhikode airport,” the report said.

It recommended the existing 90m-long RESA be filled with 15cm sand or soft soil for effective deceleration of aircraft that go off the runway. The state government may be requested to provide sufficient suitable filled up levelled land for runway expansion, it said, setting a March 2023 deadline.

The Kozhikode airport hilltop runway had a RESA even in August 2020 when the Air India Express accident occurred.

If the land was not available by then, the runway length should be reduced to 2,540m to provide RESA of 240m from the ends of the runway strip, the report said.

On August 7, 2020, an Air India Express Boeing 737-800 aircraft operating a flight from Dubai with 184 passengers on board overshot the hill-top Kozhikode runway after a delayed touch down.

The aircraft sped past the paved RESA surface to drop 110 feet down a gorge, separate into three sections and kill 21 people, including both pilots.

On August 7, 2020, an Air India Express Boeing 737-800 aircraft operating a flight from Dubai with 184 passengers on board overshot the hill-top Kozhikode runway after a delayed touch down.

ALSO READ - The final report out on the Kozhikode air crash hints at human error and non-compliance to SOPs

The committee comprising aviation experts was formed in September 2021 to oversee the implementation of the recommendations made in the Kozhikode accident investigation report. The final report released a month earlier in August 2021, made 43 safety recommendations.

“Out of the 41 recommendations accepted by the committee, 24 recommendations (19 critical and 5 non-critical) were implemented by the respective stakeholders as per action plan,” the report said.

The report allowed the airport to continue to handle up to ‘Code C’ aircraft (such as Boeing 737, and A320), but with suggested mitigating measures in place.

ALSO READ - DGCA report crucial for resumption of wide-body aircraft operations at Kozhikode Airport

The report allowed the airport to continue to handle up to ‘Code C’ aircraft (such as Boeing 737, and A320), but with suggested mitigating measures in place.

It recommended a training program for the Kozhikode aircraft rescue and fire fighting crew; they were not familiar with the Boeing 737, which resulted in poorly coordinated rescue operations and delayed evacuation of the pilots from the cockpit.

“The Kozhikode airport perimeter road which surrounds the airport should be capable of supporting heavy fire fighting vehicles…In Nov 2019, DGCA during their surveillance had made similar observations, however, the observed deficiencies still existed as on the date of the accident,” it said.

AAI has agreed to install runway centerline lights at Kozhikode and Mangalore during the next recarpeting of the runway which is due in 2022 and 2024 respectively, the report said. Despite recommendations made in two incident reports earlier, AAI hadn’t done this.

(With Inputs from The Times of India)

Summary

Budget domestic carrier SpiceJet will launch 16 new flights from August onwards. Accordingly, they will add Bhavnagar in Gujarat to its domestic network. Bhavnagar will now be connected to Delhi, Mumbai and Surat with direct flights starting August 20.

spicejet

Besides, the budget carrier will also launch 10 more flights that will connect Gwalior with Jaipur, Kishangarh (Ajmer) with Mumbai, Belagavi with Delhi and Vishakhapatnam with Bengaluru, and add frequency to the Delhi-Jammu sector.

Management is optimistic

According to Shilpa Bhatia, Chief Commercial Officer, SpiceJet: "Strengthening regional connectivity between metros and underserved cities is at the heart of SpiceJet's mission and vision and we are delighted to add the beautiful city of Bhavnagar to our fast-expanding domestic network.

SpiceJet will be the first airline to operate non-stop flights between these routes

"Being one of the key cities for trade and commerce with many large & small scale industries, having the world's largest ship breaking yard and variety of holy places to visit, Bhavnagar comes with great potential for both business and leisure travellers alike."

Furthermore, she said the industry-first flights connecting Gwalior with Jaipur and Mumbai with Kishangarh and other new and additional flights will support the domestic expansion we are aiming for aggressively.

"SpiceJet is well aligned and fully committed to aid the recovery of air travel and realise India's dream of a having a strong, stable and progressive aviation market by constantly adding new routes and destinations."

Bhatia added that the additional flights will “support the domestic expansion we are aiming for aggressively”.

spicejet

First to start

SpiceJet will be the first airline to operate non-stop flights between the following routes: Bhavnagar-Delhi, Bhavnagar-Surat, Gwalior-Jaipur, and Kishangarh-Mumbai, the statement added.

 “SpiceJet is well aligned and fully committed to aid recovery of air travel and realise India’s dream of having a strong, stable and progressive aviation market by constantly adding new routes and destinations,” Bhatia said.

FROMDESTINATION DEPARTURE FREQUENCYEFFECTIVE DATEBengaluruVishakhapatnam 7:05 PM 1,2,3,4,5,6,705.08.2021Vishakhapatnam Bengaluru 9:15 PM 1,2,3,4,5,6,705.08.2021New DelhiBelagavi 2:30 PM 1,513.08.2021BelagaviNew Delhi 5:05 PM 1,513.08.2021New DelhiJammu 6:15 PM 1,2,3,4,5,613.08.2021JammuNew Delhi 8:05 PM 1,2,3,4,5,613.08.2021JaipurGwalior 6:30 PM 1,3,5,720.08.2021GwaliorJaipur  8:00 AM 1,3,5,720.08.2021New DelhiBhavnagar  6:35 AM 1,3,4,5,6,7 20.08.2021 BhavnagarMumbai 9:05 AM 1,3,4,5,6,7 20.08.2021 MumbaiBhavnagar 2:20 PM 1,3,4,5,6,7 20.08.2021 BhavnagarNew Delhi 3:45 PM 1,3,4,5,6,7 20.08.2021 SuratBhavnagar 1:35 PM 4,6,720.08.2021 BhavnagarSurat  2:40 PM 4,5,720.08.2021 MumbaiKishangarh(Ajmer) 12:40 PM 1,3,5,720.08.2021 Kishangarh(Ajmer)Mumbai 3:10 PM 1,3,5,720.08.2021 FULL FLIGHT SCHEDULE (1=Monday and thereon)

The airline operates over 63 daily flights under UDAN connecting 14 UDAN destinations to various parts of the country. SpiceJet already connects Gwalior with Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Jammu and Kolkata under UDAN. From Gwalior, SpiceJet will also offer convenient connections to Goa, Guwahati, Kochi, Kandla, Belagavi, Gorakhpur, Patna, Mangalore and Chennai through one-stop flights. The carrier operates a fleet of Boeing 737s and Q-400s and the same will be deployed on these new routes.

spicejet q400

Bookings are now open on www.spicejet.com  SpiceJet’s mobile app and through online travel portals and travel agents. Confirm with the airline before making any plans.

A Saudi-bound Air India Express Boeing 737-800, registration VT-GHC operating flight IX-1581 from Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala on Saturday (July 31) made an emergency landing after being airborne for less than an hour when the pilots detected a crack in the windshield, an official said.

air india express

After taking off from Thiruvananthapuram at around 7:52 AM, less than an hour into the flight, the pilots noticed the crack in the windshield of the aeroplane, prompting them to turn back to Thiruvananthapuram for an emergency landing at around 8:50 AM, an airport official said.

However, the plane had no passengers, due to the COVID-19 curbs on international travel to certain destinations, and was only carrying cargo and a crew of eight. All the crew members, including the pilots, are safe, CV Ravindran, the Director of Thiruvananthapuram Airport, told PTI.

He also said that had the crack been detected in the pre-flight check, the plane would not have taken off and therefore, it must have happened during take-off or while cruising.

air india express

"The flight was going to return from Dammam in Saudi Arabia with Indian passengers as part of the "Vande Bharat Mission," he added.

Vande Bharat mission is the massive repatriation operation planned by the Indian government to bring back stranded Indians in different parts of the world in the wake of the coronavirus crisis. Following the incident, another aircraft was deployed and another set of crew was sent for the scheduled flight operation.

Fly by wire is the generic term used for flight control systems that process inputs given by the Flight crew and converts them into corresponding electrical signals. These signals are transmitted by wires and the flight control computers determine the appropriate movement of actuators at the flight control surfaces to produce the most desired effect.

In essence, it replaces mechanical linkage with the control surfaces meaning the pilot inputs don't directly influence the control surfaces, instead pilot inputs are processed by a flight computer, which decides the best course of action. This is, of course, done in accordance with the active Flight Control Laws.

microsoft simulator

Is this any better than mechanical systems ?

Simply put, conventional mechanical and hydro/mechanical flight systems are heavy and require precisive arrangement of flight control cables, hydraulic pipes, cranks and tension cables only adding to the overall weight of the aircraft. With limited ability to counter for varying aerodynamic changes inflight, they also require multiple redundant backup systems to deal with failures such as aerodynamic stall, spinning and Pilot Induced Oscillations(PIO). Summing up, most of the safety and integrity of the aircraft structure was solely dependent on the pilots actions. And as human beings, none of us are failproof and are prone to making errors.

mechanical system principle

As the name suggests, all FBW systems incorporate electronic circuits to replace mechanical ones. What that means is now we have signal transducers in the cockpit which generate the appropriate electrical signal. These signals are then processed by an analog/digital controller.

How useful is this ?

With the reduction in overall weight and improved reliability, the Fly-By-Wire was, for the first time, used in the design of military aircrafts. The F16 ,in 1973, became the first aircraft to adopt a fully FBW system without the use of backup mechanical/hydromechanical systems.

F16

A quick look into how it works

The very basic principle of "error control" is applied wherein the current position of a control surface is continually fed to the Flight Control Computer(FCC)The difference between this current position and the input made by the pilot is process by the computer and an appropriate corrective signal is sent back to the control surface electrically. The FCC continually monitors the system between the pilot inputs and output and any error resulting between the two becomes the command to the flight control surface. This goes on until the output equals input. Under normal conditions, with all systems operative, the FCS is said to be operating under "normal law".Feedback Control of airspeed, Mach number, altitude and AOA (angle of attack) ensures the aircraft is well within its permitted flight envelope.

fly by wire principle

Now when it comes to the subject of ensuring a safe flight envelope, Airbus and Boeing have quite two different strategies:

Airbus adopts the strategy of "hard limits" wherein the control laws have the absolute authority unless and until the pilot selects "direct law".Boeing advocates the strategy of "soft limits" wherein the pilots can override the control laws placing the ultimate authority of the flight operation in the pilots hands.

INTELLIGENT FLIGHT CONTROL SYSTEM

Basically an upgrade of the modern day Fly-By-Wire , this system aims to counter inflight damage and failure by automatically altering engine thrust and various other avionics to prevent failures such as loss of rudder, loss of ailerons and engines etc. Further advancements are in development and this project is headed by NASA DRYDEN FLIGHT RESEARCH CENTRE.

Several demonstrations have been carried out in a flight simulator where a Cessna trained pilot successfully landed a heavy, full size concept jet without any prior experience on a large body jet aircraft.

The first commercial airliner to fly the Fly-By-Wire was the Airbus A320 in 1987 followed by the Boeing B777 in 1994. Today, it's a common standard in a majority of the aircrafts.

An award-winning physically challenged artist has claimed she was prohibited from boarding an Alliance Air flight from Bengaluru to Kochi recently as she was not willing to leave behind her battery-operated wheelchair.

The only option the airline provided to Sarita Dwivedi was to leave behind her wheelchair or book a flight on another airline, she claimed while talking to PTI on Monday, June 20.

Alliance Air did not even refund the amount of around INR 8,000 she had spent on the tickets for herself and her friend who had come from Kochi to Bengaluru to take her here. She also accused a staff member of hostile behaviour towards her. A statement from the airline on the issue was awaited.

Alliance Air refuses to board a disabled artist because of a battery-operated wheelchair

Dwivedi said she had to subsequently shell out around INR 14,000 for travelling on another private carrier to reach here along with her friend.

The airline also carried her wheelchair in the plane's cargo without any hitch, she said. However, what transpired at the Alliance Air counter at Kempegowda International Airport on Saturday, June 18 was a very bad experience, she said.

On being asked whether she plans to sue the airline or take any other action, she said she was not sure how to go about that. Giving details of her ordeal, Dwivedi said she reached the check-in counter around 8 AM, an hour ahead of the flight's departure, conforming to the one-hour rule.

However, what transpired at the Alliance Air counter at Kempegowda International Airport on Saturday, June 18 was a very bad experience, she said.

"On seeing me, the first thing the person from the airline said was that if you are travelling with a motorised wheelchair, you should come a little early. Then I got a little angry and said I was on time. I told him to get the scanning person to scan the wheelchair so that I can go. Again he said I was late. Then he said - madam you cannot travel with the motorised wheelchair as it was battery operated."

On being asked whether the airline official gave a reason for not allowing the wheelchair, she stated "they said there are certain guidelines against it. But these guidelines are there with every airline."

"They said that given the guidelines, I cannot take my wheelchair. So either I should leave it behind or I cannot travel on the flight. That is how they were talking to me. I felt so bad," she said.

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She had earlier tweeted about the incident, tagging Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiradita Scindia. Asked if the airline offered any alternatives, she said, "They were not willing to do anything for me. I was ready to leave the wheelchair there, provided they could send it to my place in Kochi. I am not from Bangalore. I am a humble person. I did not want to argue, so I asked them what they can do to help me," she said.

They said they cannot do anything but can refund her ticket amount. However, "they have not refunded the ticket amount... I had spent around INR 8,000 on two tickets for myself and my friend.. even my friend could not travel as I was not allowed to travel. Not only did they not refund the amount, but I also had to, thereafter, spend around INR 14,000 on two tickets to Kochi on another airline," she claimed.

Dwivedi reached Kochi on Saturday, June 18 afternoon instead of the morning as she had originally planned. When asked whether Alliance Air has got in touch with her subsequently to refund the amount, Dwivedi said, "Nothing. They have no facilities. They do not know how to talk to people. They just keep arguing and shouting. It was irritating."

Dwivedi said she had to subsequently shell out around INR 14,000 for travelling on another private carrier to reach here along with her friend.

She claimed initially the airline did not allow them to get their boarding passes and then they said that their manager was coming and to wait for him as after he arrives, then only they can do anything. After a long wait, a person came who was a senior supervisor in Alliance Air and not the manager.

"So I asked the person at the counter who had stopped me from boarding earlier as to whether this was the same person he spoke about. But he did not give a proper response."

She said the man started shouting at her that he was the responsible person and that he would be making the decisions in the absence of the manager who was not here. Dwivedi said she asked him why she was made to wait so long at the airport if the manager was not going to come.

"I, thereafter, calmly asked them to send me to Kochi. I said I do not want a refund... they said we cannot do that and that I can get a refund only. They said I should book a flight on another airline. That is how they replied. Then they said that I could travel by their airline, but the wheelchair cannot be taken along," she added.

For Dwivedi who had travelled the long distance from Indiranagar in Bangalore to the airport, everything had been "spoiled" by then and she subsequently demanded that the airline gave in writing why she was not allowed to board her flight.

"After travelling so far alone and managing everything physically, mentally and financially, they spoiled everything for me. For a person like me, it is difficult. It is in my nature that I speak softly to people and I was speaking calmly to them at the airport to find a solution. They are the ones who started arguing and then shouting at me," she alleged.

Personnel of the Airports Authority of India were present there and provided her with food and water and comforted her. They even tried to reason with the airline official but in vain. "So then I asked him to give me in writing why I missed my flight, why I was not allowed to board," she said.

Thereafter, for the sake of formality the official wrote down why she was not allowed to board and she also agreed to get a refund to book tickets on another flight as she was getting late, Dwivedi said.

However, when the official realised she was going to fly on another airline, he said he would not give anything in writing and walked away with the paper, she claimed.

On how the experience was with the other carrier she later flew in, she said, "They never created an issue for me. They were quick and gave a very good service. My wheelchair has a dry battery. The rule is that you cannot travel with a wet battery on an airline."

"I just removed the battery supply and gave it to the airline and they put the wheelchair in the baggage," she said.

"I travel a lot and wherever I go, I have never faced this problem. This time the travel agent booked the tickets on Alliance Air. He did not mention that I was a differently-abled or a wheelchair user while booking the ticket. That is required if I need a wheelchair. But I carry my wheelchair, so where is the need to put that (while booking a ticket)?"

"Even otherwise, imagine if I am travelling with a prosthesis and all of a sudden something happens to me and I cannot walk. I will definitely bring my wheelchair without any information. Are they so unprofessional that they cannot handle such a situation," she asked.

Dwivedi lost her hands and a leg in 1994 after she accidentally came in contact with a high-power electric line. She was four then and has since been lauded as a braveheart for winning national and international accolades for her painting skills. Her struggles and achievements have made it to class 6 NCERT Hindi textbook.

ALSO READ - DGCA amends rules; airlines can no longer deny boarding to any person with a disability