ghostrider883

The words in Hindi painted on the fuselage is "Bharatiya Vayu Sena" - Indian Air Force

India’s first of six stretched-fuselage C-130J-30s currently on order, the lead aircraft is shown carrying the registration KC-3801.

IAF Contingent For Exercise Garuda Flagged Off

Paolo, Nice skins and I hope one day you will eventually make an Indian AF skin for it :-) .

Pilot error caused M'lore air tragedy? 31 May 2010, 0838 hrs IST, TNN The horrific Air India Express crash in Mangalore on May 22 that killed 158 people could have possibly been averted had the expat commander heeded his Indian co-pilot's advice. Records of the conversation between the pilots and ATC has shown that co-pilot H S Ahluwalia more than once urged Captain Zlatko Glusica not to land and instead go around. Importantly, Ahluwalia's warning had come well before the aircraft had descended below decision height - the critical level at or before which a final decision on whether to land or go around is to be taken - said highly placed sources. Ahluwalia, who was based in Mangalore and had landed there 66 times, voiced his concern when the aircraft was about 800 feet high, they added. "Ahluwalia warned at least twice against landing and urged his commander to go around. He had probably realized the aircraft was either too fast or too high on approach - indicating unstable approach - and would not be able to stop safely on the table-top Mangalore runway. In such situations, going around is a standard operating procedure which enables the aircraft to land safely in second attempt," said a source at ATC. The aircraft (IX 812) was coming from Dubai. But the warning went in vain and the aircraft did not go around. It landed, only to crash and fall off the cliff from this table-top runway. The latest revelation only confirms Ahluwalia's excellent knowledge of the local runway condition. The co-pilot lived in the city. He was due for commandership later in May. The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) has guidelines for cockpit resource management (CRM) that makes it mandatory for commanders to listen to their comparatively less experienced co-pilots as they may also have something valid to say. According to industry sources, CRM training is very strong in Jet Airways, where Ahluwalia had served earlier. "This is the backbone of Jet and this training would have made Ahluwalia call out very strongly," said sources. Authorities are now pinning their hopes on details from the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) and flight data recorder (black box) to know what exactly transpired inside the cockpit in the final moments. More importantly, they now want to know what made Ahluwalia give the warning for a go-around and why the commander did still went ahead to land. But the CVR and black box have got substantially damaged and may have to be sent to the manufacturer (Boeing) in US for decoding. The Boeing 737-800 touched down after overshooting 2,000 feet of the 8,000-feet-long runway. The second error followed seconds later. Sources said preliminary probe is indicating that the crew realized they may not be able to stop in the remaining airstrip and attempted to take off again. But it was too late by then. A Boeing 737-800 can stop in 4,500-5,000 feet. The Mangalore runway is 8,000 feet long and even if the pilots had overshot the touchdown point by 2,000 feet, there was enough length left to stop. "Initial observations reveal the pilots may have attempted to take off again," a source said. Meanwhile, the aviation ministry has decided to extend Mangalore runway's length by 1,000 feet.

Nice car Nesher. She is indeed a beauty. I have a Hyundai i20. Can you post a few snaps of the interiors? Hyundai cars rock in terms of build quality, comfort and safety. The i10 and i20 are other examples.

Mangalore is my hometown. So it was shocking for me when I saw it this morning. Air India flight IX-892 was the lone international flight operating into from Dubai into Mangalore. Have been in and out of the airport several times to and from Mumbai. The airport is basically on top of a hill , on both sides of the runway you have deep cliffs. So if the aircraft overshoots, you have nowhere to go but down into the cliff. 158 people are dead(almost all of them charred to death, many of them in several pieces), 8 survived with a few injuries.All are Indians except for the chief pilot, who was British. Primary investigations points to a pilot error. The aircraft overshot the landing threshold, ran into the localiser building and blasted through the boundary wall into the cliff. Chief Pilot was a British national of Serbian origin, Captain Zlatko Glusica, First Officer Ahluwalia from Bangalore, airhostess Sujatha Survase, aircrew Mohammed Ali and Tejal Kamalkar, are among the six crew members who died in the crash. Three people were pulled out by rescuers from the wreckage later,chances of them surviving are very less. lets hope they survive. RIP to the people who died in such a horrific and tragic manner.

Kasab gets death for 'waging war' against India http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ajmal_Kasab Ajmal Kasab, the lone surviving terrorist in the 26/11 Mumbai carnage, was on Thursday sentenced to be hanged till death. Kasab shall be hanged by the neck until death," Special Judge M L Tahaliyani said while reading out the sentence awarded to the 22-year-old terrorist. The death sentence will be subject to confirmation by the Bombay high court. If ratified, Kasab, a foot soldier of terror outfit Lashkar-e-Tayiba, can also appeal against it in the Supreme Court, and then appeal to the President for mercy. Kasab was awarded death penalty on five counts -- attempt to murder, conspiracy to wage war, collecting arms with an intention to wage war against the nation, kidnapping in order to commit murder and causing explosion to endanger life or property. Kasab, who wore a white kurta-pyjama, sat stoically through the proceedings in the specially created court room in the high-security Arthur Road jail. After pronouncing the sentence, the judge asked Kasab to stand up and explained to him the verdict in Hindi. "Pakistan ke LeT se milkar saazish ki uske liye maut, khoon kiya uske liye maut aur bharat sarkar ke khilaf jung cheda uske liye maut, .aapko marte dam tak sazayen maut di jayegi (For conspiring with Pakistan-based LeT, for committing murders and for waging war against India, you will be hanged till death)," the judge told Kasab. When the judge read out the sentence in Hindi to Kasab, he showed no remorse or any reaction. Asked if he had anything to say, Kasab waved his hand to indicate 'nothing'. Kasab, who smiled once to himself, remained quiet throughout the proceedings. But in the end he seemed to have a minor altercation with the guards around him, ending it by holding his head as if to say 'don't trouble me'. It took the judge one hour and 15 minutes to read out the sentence. "In the court's opinion, Kasab has no chance to reform. Keeping such a terrorist alive will be a lingering danger to the society and the Indian government," Tahaliyani said while pronouncing his verdict. The judge cited the example of the Kandahar hijack case, in which arrested terrorists were swapped for the passengers held hostage. "If Kasab is kept alive, this situation may occur again," he said. The judge said Kasab had joined terror outfit Lashkar-e-Tayiba voluntarily and offered himself to be a mujahideen (holy warrior). After the sentence was read out, Tahaliyani explained to him in Hindi that he had been given death penalty on four counts and asked whether he wanted to say anything. But the Pakistani terrorist simply shook his head, after which he was taken away by the police back to Arthur Road Jail. "Keeping Kasab alive would be a lingering danger to the society and the Indian government. The possibility of Kasab reforming is completely ruled out by the barbaric manner in which he had behaved. When the planned attack was delayed, he was very anxious to attack India. There are too many aggravating circumstances and the court has no option but to impose the death penalty," he said. Flashing the victory sign, public prosecutor Ujwal Nikam expressed happiness over the capital punishment. "I am happy because my effort to bring relief to the families of those killed by terrorists has met with success," said Nikam, for whom Kasab was the 38th person to be given death penalty in a case handled by him. Kasab's lawyer K P Pawar said he would not criticise the judgment but his client has the right to appeal against it. Kasab was on May 3 convicted of almost all the 86 charges. Justifying the death penalty for Kasab, the court observed, "The life of any person who wages war against the country stands forfeited". The judge also said that Kasab had felt no remorse for his actions and hence there was no chance of rehabilitation or reformation. He observed that Kasab was mentally prepared to attack India and had voluntarily joined LeT in Rawalpindi and offered himself to be a Fidayeen (suicide killer). While reading out the sentence, he observed "the terror acts were meticulously planned with use of modern equipment and techniques and necessary precautions were taken to see that the attack was a success". "There are no words to explain the extent of brutality. There are no circumstances to create a balance in favour of the accused and he does not deserve lesser punishment," Judge Tahaliyani observed. While remaining non-committal on whether he would move a superior court in appeal, Kasab's lawyer K P Pawar said, "I will be given an opportunity to meet him. Then I will ask him and then it (whether to file an appeal) will be decided." Prosecutor Nikam urged the court to levy compensation for damages to property during the terror siege to the tune of Rs 155.73 crore. Asked by the judge who will pay it, he shot back that the LeT should shell out the fine. The court, however, said it was disinclined to consider Nikam's plea after which he did not press for it. Crime branch chief Himanshu Roy said the judge has correctly convicted Kasab and awarded the death penalty. "We welcome the sentence. I feel it was a very important probe. Those thinking about terror activities against the country will also have an adverse impact," he added. On May 3, Kasab was pronounced guilty under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, Arms Act, Explosives Act, Explosive Substances Act, Railways Act, Passport Act, Customs Act, Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act and Unlawful Activities Prevention Act.

Keeping him alive would probably do more harm than good. Apart from wasting the Indian taxpayer's money on his food and security, it would also cause a repeat of IC-814 and other hostage situations where terrorists based from "you know which country" demanded release of Kasab and his bretheren Indian Airlines IC-814 hijacking The fellow who was freed roams freely in that country and gives inflammatory speeches against India, while the govt of that country does nothing and ran a farce court trial against him. IF you click on the below link,you'll see what I mean. It is a tactic used by terrorists to blackmail India List of hijacking of Indian aeroplanes The pig in his confession said he was disappointed to see less people at Mumbai's Central Railway Station and enjoyed seeing people dieing and in pain. Such people who kill innocents in the name of God deserve to live? While I agree hanging him is too easy a death for him. He'll answer for his sins in hell. He'll be so disappointed when he doesn't get to meet 72 virgins in heaven for his "jihaad".

Great list lindr. I am not able to PM you, hence I am asking, any news about the IAF MiG-27M UPG model? I think I had sent you the pics.

IAF Statement: The first of the three Indian Air Force AWACS (Airborne Warning and Control System) platform arrived in India from Israel today. The giant IL-76 configured in its new avatar was escorted by three Mig-29 and Jaguar aircraft each that took off from an advance fighter airbase of South Western Air Command (SWAC). The fighter formations caught up with the AWACS mid-air and escorted it as it entered the Indian FIR (Flight Information Region), till safe touchdown at the Jamnagar airbase, close to midday, today. Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, SWAC, Air Marshal KD Singh, Air Defence Commander Air Vice Marshal P Singh and the AOC Jamnagar, Air Commodore C Hari Kumar and air warriors of the airbase welcomed the crew of the AWACS aircraft that included the Commanding Officer of the first AWACS squadron, Group Captain B Saju. Their maiden touchdown on Indian soil also marks the first landing of the AWACS in an IAF airbase. "It was a great feeling to be escorted by our fighters and it feels really good to be back", said Group Captain B Saju upon arrival. Flown by a full complement of IAF pilots belonging to the newly formed squadron from Ovda International airport, located in southern Israel, the aircraft undertook an eight-and-a-half hour's flight skirting around several countries taking the aerial route over the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea before landing at Jamnagar. The aircraft is slated to arrive at Palam airport tomorrow where an induction ceremony is scheduled on May 28. The AWACS are slated to operate from the Agra airbase under Central Air Command and frenetic preparations ahead of its first arrival to join the extended fleet of the IL-76 family are complete.

Awesome, as always, Paulo

India's C-130J Specs C-130J-30 & KC-130 specs integrated into one a/c?

Sad, really sad.

Notice the tail no. - K-3801

New Phantom model?

India test flies light combat chopper successfully :cool: BANGALORE: India has successfully flight tested a prototype of the Light Combat Helicopter (LCH), designed and developed by the state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL), a top official said Tuesday. "The maiden test flight of the LCH Monday evening was successfully. Though it was a short haul lasting about 20 minutes, the performance was good," HAL chairman and managing director Ashok Nayak told IANS. The 5.5-tonne attack copter is a derivative version of HAL's flagship product Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH), christened Dhruv. "We will be conducting more test flights to evaluate its various parameters at different altitudes and conditions. We are looking at reducing the weight considerably for better manoeuvrability," Nayak said. Made of lightweight composites, the LCH can operate at high altitudes up to 6,000 metres or 18,000 feet. The prototype was flown with Shakti engine, developed by HAL in partnership with Turbomeca, the French manufacturer of aero engines for global aerospace majors. "Plans to launch the flight trials of LCH have been going on over the last couple of months but got delayed due to reassessment of its various functions and flight control systems," a official of the company's copter division said. HAL plans to hard-sell about 150-175 units of the LCH to the Indian defence services, mainly Indian Air Force (IAF) and Indian Army, which already operates the military version of Dhruv for various functions. Senior officials of the company's helicopter division and IAF were present at the HAL airport to witness the test fight. The LCH will be equipped with a helmet-mounted targeting system, electronic warfare systems and advanced weapons systems. The LCH will incorporate a number of stealth features and crash-worthy landing gear for better survivability. It will have a narrow fuselage, with two crew stations.

Remember guys its a Light Combat Helicopter. I think one of its roles would be close air support in the high mountainous areas. During the Kargil War, a dedicated attack chopper that could attack targets around Kargil heights was sorely missed. Employing the Mi-17 gunship in the war resulted in the tragic loss of an Mi-17 and its aircrew. SO the basic aim is to have a light attack chopper to support the army in mountainous regions.

The tail no. is probably KW-3552

Indian Air Force Signs €560 Million Contract For 12 AW101 Helicopters

If it's the same Gulfknight from USAF forums, he going to be used for payware(or it was). So, those who are signatories to the CA Freeware licensing agreement, beware.

Perfect

Jedi, These helos will be for the IAF's VIP flight/Communications squadron. They currently operate the Mi-8 & Mi-17. Notice the AW-101 in the picture has the same livery. The AW-101 is also in contention for Navy's requirement of 16 ASW & SAR helos.