Weekly News Debrief: 22-28 September- MiG-21 Retired, DGCA receives Award, HKG closed, Russian Aircraft Intercepted, UAVs over Europe, and more!

 MiG-21 Retirement:

  • The Indian Air Force retired the MiG-21 on Friday.
  • The MiG-21 Bison aircraft with callsign Badal 3 was decommissioned at Chandigarh Airbase.
  • Defense Minister Rajnath Singh explained the deep attachment to the aircraft and notable members of the IAF were present on the occasion.

DGCA Wins ICAO Award:
  • The Directorate General of Civil Aviation has received the prestigious International Civil Aviation Organisation Council President Certificate.
  • The award was presented to the president of India's aviation regulator, Faiz Ahmed Kidwai on Tuesday, at the opening of the ICAO Assembly in Montreal.
  • This has pushed India into the top 50 countries in ICAO's audit.

Russian Military Aircraft Intercepted:
  • Over the past month, a plethora of Russian fighters and defence aircraft have been spotted and intercepted, mainly over Europe.
  • On Wednesday, US fighter jets intercepted 4 Russian military aircraft near Alaska, according to the North American Aerospace Defence Command (NORAD).
  • NORAD mentioned that they dispatched four F16s, four KC-135 refueling aircraft and an E-3 surveillance aircraft. Two Tu-95 bombers and Su-25 fighters were detected. 
  • According to official, Russian jets in international waters near the States are not a direct threat.
  • This was the ninth such case this year.

Commute Air Aircraft Saved by EMAS:
  • A Commute Air Embraer ERJ-145, registered N21129 performing flight UA4339 on behalf of United from Washington DC (IAD / KIAD) to Roanoke (ROA / KROA) overshot the runway.
  • All 50 passengers and 3 crew survived without injuries.
  • The plane came to a stop thanks to the Engineered Material Arrestor System (EMAS)

Boy Survives Flight in Landing-Gear Compartment:
  • A 13-year-old Afghan boy hid in the landing-gear compartment of Kam-Air Flight RQ4401 on Sunday and survived the flight thereafter.
  • He hid in the landing gear compartment without being detected on the A340-313 registered YA-KME.
  • The aircraft took off from Kabul (KBL / OAKB), and the boy was found after landing in New Delhi (IGI / VIDP).

Airports Shut After Unidentified Drones Detected:
  • Several airports in Europe including Copenhagen (CPH / EKCH) and Oslo (OSL / ENGM) were shut down after drones were sighted near them.
  • Copenhagen was closed at around 8:30pm on Monday due to 2-3 unidentified drones being spotted over the airport.
  • FlightRadar24 reports more than 50 flights were diverted.
  • European authorities remain on high alert after this incident as well as after Russian drones entered Polish and Romanian airspace.

Hong Kong Airport Temporarily Closed:
  • Hong Kong Airport (HKG / VHHH) temporarily ceased operations due to the super typhoon Ragasa affecting the region.
  • The airport was closed for 36 hours from September 23.
  • Cathay Pacific said that nearly 500 flights would be cancelled.


Bibliography:
  • Wikipedia
  • Planespotters.net
  • Wallpaper Cave
  • MSN
  • India Today
  • The Straits Times
  • www.avherald.com
  • Business Standard
  • Tribune India
  • FlightRadar24
  • airport-world.com

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