All-out help to make PIA best airlines: PM

 

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif said on Sunday that all-out help would be extended to make the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) the best airlines.

He visited the newly-acquired A-320 aircraft by the PIA that could start the renaissanceof the national flag carrier. Nawaz expressed joy over the deal and said it was pleasing to see the new aircraft being inducted into the PIA fleet. He said with the present initiatives being taken, PIA shall soon be revived to its past glory.


Nawaz took a round of the aircraft that was parked at the Islamabad International Airport. It is the first of the 14 most sophisticated aircraft being acquired by the PIA.The French-made A-320 is the first aircraft that the PIA has acquired in 10 years as the last purchase was the wide-bodied Boeing 777 in 2004, which had ruined the economy of the airline as it wasn’t cost effective. There are allegations that the then president and prime minister got heavy commissions in that deal. The airline is still paying heavy installments of that plane.


Sources said Boeing 777 was bought against the experts advice by allegedly changing the decision of the PIA board overnight by the then president. Nawaz was greeted by the PIA employees when he arrived at the airport. Interestingly, the prime minister had approved the inclusion of 14 new aircraft into the PIA fleet.


Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Aviation Shujaat Azeem, Managing Director PIA Muhammad Junaid Yunus and Director Flight Operations PIA Captain Qasim Hayat accompanied the prime minister.


Shujaat Azeem briefed the prime minister that the airline was also in the process of inducting 14 aircraft into its fleet, including the narrow body, wide body and turbo-prop aircraft. The airline has placed an order for three A320 aircraft with GECAS of which one aircraft had been received while the remaining two will be delivered next month and in September. The remaining aircraft will be inducted in the near future.


The Airbus A320 has a seating capacity of 180. The aircraft will be in operation immediately. Visiting the aircraft, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said he would like to see more Pakistanis traveling with the national flag carrier, which should be the preferred choice of passengers.

Missing Malaysia airlines plane: Files were deleted from flight simulator

A pilot of a Royal Malaysian Air Force CN-235 aircraft shows a map during a search and rescue operation for the missing Malaysia Airlines plane over the waters at Malacca straits, Malaysia.

Investigators are trying to restore files deleted last month from the home flight simulator of the pilot aboard the missing Malaysian plane to see if they shed any light on the disappearance, Malaysia’s defense minister said Wednesday.
Hishammuddin Hussein told a news conference that the pilot, Capt. Zaharie Ahmad Shah, is considered innocent until proven guilty of any wrongdoing. He said members of Zaharie’s family are cooperating in the investigation.
Files containing records of the simulations carried out on the program were deleted on Feb. 3, Malaysian police chief Khalid Abu told the news conference.
Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 with 239 people aboard went missing March 8 on a night flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. Malaysian authorities have not ruled out any possible explanations, but have said the evidence so far suggests the flight was deliberately turned back across Malaysia to the Strait of Malacca. They are unsure what happened next.
Investigators have identified two giant arcs of territory spanning the possible positions of the plane about 7½ hours after takeoff, based on its last faint signal to a satellite. The arcs stretch up as far as Kazakhstan in central Asia and down deep into the southern Indian Ocean.
Police are considering the possibility of hijacking, sabotage, terrorism or issues related to the mental health of the pilots or anyone else on board, and have asked for background checks from foreign agencies on all foreign passengers.
Hishammuddin said background checks have been received for all the foreigners except those from Ukraine and Russia — which account for three passengers. He said none of the checks has turned up anything suspicious.
Relatives of passengers on the missing airliner have grown increasingly frustrated over the lack of progress in the search after 12 days. Planes sweeping across vast expanses of the Indian Ocean and satellites peering on Central Asia have turned up no new clues in the hunt.
“It’s really too much. I don’t know why it is taking so long for so many people to find the plane. It’s 12 days,” Subaramaniam Gurusamy, 60, said in an interview from his home on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur. His 34-year-old son, Pushpanathan Subramaniam, was on the flight heading to Beijing for a work trip.
“He’s the one son I have,” Subaramaniam said.
Before Wednesday’s news briefing at a hotel near the Kuala Lumpur airport, Chinese relatives of passengers held up a banner and started shouting at the venue before police escorted them out.

China deploys 10 satellites to help in search for Malaysia Airlines

China has urged Malaysia to speed up the search for the Malaysian plane Flight MH370. (Reuters)

China has deployed 10 satellites to help in the massive air and sea search for a missing Malaysian airliner, the People’s Liberation Army Daily said on Tuesday.
The satellites will use high-resolution earth imaging capabilities, visible light imaging and other technologies to “support and assist in the search and rescue operations for the Malaysian Airlines aircraft”, the newspaper said in an article that was also carried on the defence ministry’s website.
Dozens of ships and aircraft from 10 countries scoured the seas around Malaysia and south of Vietnam as questions mounted over possible security lapses and whether a bomb or hijacking attempt could have brought down the Boeing 777-200ER which took off from the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur.
China has urged Malaysia to speed up the search for the plane. About two-thirds of the 227 passengers and 12 crew now presumed to have died aboard the plane were Chinese.
The Chinese satellites will also help in weather monitoring, communication and search operations in the area where the plane disappeared, the newspaper said.
China will also strengthen the Beidou navigation system’s satellite monitoring capabilities to “provide reliable navigation for the rescue operations and communication support”.

Why Malaysia Airlines jet might have disappeared

In this file photo Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777-200ER that disappeared from air traffic control screens Saturday, taking off from Roissy-Charles de Gaulle Airport in France. (AP)

The most dangerous parts of a flight are takeoff and landing. Rarely do incidents happen when a plane is cruising seven miles above the earth.
So the disappearance of a Malaysia Airlines jet well into its flight Saturday morning over the South China Sea has led aviation experts to assume that whatever happened was quick and left the pilots no time to place a distress call.
It could take investigators months, if not years, to determine what happened to the Boeing 777 flying from Malaysia’s largest city of Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.
“At this early stage, we’re focusing on the facts that we don’t know,” said Todd Curtis, a former safety engineer with Boeing who worked on its 777 jumbo jets and is now director of the Airsafe.com Foundation.
If there was a minor mechanical failure _ or even something more serious like the shutdown of both of the plane’s engines – the pilots likely would have had time to radio for help. The lack of a call “suggests something very sudden and very violent happened,” said William Waldock, who teaches accident investigation at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Prescott, Ariz.
It initially appears that there was either an abrupt breakup of the plane or something that led it into a quick, steep dive. Some experts even suggested an act of terrorism or a pilot purposely crashing the jet.
“Either you had a catastrophic event that tore the airplane apart, or you had a criminal act,” said Scott Hamilton, managing director of aviation consultancy Leeham Co. “It was so quick and they didn’t radio.”
No matter how unlikely a scenario, it’s too early to rule out any possibilities, experts warn. The best clues will come with the recovery of the flight data and voice recorders and an examination of the wreckage.
Airplane crashes typically occur during takeoff and the climb away from an airport, or while coming in for a landing, as in last year’s fatal crash of an Asiana Airlines jet in San Francisco.  Just 9 percent of fatal accidents happen when a plane is at cruising altitude, according to a statistical summary of commercial jet airplane accidents done by Boeing.
Capt. John M. Cox, who spent 25 years flying for US Airways and is now CEO of Safety Operating Systems, said that whatever happened to the Malaysia Airlines jet, it occurred quickly. The problem had to be big enough, he said, to stop the plane’s transponder from broadcasting its location, although the transponder can be purposely shut off from the cockpit.
One of the first indicators of what happened will be the size of the debris field. If it is large and spread out over tens of miles, then the plane likely broke apart at a high elevation. That could signal a bomb or a massive airframe failure. If it is a smaller field, the plane probably fell from 35,000 feet intact, breaking up upon contact with the water.
“We know the airplane is down. Beyond that, we don’t know a whole lot,” Cox said.
The Boeing 777 has one of the best safety records in aviation history. It first carried passengers in June 1995 and went 18 years without a fatal accident. That streak came to an end with the July 2013 Asiana crash. Three of the 307 people aboard that flight died. Saturday’s Malaysia Airlines flight carrying 239 passengers and crew would only be the second fatal incident for the aircraft type.
“It’s one of the most reliable airplanes ever built,” said John Goglia, a former member of the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board.
Some of the possible causes for the plane disappearing include:  
- A catastrophic structural failure of the airframe or its Rolls-Royce Trent 800 engines. Most aircraft are made of aluminum which is susceptible to corrosion over time, especially in areas of high humidity. But given the plane’s long history and impressive safety record, experts suggest this is unlikely.
More of a threat to the plane’s integrity is the constant pressurization and depressurization of the cabin for takeoff and landing. In April 2011, a Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 made an emergency landing shortly after takeoff from Phoenix after the plane’s fuselage ruptured, causing a 5-foot tear. The plane, with 118 people on board, landed safely. But such a rupture is less likely in this case. Airlines fly the 777 on longer distances, with many fewer takeoffs and landings, putting less stress on the airframe.
” It’s not like this was Southwest Airlines doing 10 flights a day,” Hamilton said. “There’s nothing to suggest there would be any fatigue issues.”
- Bad weather. Planes are designed to fly through most severe storms. However, in June 2009, an Air France flight from Rio de Janeiro to Paris crashed during a bad storm over the Atlantic Ocean. Ice built up on the Airbus A330′s airspeed indicators, giving false readings. That, and bad decisions by the pilots, led the plane into a stall causing it to plummet into the sea. All 228 passengers and crew aboard died. The pilots never radioed for help.
In the case of Saturday’s Malaysia Airlines flight, all indications show that there were clear skies.
- Pilot disorientation. Curtis said that the pilots could have taken the plane off autopilot and somehow went off course and didn’t realize it until it was too late. The plane could have flown for another five or six hours from its point of last contact, putting it up to 3,000 miles away. This is unlikely given that the plane probably would have been picked up by radar somewhere. But it’s too early to eliminate it as a possibility.
- Failure of both engines. In January 2008, a British Airways 777 crashed about 1,000 feet short of the runway at London’s Heathrow Airport. As the plane was coming in to land, the engines lost thrust because of ice buildup in the fuel system. There were no fatalities.
Loss of both engines is possible in this case, but Hamilton said the plane could glide for up to 20 minutes, giving pilots plenty of time to make an emergency call. When a US Airways A320 lost both of its engines in January 2009 after taking off from LaGuardia Airport in New York it was at a much lower elevation. But Capt. Chesley B. “Sully” Sullenberger still had plenty of communications with air traffic controllers before ending the six-minute flight in the Hudson River.
- A bomb. Several planes have been brought down including Pan Am Flight 103 between London and New York in December 1988. There was also an Air India flight in June 1985 between Montreal and London and a plane in September 1989 flown by French airline Union des Transports Aériens which blew up over the Sahara.
- Hijacking. A traditional hijacking seems unlikely given that a plane’s captors typically land at an airport and have some type of demand. But a 9/11-like hijacking is possible, with terrorists forcing the plane into the ocean.
- Pilot suicide. There were two large jet crashes in the late 1990s _ a SilkAir flight and an EgyptAir flight_ that are believed to have been caused by pilots deliberately crashing the planes. Government crash investigators never formally declared the crashes suicides but both are widely acknowledged by crash experts to have been caused by deliberate pilot actions.
- Accidental shoot-down by some country’s military. In July 1988, the United States Navy missile cruiser USS Vincennes accidently shot down an Iran Air flight, killing all 290 passengers and crew. In September 1983, a Korean Air Lines flight was shot down by a Russian fighter jet.

Malaysia Airlines flight’s disappearance

Missing plane last has contact with air traffic controllers 120 nautical miles off the east coast of the Malaysian town of Kota Bharu   ( FIle photo: Reuters)

Here is a timeline of events in the disappearance of a Malaysia Airlines jetliner which vanished from radar screens on a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing early on Saturday:
Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 Flight departs at 12:21 a.m. (1421 GMT Friday), and is due to land in Beijing at 6:30 a.m. (2230 GMT) the same day On board the Boeing 777-200ER are 227 passengers and 12 crew. Airline loses contact with plane between 1-2 hours after takeoff.
No distress signal is given, and weather is clear at the time.
Missing plane last has contact with air traffic controllers 120 nautical miles off the east coast of the Malaysian town of Kota Bharu.
Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) says plane failed to check in as scheduled at 1721 GMT while flying over sea between Malaysia and Ho Chi Minh City.
Flight tracking website flightaware.com shows plane flew northeast over Malaysia after takeoff and climbed to altitude of 35,000 feet. The flight vanished from website’s tracking records a minute later while still climbing.
Malaysia and Vietnam conduct joint search and rescue operation. China says dispatches two maritime rescue ships to the South China Sea to help in search and rescue. US says also sends ships and plane to help.
Malaysia search ships see no sign of wreckage in area where flights last made contact.
Airline says flight was carrying 154 people from China and Taiwan, 38 Malaysians, seven Indonesians and six Australians. Manifest shows other nationalities as being from: India, France, United States, New Zealand, Ukraine, Canada, Russia, Italy, the Netherlands and Austria.
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang calls Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, urges Malaysia quickly and vigorously push search and rescue work. Vietnam says giant oil slick and column of smoke seen in its waters.
Two men from Austria and Italy, listed among the passengers on a missing Malaysia Airlines flight, are not in fact on board. They say their passports were stolen.
Malaysia Airlines says fears worst and is working with  US company that specialises in disaster recovery.
The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board dispatches  team to Asia to help investigate incident. Technical advisers from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration and Boeing also fly to Asia.
Malaysian authorities investigate identities of at least two other passengers in addition to two who were found to be using stolen passports. Malaysian Transport and Defence Minister says Malaysian investigators meet counterparts from the US FBI.
Radar indicates flight may have turned back from its scheduled route to Beijing before disappearing. Malaysian rescue teams expand their search to the country’s western coast.
Malaysian authorities pore over CCTV footage and question immigration officers and guards at Kuala Lumpur’s international airport, concerned that a security breach may be connected to incident.
Interpol says at least two passports recorded as lost or stolen in its database were used by passengers, and it is “examining additional suspect passports”.
Malaysia’s state news agency quotes Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi as saying the passengers using the stolen European passports were of Asian appearance.
Investigators narrow focus of inquiries on possibility plane disintegrated in mid-flight, a source who is involved in the investigations in Malaysia tells Reuters.
Vietnamese navy plane spots an object suspected of belonging to the airliners. Too dark to be certain the object is part of plane. More aircraft to be dispatched to investigate the site, in waters off southern Vietnam, in the morning.

US investigators en route to help in Malaysia Airlines probe

WASHINGTON: The US National Transportation Safety Board said that a team of investigators traveled to Asia late Saturday to help in the missing Malaysia Airlines jet probe.
The team will be "ready to assist with the investigation of the March 8 Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 event," the NTSB said in a brief statement.
"Because of the lengthy travel time from the United States, the NTSB has sent a team of investigators, accompanied by technical advisers from Boeing and the Federal Aviation Administration, to the area so they will be positioned to offer US assistance," the statement read.
Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 vanished from the radar early Saturday somewhere between Malaysia's east coast and southern Vietnam after departing Kuala Lumpur for Beijing with 239 people aboard.
"Once the location of the airplane is determined, International Civil Aviation Organization protocols will determine which country will lead the investigation," the US statement read.
The statement added that the country "that leads the investigation will release all information about it."

IAG airlines group flies into profit

LONDON: International Airlines Group soared back into net profit in 2013 on a strong performance from its British Airways unit and from recently-acquired Spanish budget carrier Vueling, it said Friday.
Profits after tax stood at 122 million euros ($167 million) last year also as its main Spanish carrier Iberia narrowed losses, IAG said in a results statement. IAG had suffered a net loss of 716 million euros in 2012.
Revenues grew 3.1 percent to 18.7 billion euros and fuel costs slid 2.5 percent to 5.95 billion euros.
"In 2013, we strengthened the group by acquiring Vueling, embarking on Iberia's transformation and enhancing British Airways' revenue performance," said chief executive Willie Walsh.
"This has led to a strong financial recovery and return to profitability." Group operating profit, stripping out taxes and one-off costs, stood at 770 million euros compared with a loss of 23 million euros in 2012.
BA benefited also from additional slots at London's Heathrow airport following integration of bmi, the no-frills carrier that IAG purchased in 2012 from German rival Lufthansa.
At the same time, Iberia slashed its operating loss to 166 million euros compared with 351 million euros last time around.
"Iberia has made huge progress on cost control as its restructuring takes shape and great credit should be given to all those involved," Walsh said.
He added that recent pay agreements between Iberia and its pilot and cabin crew unions were key to reducing the airline's costs further and "providing the foundation for profitable growth".
Iberia employee costs down:
Last year, Iberia's restructuring saw 2,500 staff leave the airline via a voluntary redundancy programme, while salaries were reduced by between 11 percent and 18 percent.
As a result, Iberia's employee costs were down 14.3 percent compared with 2012.
London-listed IAG also noted that Vueling was a "great asset" which had helped to increase IAG's capacity by 5.2 percent, primarily in domestic and European markets.
BA's capacity meanwhile increased by 2.0 percent after the introduction of the Airbus A380 and Boeing 787 into the airline's fleet.
"The new aircrafts' economic and environmental performance has been excellent and customers love them," Walsh said.
Looking ahead, IAG forecast that it would make "steady progress" this year towards its 2015 group operating profit target of 1.8 billion euros.
Despite the impressive annual results, IAG's share price sank on Friday as investors took the opportunity to take profits after the stock almost doubled in one year.
In afternoon deals, IAG shares price shed 3.27 percent to 437.02 pence on London's FTSE 100 index, which was 0.15 percent lower at 6,800.45 points.
"For now, IAG is progressing," said Keith Bowman, analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown Stockbrokers.
"The removal of costs remains central, with labour productivity and aircraft fuel efficiency still topping the agenda.
"Passenger revenues have again grown, whilst expected growth from Asia and Africa remains firmly in management sights."
IAG was formed in January 2011 when BA and Iberia merged in a tie-up that was aimed at slashing costs. The group has 431 aircraft in service and employs more than 60,000 people.