Tag: first officer

My First Flight as a Trainee Pilot (Flight Cadet)

Anil Goyal

 “Sometimes, flying feels too God-like to be attained by man. Sometimes, the world from above seems too beautiful, too wonderful, too distant for human eyes to see.” Charles A. Lindbergh Growing up in India in the 1980s that too in tier II city, I would have been lucky if I got a chance to travel on a plane. Almost every child I had met, dreamt about becoming a pilot. Maybe this was just because we wanted to fly and reach the clouds above, or because we saw in cartoons and…

Formation Aerobatics Display Team: SKAT

Anil Goyal

Even the winds stop to stare at their daring acts. The formation aerobatic team and their gravity-defying feats at zipping speeds. Loop, barrel rolls, rolls, clovers, roll of top and hard turns every manoeuvre that is hard to fathom is done in perfect precision and position. In this article, we will meet one of the members of this team. I freely admit that learning this stuff is tenuous and demanding – even harder than being married. Two aircraft close formation – which is much easier and simpler would give me…

Its Time for Airlines to Go Green

Anil Goyal

Air transport connects the world, bringing people and goods together. But the benefits of aviation also have an environmental downside. Emissions, noise, industrial processes, and waste must be managed by the industry, reduced, and where possible eliminated. Reducing climate change is a serious global challenge. Commercial aviation is responsible for about 2% of global carbon emissions. In 2009 the aviation industry put in place an ambitious and robust carbon emissions strategy, with targets and a four-pillar action plan. The aviation industry recognizes the need to address the global challenge of…

When it isn’t the Safest form of Travel….

Anil Goyal

On 7 August 2020, Air India Express Flight 1344, a COVID-19repatriation flight, part of the Vande Bharat Mission from Dubai, United Arab Emirates, to Kozhikode, India, overshot the runway during landing run at Calicut International Airport. The aircraft fell into a gorge killing 16 passengers, and both pilots. The remaining four cabin crew and 168 passengers survived, of whom over 100 were injured. A very tragic accident. The accident has rattled the nation, the aviation community, and especially all the pilots in particular. Flying is not inherently dangerous but it is terribly unforgiving. The aviation industry which was fraught with adversity and at times…

What Airline Pilots need to know about difference in bird and drone strike?

Anil Goyal

US Airways flight 1549 presents a single most illustrious example of the kind of damage a bird strike can cause and piloting-skill required to be able to bring out everyone safely from a disastrous situation. Birds are intelligent species which have natural instinct to survive and avoid a collision while in the air or on the ground. With their sharp vision and quick decisive ability, they are able to avert not only other avian traffic but also human-made obstacle and flying objects. Differences between drone and birds. 1.   For the same…

What pilots should do to avoid mid air collision?

Anil Goyal

The risk of midair collision is greatest from takeoff to top of climb, and again from start of descent to landing. Don’t assume you’ll always be able to ‘see and avoid.’ You, the pilot, are responsible for your own separation and lookout. Air regulation prescribes that when weather conditions permit, regardless of whether the operation is conducted under instrument flight rules (IFR) or visual flight rules (VFR), each person operating an aircraft shall maintain vigilance so as to see and avoid other aircraft. Remember that most midair collision accidents and…

What pilots should know about circuit breakers and the risk of resetting tripped CB?

Anil Goyal

I was recently asked to re-cycle PA system CB on ground by the engineering staff as the system was not working. Without giving it a second thought I did that and the system was working again. Subsequently this made me think. Is this normal? But then what about tripped CBs? What are circuit breakers? The single most “proliferated” item of the electrical system in a modern cockpit is the circuit breaker. These round black heads line the cockpit’s walls and ceiling. AC or DC, ganged, multi- or single-pole, they control,…

What pilots should know about lightning and its effect?

Anil Goyal

Recently I was operating to Colombo. ATIS reported thunderstorm activity around aerodrome and heavy rain. Subsequently, the Director reported Aerodrome lightning warning. After we landed, we realized that all ground movement has been suspended due to lightning warning, and passengers had to wait for 45 minutes before de-boarding. Airplanes get struck by lightning frequently. Fortunately, they’re built to handle it. The average commercial airliner gets hit by lightning a little more than once a year according to Lightning Technologies Inc., a Massachusetts-based company that manufactures lightning protection for aircraft. The last confirmed commercial plane crash directly attributed to…