Dwindling....

If you remember my first post on this blog, and I would be really surprised if you do, I had set out to post an article at least once a week at the minimum. Evidently, I have failed miserably towards that goal. I could probably use ten other adjectives to quantify the extent of my inablity to stick to that promise, but that would be simply a waste of webspace. So I would refrain from that.

The purpose of this post is remind me of the fact that I do have a blog and I need to keep it well updated. I've been following a couple of blogs here and it is amazing how much information and (virtual) experience you can gain from an experienced person's blog. And they still find time to keep their blogs updated notwithstanding their busy schedules. Hats off to you guys.... really appreciate your contribution to the blogosphere - you are truly an inspiration; not only because you are great pilots and engineers, but also because you find time to write for us so that we may view the panoramic vista through your words.

Thank you guys. 

Carry On

When faced with mountains,

And valleys that run deep.

When the way ahead

Is apparently too steep.

Carry on….

 

When the road in front is winding

And it is not worth the trouble.

Each step that you take is tiring

And looks like there is not end to it.

Carry on….

 

What lies ahead, nobody knows,

Smooth path, sharp curves, steep climbs?

These are the paths o'er which life flows,

Do not stop but stay in the grind.

And, carry on….

-BrokenArrow

The Course

(-Myself)

I don’t want to fall to pieces,

This is not the way I'd planned it to be.

All my dreams, mere delusions?

And on the surface, for everyone to see?

 

Not quite the way round,

When I thought I'd hit something - nothing was found.

Striving to be different, I have lost my way,

I wait for the wheel of fortune to turn around.

 

It is not my quality, that is me,

My choices decide what I become.

To take a different road, was what I did,

But this is different, and by a large sum!

 

To fear not, is what I plan to do,

Dear God, I put my trust in you.

You can rise above mountains,

I am sure that I will too!

Last but Not the Least

Killing time? But stop

Stop killing,

stop time.

Can you stop time?

The moments fly too fast for that

But you can

 

Try.

Impede the perpetual flow

that takes you down the ages.

Take the path

less used

and you do not know

where you are headed.

 

Uncertainty,

The less you know

darker it gets.

You draw up a chimera

hope for it to come true.

But will it?

Uncertainty

you hope that it will.

 

Maybe dreams are meant

to be that way,

mere glimpses into

another world

uncertain, uninhabited.

Or you hope

you hope

you try and believe in

dreams turning true;

maybe they do

 

You keep glancing sideways

looking for encouraging signs

that do not exist.

Never stopping

to find any escape route

never finding

continue moving

forward always hoping.

 

Though things look bleak

you march on

and on

and further yet,

till you last

last but not the least.

It is true.

-BrokenArrow

Report Card

 
 

With the DGCA having just published the airline performance data for Jan'09 the feeling is hardly of elation. It is much like a school boy who has not performed well, but could've done worse! The performance of an airline is basically measured in terms of its load factor which is simply the percentage of seats booked on all their flights. Here's a summary of the load factors. As always, the statistic speaks for itself.

 

Airlines	Load Factor
Air India	22.60%
	66.00%	International
Air India Express	33.90%
	74.90%	International
Alliance	54.50%
GoAir	63.80%
Indian Airlines	60.40%
Jet Airways	64.70%
	74.90%	International
JetLite	67.50%
	72.60%	International
Kingfisher	64.20%
	71.00%	International
Paramount	83.10%
SpiceJet	68.30%
Total:	64.20%
	70.40%	International

 

 

As is evident the load factor continues to be less than 65% which is making flying unsustainable for most airlines. The possible solutions for this would be reducing capacity.

Separation - is a good thing.

In so far as human relationships are concerned, separation is something that is dreaded. It has the ability to bring ill-health. In aviation, not so.

Maintain separation, and you'll do just fine. Take for instance the Chakri-Dadri disaster. Two planes hugging each other midair - catastrophe. One of the worst disasters in aviation history. The cause and effect ladder coming into play behind it is a whole different story altogether. What I wish to underline here is the fact that for the "health" of the aircraft and their occupants, you've got to maintain separation between them!

After that incident, the DGCA (Director General of Civil Aviation) made it mandatory for aircraft to carry on board ACAS/TCAS (Airborne/Traffic Collision Avoidance System) equipment. Making India only one of the few countries back then to have this rule in place. 

The system works on the simple principle that if two aircraft were to collide they'd have to be at or about the same altitude AND be approaching each other. So how does it work? A transponder in each of the aircraft transmits its altitude, whenever it receives a Mode C interrogation. This, identifies the aircraft as well as makes it visible as a dot on the RADAR display at the control center. This information is also utilized by other aircraft in the vicinity, to calculate if they're on a collision course. If that is the case, it triggers an alarm. A few binary information is exchanged between the aircraft where the Collision Avoidance Computer calculates a best possible path to evade the conflict.

There's more to it..... but guess I should catch some sleep. Intricate details, I'll discuss later! Thanks for reading.

Every dark cloud, has a silver lining

Is it not amazing, the number of times a stark discovery has been made out of something trivial (the falling apple!). Or the number of times a great invention has just been an accident?

But how many times have you seen a completly avoidable tragedy being the impetus for the implementation of an existing technology, that could've avoided the tragedy in the first place, to prevent it from recurring?

This article alludes to the introduction of the GPS system into the field of civil usage. The Global Positioning System, GPS for short, is a system comprising of satellites that can precisely locate a given 'receiver' on the surface of the earth (or airborne). Before the incident of the Korean Airlines Flight 007 incident, the GPS had been an exclusive property of the US Department of Defence, not intended to be used by the public in general.

The KA flight 007 from New York, after a stopover at Anchorage, was headed  to Seoul, South Korea. The prepared flight plan took the aircraft over international waters. But, due to the aircraft losing its heading and the pilots not recognising the deviation from the flight plan, the plane ventured quite some way into Russian airspace without the necessary clearance. The ill-fated flight was, not long after, shot down by Russian fighter jets.

So, the next time you use GPS to navigate your car, you know to whom you owe the availibility of the technology - the 269 lives that were on board.

The silver lining? The world can now use GPS, and is a safer place from that standpoint.