Cleared To Approach: The Aviation Blog

 The Boeing 777-300ER stands as one of the most accomplished and successful long-haul aircraft of all time. The aircraft is indisputably the epitome of reliability. Despite being 22 years old, it remains the backbone of many major airlines' fleet, including Emirates, Air India, United, British Airways and Air France. Emirates 777-300ER: Airliners.net The 777-300ER was intended to be a higher-capacity and longer-range variant of the 777. It combined and augmented the already superb range of the 777-200ER and the capacity of the 777-300, providing the best of both worlds. Air India 777-300ER: Simple Flying The aircraft is known for its improved passenger comfort, extended range, and impressive fuel efficiency. Several key reasons induce its prevalence in commercial aviation: Range: The 777-300ER has a spectacular range of 13,650km. Combined with its large capacity, this provides highly profitable long-haul routes.  Capacity: The aircraft can seat near 375 passengers in a standar...

 Why does the same aircraft need a longer runway at Leh than Delhi? To understand this, let's break down what actually happens in an aircraft's takeoff roll. As an aircraft accelerates down a runway, there is a precise moment when the pilot pulls back on the controls and the aircraft takes flight. This speed is not arbitrary but rather is calculated based on factors including runway length, wind speed and direction, and aircraft weight. V stands for 'vitesse', which is the French word for speed.  V1 (Decision Speed): V1 refers to the maximum decision speed during takeoff. In the event of an emergency, the pilot can only stop the aircraft safely, within the runway, before V1. If the aircraft is past V1, the pilot must continue takeoff even with an emergency such as an engine failure. VR (Rotation Speed): VR is the speed at which the pilot begins to rotate the aircraft. At this point, the nose lifts, increasing the wings angle of attack, and thus allowing the aircraft to ...

  Wings India 2026: Asia's largest civil aviation event, Wings India 2026, is set to take place between 28 and 31 January at Begumpet Airport, Hyderabad. It will include over 150 exhibitors, 7,500 business visitors and over 1 lakh general visitors. Leading brands from the industry including Airbus, Boeing, Embraer, HAL, Dassault, Textron Aviation, ATR, De Havilland, Pilatus, Rolls-Royce, GMR, Adani, Etihad Airways, Thai Airways, Indigo, Akasa Air, and Air India have confirmed participation. Foreign delegates and Industry CEOs from top airlines are expected to attend this event. Aircraft displays exceeding 31 aircraft have been confirmed. The event is set to highlight India's growth in the aviation sector by highlighting developments in airport infrastructure, MRO and SAF.

 One of the most distinctive features of Airbus aircraft is the sidestick. Unlike traditional yokes, Airbus sidesticks are mounted on the side console- right-hand for the First Officer and left-hand for the Captain. Once an FO is promoted to Captain, they don't just switch seats and responsibilities, they also switch hands. One may think that years of muscle memory and training dissipate. An obvious question arises: how difficult is it for them to transition from right-hand to left-hand? In this article we will scrutinise exactly that. Input, Not Muscle Memory Airbus sidesticks don't work the way the prevalence of people may think they do. Unlike yokes, they don't work like steering wheels: instead, they function more like requests. Instead of moving the aircraft yourself, directly through sidestick movement, you're giving instructions to the flight control computers on the aircraft, which handle the details and optimisations of the surface movement. If you push the sid...

  Fog Season Disrupts Flights: Dense fog has caused disruptions in north India.  Extremely poor air quality conditions have also complemented the low-visibility conditions. 177 flights were cancelled and ~500 delayed at Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport (DEL / VIDP). The Ministry of Civil Aviation issued an advisory, encouraging airlines to cooperate with passengers and serve refreshments in the case of delays. Air Congo Passengers Made to Jump off the Plane: In an appalling safety breach on Friday, passengers of an Air Congo Flight. the country's flag carrier, passengers jumped off the plane, about 3-4 metres, in order to deboard. After several hours, no air stairs were found at Kindu Airport (HND / RJTT) to allow the passengers to deboard the B737-800.

  What exactly is happening? Indigo has been facing a severe operational crisis, mainly due to pilot-rostering problems linked to the second phase of the FDTL (Flight Duty Time Limitations). For several days, Indigo has been cancelling hundreds of flights per day. Around 350 flights were cancelled on December 4. Over 1000 flights were cancelled on December 5. Cancellations have come down but are still high. Consequences: Passengers have been stranded at major airports with long queues, chaotic counters, and overcrowded terminals, without their baggage being delivered to them. They are often notified very late about cancellations. They are paying unprecedented fares for last-minute flights and train journeys. For example, a one-way SpiceJet economy-class Kolkata-Mumbai flight hit INR 90,000. Root Cause: Civil Aviation Minister Rammohan Naidu said that the massive disruption in Indigo flights was due to the airline's miscalculation of crew requirements under the new FDTL norms. Weekl...