How United made a textbook landing while Air India crashed
Both the United and the Air India incidents involved the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner and both faced the same problem of mid-air engine shut-down too. The outcomes were starkly opposite. Although the latter lost both engines, what could have prevented a disaster.
WASHINGTON DC/NEW DELHI, July 30: A Boeing operating Munich-bound United Airlines
flight UA108 was forced to declare a Mayday and make a turnback to Washington
Dulles airport shortly after takeoff on Friday as one of its engines developed
a snag and shut down.
Both the United and the Air India incidents involved the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner
and both faced the same problem of mid-air engine shut-down too. Although the
latter lost both engines. The outcomes were starkly opposite.
The United flight took off at 5.40 pm local time. As the aircraft climbed,
the flight crew reported failure of the left engine and immediately declared
a Mayday, the distress call. Air traffic control (ATC) instructed the pilot
to stop their climb at 5,000 feet and safe separation from other air traffic
was made. It circled north-west of the airport.
As it was on a long-haul international flight, the jet was carrying full capacity
fuel and emergency landing with that weight could exceed structural limits.
The crew requested clearance to dump the fuel as per the standard procedure.
The ATC also directed the pilot to a safe holding pattern at 6,000 feet and
kept other traffic away.
After the fuel dumping, the ATC cleared the aircraft for an instrument landing
system (ILS) on runway 19. Emergency arrangements were made. It landed and the
passengers and crew disembarked safely.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has launched an investigation.
How Air India Boeing couldn't make it
Unlike United, the London-bound Air India Boeing crashed in Ahmedabad just
after being airborne, killing 241 passengers and crew on board. There was only
one survivor. While United faced a single engine failure Air India Boeing lost
both engines at 650 feet altitude. It crashed into the medical college building
nearby.
The takeoff and the following climb-out are the most critical periods in flight.
There is little scope for manoeuvring. Manoeuvring needs altitude.
United climbed to 5000 feet from 1000 (?) when it faced left engine shutdown
while Air India's both engines were shut down at 650 feet.
The United crew executed textbook emergency procedures, including fuel jettisoning
(to reduce weight before landing) and ILS landing.
Altitude buys time for troubleshooting, decision-making, manoeuvring and engine
recovery (Air India case). The point here to be highlighted is: Lives would
have been saved had the Boeing attained a little more altitude. Because the
system was working as seen in the video - the plane is not in vertical fall
even without the engines. It is gliding like in the miraculous Hudson river
landing (no casualties), not the vertical fall of the Ethiopian flight (all
lives lost), which lost the engines as well as the system.
At 650 feet, the Air India aircraft had less than 30 seconds gliding time before
impact, with system working and engines shut. A successful restart would have
required 10-20 seconds time and about 3,000 feet to stabilize and climb. And
more time to produce the necessary thrust to climb. Resetting the fuel switches
may have taken 10 seconds because of the startle effect on pilots.
Engine 1 (left) showed signs of recovery and engine 2 was attempting to relight.
The aircraft was already descending about to hit the ground.
Had the aircraft been at a higher altitude, even with that delay, the crew
might have had enough time to recover thrust and regain control.
The United aircraft had already climbed to about 5,000 feet when the issue
became apparent. It climbed a bit higher to 6,000 feet, which is a safer altitude
for fuel dumping.
Dumping is typically done at 6,000 feet or higher so the fuel disperses into
a fine mist and evaporates before reaching the ground. The rate depends on fuel
pressure and aircraft type. For example, a Boeing 747 might dump 1–2 tons per
minute, or use the rule of thumb: dump time = (dump weight ÷ 2) + 5 minutes.
The aircraft then entered a holding pattern northwest of Washington, where
it circled for 2 hours and 38 minutes to safely jettison fuel before landing
back at Washington Dulles Airport. The right engine remained operational, allowing
the aircraft to maintain flight and manoeuvre safely
The CCTV footage and the video circulating on social media do not indicate any serious abnormalities in takeoff or descent, it has been confirmed. The disaster is becoming curiouser and curiouser. The flight path was not curvy. And the aircraft maintained a steady, gliding descent with its nose straight and the wings perfectly level. The pilot's distress call does not specify what prevented lift and climb-out. Here are some expert opinions. The sole purpose is to raise travellers' awareness about air travel.
Many of the victims were charred beyond recognition, making identification difficult. Three hundred nineteen body parts have been sent for DNA matching with relatives to determine the identities.
A comment on social media on Kanimozhi's answer on the question of national language read: "Daughter of Kalaignar M. Karunanidhi. Delivered the Birthday Present to her Father!!" (Karunanidhi was born on June 3, 1924)
(Today's headlines )
Trump said, "Elon is not really leaving" and will be "back and forth" to the White House because DOGE is his "baby." "I think he’s going to be doing a lot of things.”
Musk wrote: "My scheduled time as a Special Government Employee comes to an end... The @DOGE mission will only strengthen over time as it becomes a way of life throughout the government." Now on it will be on auto-pilot.
PROGNOSIS: DOGE was prematurely born to protect the country by aborting an impending socio-economic disaster which very few people could see coming.
Although its immediate job was to save American taxpayers billions by slashing waste, eliminating fraud, cutting Government bloat and ensuring utmost efficiency in administration for the good of the people.
(Today's headlines )
"Coming from a system like in England, empowering," she says she never had an idea of this sort of experience... being asked to “socialise with middle-aged men” who financed the event...humiliating...
Originally from Junagadh, Gujarat, Pataudi was relocated to Etawah Lion Safari in September 2019 before being transferred to Gorakhpur Zoo in 2021. Recently it was receiving treatment for pancreatic and liver infections. After tigress Shakti died in the zoo on May 7 due to bird flu, Pataudi was shifted to Kanpur. Some birds are also reported to have died mysteriously around Gorakhpur. All zoos in UP are closed for fear of a bird flu outbreak.
Three other animals too had died - a tiger, a leopardess and a female wolf. Wolf Bhairavi died last Saturday, leopardess Mona died the Thursday before that and tiger Kesari died on March 30. Some of them had Shakti's symptoms but the cause of death has not been confirmed yet.
As tourist inflow is an indicator of normalcy returning to an erstwhile terrorist infested Valley, the Government has been trying hard to make everything travel-friendly, launching lot many projects and bringing Kashmir on the national rail map that physically completes the process of Kashmir's integration with the rest of India. And that defeats the designs of Pakistan eyeing Kashmir and simply explains a recrudescence of terrorism in J&K.
"It's a big victory not just for Tamil Nadu but for all Indian States. DMK will continue to struggle for and win State autonomy and Federal polity," Chief Minister MK Stalin said.
Of 2.08 km in length, it features 99 spans and a 72.5-metre vertical lift span that rises up to a height of 17 metres, facilitating smooth movement of ships while ensuring seamless train services to the holy town of Rameswaram on Pamban island.
ANALYSIS: There is a lot of hue and cry around the world over Trump's tariffs. But tariff, simply put, is a tax. But unlike tax, it affects the exporting country too. Domestic prices will go up for some time. Nothing more will happen, good or bad!
What motivated Trump's newfound policy, apart from being a stunt to justify his existence in the White House, is a false realisation that increased tariff will make foreign goods prohibitive, thereby boosting local production, and create more jobs, and more prosperity will ring in! If that is true, India would have been shining by now: Producing own Rolls-Royce La Rose Noire Droptail and Scotch Whiskies! And what about coconut and palm oil by America!
(Today's headlines )
PROGNOSIS: It looks a Real New Trump is emerging - courageous, balanced, powerful and disinterested. Determined to save his country from the cliff, he has done quite a few draconian things that will reduce the burden of debts of the Federal entity, like the golden handshake, stopping senseless funding, pulling out of a worthless WHO. Shutting the Education Department is another. On the other hand, running it is also not the Centre's job either (We will convincingly elaborate it in the next chapter).
In India the scene is just the opposite. Centralisation is the core agenda and identity of the ruling dispensation without which it has no existence, or in other words, it exists for that set of schemes only. A realisation of this never dawned upon any Opposition party in 2014 or any time thereafter, what to talk of being able to see it coming 70 years ago! The consequence of all this violation of basic natural law of the universe we cannot predict.
THE AMERICAN CONUNDRUM: Political venom has migrated to top echelons in the US. It was reported last year NASA has become politicised, vitiated. But NASA refuted the charge. How Boeing developed a glitch but its unmanned return was smooth. When Suni-Wilmore were stranded last June, why the return was set for February? Because that comes only after January 20! SpaceX called the shots, for itself and for Trump. Then the mission was manipulated for March for a better bargain! In between, what made Elon Musk 'predict' during campaign if Kamala Harris wins he would be in jail. In politics, it is said, "the only rule is there are no rules." Difficult times for Americans too.
The terminations are part of a large-scale exercise going on all across Fed departments and organisations to reduce wasteful Government expenditure as decided by a Trump in a mess gone berserk, and improve administrative efficiency following the whims of billionaire and his associate Elon MusK and his DOGE. It has not been shared how terminations are going to raise the efficiency bar! It looks like Trump has stolen some of the prescriptions meant for India. But the American problems are quite different.
Suddenly these colonial clerks feel this effortless, little rule will tremendously enhance security and convenience for the railway passengers manifold. More stations will be covered in the next 77 years! (Also See:
New Delhi station stampede... What went wrong?)
ANALYSIS: "The standard operating procedure for deportations by aircraft used by ICE that is effective from 2012 provides for the use of restraints," says the Government. That means, it is taken for granted the US will set the standard for deportations. For another, the Government is more interested in comparing with what happened in 2012 under a different Government to justify its own compliance! No surprise, others are trampling upon us. (How we conduct ourselves inside decides, inherently, how we are treated outside) Thirdly, the Government blamed the gangs doing the business of human trafficking for the illegal migration. For all the crimes taking place in the country, let us blame the criminals! Funny! We will never move an inch forward! The mindset defines what we are.
Meanwhile, a UN-returned Congress leader Shashi Tharoor sounded like a layman when he said, "If they are citizens of India we have an obligation to take them back." Who said 'No'?. He should know that is not the issue now. Who will identify an undocumented person, and how?
OPINION: A nutty 'new' Trump must know checking illegal immigration is his job and not theirs. And 'penalty' tariff is not a solution. However, Trump talking about "major threat" from "illegal aliens" (illegal immigration) is about what he believes, right or wrong, and to that extent he is genuine and honest; it is certainly not a pretension to prop up his political relevance. Bullies are always true to themselves. Look at India's crooked politicians shouting day in, day out to prove they are more patriotic, and to whip up public sentiments for them to ride on!
The function was held indoors from 12 pm (10:30 pm IST) at the rotunda of the US Capitol building because of unusually intense cold and snow. Delivering his inaugural address, Trump remarked, “The golden age of America begins right now," and just hours later signed a slew of executive orders to redeem the election pledges.
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