In an order dated August 8, the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority has instructed all the news channels to refrain from inviting Indian guests on their news debate shows in order to keep ‘Pakistan narrative on Kashmir alive’. This order came in the wake of the heightened tension between India and Pakistan following the abrogation of Article 370, stripping Jammu and Kashmir of the separate status and subsequent bifurcation of the state into two union territories- Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.
Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority directs all Pak news channels to not invite any Indian celebrity, journalists, political personality for any news debate show. Order dated August 8 to keep ‘Pakistan narrative on Kashmir alive’. Can India please do the same? Please! pic.twitter.com/gUhc7KArJd
The order issued by PEMRA reiterates that there is a complete ban on Pakistani TV channels from airing any Indian content. It says that any Indian content in the form of clips, promos, songs, news reports, promotion of Indian actors, advertisements, political discussion and analysis can’t be carried by Pakistani TV channels. Now the authority adds that news channels are barred from invite any Indian celebrity, political personality, journalists and analysts in their talk shows for comments and analysis which are contrary to sovereignty of Pakistan. But the PEMRA says that there is no ban on reporting of objective and balanced views/opinions/comments and reports of Indian media in support of ‘just cause of people of Jammu Kashmir’.
The latest order to ban Indian celebrities from joining debates on Pakistani news channels comes a day after Pakistan PM Imran Khan was rebuked in the United Nations General Assembly by the Indian diplomat for trotting out baseless lies and threatening nuclear confrontation in his speech.
Ever since India has abrogated Article 370, it has had a profound effect on the psyche of Pakistanis. Pakistanis, including their premier Imran Khan, has been peddling lies about the situation in Jammu and Kashmir with the hope that some of the accusations levelled by him will attract global consideration forcing India to retract its decision. However, most of the world powers including the United Nations snubbed Pakistan claiming it was India’s internal matter. The US too reprimanded Pakistan saying it should show a similar amount of concern for Muslims in China as it is showing for Kashmiri Muslims.
Pakistan media has clarified that Bushra Bibi’s reflection can be seen in mirror. Earlier today, media reports had quoted Pakistan’s Capital TV and stated that some staff member in Pakistan PM Imran Khan’s household has claimed that Khan’s third wife Bushra Bibi’s image does not appear in the mirrors.
Capital TV has now denied ever reporting any such thing. ANI had reported the so-called supernatural claim and Capital TV has clarified that the template used by ANI was a fake image that had gone viral in 2018.
Fake News Alert; Indian Media using photoshopped template of Capital TV against PM Imran Khan’s wife Bushra Bibi to promote their propaganda
They had rebutted the fake image in 2018 too, saying that Capital TV had never reported about any staff member claiming such about Bushra Bibi.
This news image circulating on social media is absolutely fake, photoshopped and absurd. #CapitalTV condemns this act of forgery. #CapitalTV will take action and lodge the complaint in #FIA‘s Cyber-Crime Wing against those who have misused #CapitalTV‘s branding. pic.twitter.com/6LuweGLSGJ
Following the denial by Capital TV, ANI has deleted their tweet.
It is notable here that supernatural claims and rumours about Bushra Bibi are quite common in Pakistan. Bushra Bibi is known as ‘Pinky Peerni’, a living saint-woman with special powers. Her family from the Wattoo clan in Pakistan’s Pakpattan are the worshippers of the ‘Baba Farid’ shrine n Pakpattan.
In a recent article in Vanity Fair, a senior Pakistani media person was quoted as saying that Imran Khan had consulted Bushra Bibi for spiritual guidance to become PM and he used to give her two vats full of cooked meat as fees. The meat was for Bushra Bibi’s two jinns, the article had stated.
The article had also mentioned that Bushra Bibi, married and a mother of five children, had dreamed years ago that Imran Khan will one day become the PM of Pakistan if he marries the ‘right woman’. She had reportedly tried to get Khan married to her sister and her daughter before finally deciding that she herself was the ‘right woman’.
So while reports of Bushra Bibi’s reflection not seen in mirror are untrue, as of now, we will keep you posted if we get updates on her pet jinns.
On the 27th of September, the Tripura High Court banned Pashubali (animal sacrifice) at Maa Tripureswari Temple. The Tripureswari Temple, also known as Tripura Sundari temple, is one of the 51 Shakti Peeths, and is located in the ancient city of Udaipur in Tripura. The shrine is also known as Matabari among the local people. Being a Shakti Peeth, animal sacrifice was being practised at this holy shrine.
In the judgment banning the ancient tradition of the temple, it became quite evident that certain men in black robes have taken it upon themselves to be the reformers of the Hindu community. In doing so, they seem to have exceeded the mandate granted to them by the Indian Constitution. Now, we are at a point where the Constitution is whatever the judges deem it to be based on their personal whims on a given day. A particular worldview is being forced down our throats without our consent. This is the embodiment of tyranny.
The Court ruled, “The right of offering an animal for sacrifice is not an integral and essential part of the religion, protected under Article 25(1) of the Constitution. As such, no right of the freedom of professing any religion by the State can be said to have been violated. State has no religion other than constitutionalism and the expression ‘person’ under Article 25 has to be in reference to natural person. Withdrawal of such practice would not tantamount to any change, fundamental in character of the religion.”
The Bench observed, “Which religion or community mandates infliction of unnecessary pain or suffering on an animal? Which religion prescribes that physical or mental pain or suffering should not be eliminated in the pre-slaughter stage? Which religion would want its followers not to treat animal with compassion, care or a humane approach? And above all, which religion would allow itself to be shackled to dogma, superstition and unfounded beliefs so as not to reform and be in tune with the changing times in pursuit of Constitutional goals and morality.”
Such pearls of wisdom only flow from the Court when the practice in question belongs to the Hindu faith. They are nowhere to be found when barbaric Islamic practices are to be presided upon. The questions that the Court poses would mean that the consumption of all meat would have to be banned completely. One cannot argue for the right to eat anything that one pleases and at the same time, decree that the religious sacrifice of animals to our Gods and Goddesses be banned.
It is hypocritical of the highest order and infringes upon basic norms of decency. The judgment is a tyrannical imposition of a certain worldview upon the Hindu community. There are certain sects and traditions within Hinduism that demand the sacrificial offering of certain animals to Gods and Goddesses.
The rhetorical questions posed by the Court only serve the purpose of moral grandstanding, nothing more. The entire purpose of it was to present themselves as holier than everybody else in the room, nothing else. I could quote Hindu scriptures and Hindu beliefs but that wouldn’t matter. It certainly didn’t in the Sabarimala Verdict. The case was decided the moment a PIL was filed in that regard in the Court. Presentation of evidence, arguments in favour and against, all of this was a charade to give people the impression that due process was followed.
There is scriptural sanction for animal sacrifice. It’s a known fact that certain forms of worship cannot be conducted without the sacrificial offerings of animals. However, people who have no respect for our beliefs and have absolutely no regard for scriptures until and unless they conform to their worldview will continue to ignore such facts in the face of the obvious.
To the Judiciary and everyone who is not fond of Pashubali, I say, leave us alone. I ask of you what the devotees of Sabarimala have been asking for a year. We are not imposing our beliefs on you, do not impose yours on us. Hinduism has a diversity of traditions. We hear people boasting about the diversity of traditions within Hinduism all the time. And yet, whenever it so happens that their words are put to the test, suddenly their voices are found to be not so raucous.
While people boast of the diversity within Hinduism, the same is being culled day by day, one tradition at a time. The Judiciary is not realizing the immense damage that it has caused to its own reputation. What happened in the aftermath of the Sabarimala Verdict was an open revolt against the Judiciary. It was an entire community refusing to bow down to the tyrannical verdicts of the Indian Judiciary. If its crazy edicts do not stop anytime soon, we will soon see a nationwide revolt against it.
For the state to function effectively, the men who represent it must respect the cultural practices and traditions of the people they govern or preside over. Else, it will lead to a breakdown in the society like the one we observed in the aftermath of the Sabarimala Verdict. All the devotees ever wanted was for them to be left alone to practice their religious faith. But certain people in their hubris decided to trample upon them.
The Bharatiya Janata Party, too, needs to stand up to Judicial Tyranny. The leaders of the BJP visited the Temple on numerous occasions during the elections. Now, it’s their duty to protect the sacred traditions of the Temple. One can only hope that the state government will refuse to implement the order. The judgment also reveals that it’s high time for the Central government to pass a law to explicitly protect Hindu Traditions from Judicial Tyranny. It was one of their manifesto promises.
Last year, it was the Sabarimala Temple under attack. This year, only a day before the anniversary of the Sabarimala verdict, it is the Tripureswari temple under attack. This has got to end. According to reports, the Tripura government will appeal against the verdict in the Supreme Court. One can only hope that better sense prevails. Otherwise, if all the traditions that make our civilization unique are banned, there will be nothing worth preserving at all.
Magsaysay Award winner ‘journalist’ Ravish Kumar has now doubled up as love-guru as he mansplains a captivated audience what kind of men women should fall in love with. While short answer according to him is a BJP supporter, long answer in his monotone has quite a few problematic generalisations and quite frankly, an assault on sensibilities. Ravish Kumar was speaking at ‘Talk Journalism’ event in Jaipur last week where he was perhaps giving a glimpse to his own mindset.
In a 6-minute clip shared by Madhya Pradesh Congress, Ravish is seen dishing out pearls of wisdom to young girls on the kind of man they should fall in love with.
नफरत फैला रहा है कोई,
आपको पड़ोसी से लड़ा रहा है कोई,
कमल पर मतदान की इतनी सजा,
गोडसे को देशभक्त बता रहा है कोई..! pic.twitter.com/MjCQw2gmZ4
Ravish starts off which saying how everyone has gone ‘silent on Swami Chinmayanand case’ where the former union minister has been accused of raping a girl. While fact is, Swami Chinmayanand case has been all over the place, covered by everyone. He then says how a case filed against Azam Khan for stealing a goat is debated for hours.
Ravish Kumar says some men like to see their neighbourhood Muslim as an enemy. Just to be clear here, Azam Khan is currently an MP and is declared as a ‘land mafia’ and has over 80 cases against him, including that of stealing goats. Perhaps Ravish would like to explore the idea that the cases against Khan are filed not because of his religion but because of the fact that those are crimes?
He then mansplains to women that if a man shows hatred towards a section of society can not be a good husband, a good lover or a good brother. “Do not marry any IT cell worker,” he cautions. “While one should not give dowry, but if your parents give some money secretly then you’ll lose money as well,” he says to a cheering audience. In his one hour address, this is not the only time he has mentioned dowry. He had also casually joked how the fathers of audience members would have also taken dowry to marry their mother. While humour is often considered a way to highlight social evils, the fact that Ravish is so obsessed shows a glimpse into his own thinking. On an aside, Ravish Kumar’s brother, Congress leader Brajesh Kumar was accused in a sex scandal which reportedly ended with a ‘compromise’.
This is not the first time Ravish Kumar has tried to show his disturbed mindset by disguising himself as a feminist.
Why does Rubbish insist on talking in English? But his last question is very pertinent, I want to ask that question to his wife, how can she stay married to a guy with a constantly constipated countenance and an irritating laugh like that? pic.twitter.com/QayuxlzWDp
Soon after his Magsaysay award, while answering an audience question Ravish Kumar very casually says how he sometimes asks girls how can he marry an Indian boy. “Full of caste, feeling, full of bias, full of patriarchy, how can you love them?” he asks. A bit rich coming from the man who praises a magazine which tried to divide the Indian Army on caste lines. According to Ravish, dividing the Army on the basis of religion is wrong but asking the families of martyrs “Kaun Jaat Ho?” while they are grieving is an example of path-breaking journalism.
Remember, Ravish Kumar has no qualms in asking people on screen what caste they belong to.
On one hand, Ravish Kumar communalises the law taking its course against politicians by investigating the allegations of crime against them and on the other hand, he cautions the audience to not fall prey to communalisation. Ravish Kumar really can’t make up his mind.
The CBI reached the residence of BJP leader Mukul Roy to question him in connection with the Narada Sting Operation case. IPS officer SMH Mirza, who was arrested recently, was made to accompany the CBI during the questioning as well.
The ‘face-to-face’ interrogation has been videotaped by the investigative agency, reports say. In the tapes that had surfaced in 2016, Roy and Mirza were allegedly seen accepting bribes for favours.
The BJP leader was grilled by the CBI for two and a half hours on Saturday. Following the interrogation, he had accused Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of hatching a “big conspiracy” in a bid to frame him. He promised to cooperate with the investigative agencies fully.
“Mamata Banerjee is hatching a big conspiracy against me. Whoever is being arrested for corruption, they are being told to take the name of Mukul Roy,” he said. “Everybody is being instructed (to take my name),” he claimed. “I would like to state that I am always ready to face the probe agency, because I know I have no involvement in the case,” he stated further.
IPS officer SMH Mirza became the first person to be arrested in the Narada Sting Operation Case on Thursday. The sting operation was conducted by Mathew Samuels of the Narada News portal. Samuel posed as a businessman and could be seen in the tapes offering money to Trinamool Congress leaders. The video clips span over 52 hours and showed 13 people, including seven MPs, four ministers, one MLA and an IPS officer accepting a total of Rs 60.5 lakh as bribe.
Cricketer and BJP politician Santhakumaran Sreesanth has claimed that he will be fighting the General Elections 2024 from Thiruvananthapuram constituency against eminent Congress leader Shashi Tharoor. Sreesanth’s statement has appeared in an exclusive interview in the Indian Express.
Appearing upbeat about his chances against Tharoor, Sreesanth said that he will defeat the three-time MP in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
”I am a big fan of his as a person who stood by me but I will defeat him in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in 2024, Sreesanth added.
The fast bowler said that he is toiling to increase his outreach among the people and win their support. He also stated about his future plans that included a web-series about his life, an autobiography, movies and one final cricket game before he hangs his boots.
Earlier in the year, when Sreesanth had visited Tharoor at his residence in Thiruvananthapuram, Tharoor had hailed him as one of the best bowlers India has produced and had called him a proud icon of Kerala. The meeting came at a time when the ban imposed on Sreesanth for his alleged involvement in match-fixing was revoked. “Happy to know his ban has been revoked. Wishing him all success for the wickets ahead!” Tharoor had tweeted.
It is notable to mention that Sreesanth and two other Rajasthan Royals players were banned for life over alleged involvement in betting and spot-fixing following a 2013 scandal in the Indian Premier League. However, the apex court had lifted the life-ban on the cricketer and pulled up the BCCI for the botchy handling of the betting and the match-fixing case.
Sreesanth had joined BJP in 2016. Though the RSS had reservations about the cricketer’s candidature, BJP had finally declared Sreesanth as a candidate for the Thiruvananthapuram assembly seat for 2016 Kerala assembly elections. Sreesanth had lost the seat to Congress’ VS Sivakumar by 11,710 votes.
Prime Minister Modi was welcomed with a grand reception on his arrival from the USA where over 30,000 BJP supporters were present. Some BJP supporters on social media had expressed their displeasure over the same.
Yes, I have read these reactions where people have questioned the event and why BJP should not have done this. People have termed it sycophancy and expressed apprehensions that the BJP will turn into Congress if this continues. But rest assured, it is not so.
You see, PM Modi is making it all look so easy and simple but it was not. What happened in USA is extraordinary and unprecedented.
What happened in UN is also something that was unimaginable a few years back. Complete meltdown of Pakistan and its sympathisers is one big achievement which should be celebrated and highlighted.
Further, the very fact that it was 28th September. Third anniversary of surgical strikes in Uri which we almost have forgotten that. We needed a Modi to carry out surgical strike and we also needed a Modi again to remind us of third anniversary of historical first ever surgical strikes against Pakistan.
It shows that somewhere we have started taking it all for granted. We are forgetting how it all was just impossible and unimaginable a few years back.
As far as fear of BJP becoming Congress, one thing we all should know, BJP cannot become Congress ever because these two are exactly opposite of each other. The very fact that BJP supporters can question and criticise even an event that has PM Modi at the centre of it shows and proves that there is no possibility of it ever becoming like Congress.
BJP would have celebrated the success of Indian Prime Minister on global stage even if it were a Congress Prime Minister. The way Pakistan and anti-India forces are attacking BJP and RSS and the way they are using exact language that Congress and its leaders are using shows the inherent basic difference between BJP and Congress.
We as a nation are witnessing history in the making. We as a nation are witnessing things that were beyond our imagination even till few months back. We should not fall into the trap where we start seeing our big achievements as small and our small problems as big.
We need to learn to celebrate, to highlight and to acknowledge this massive attitudinal and perceptional change that India is going through.
Just because PM Modi is delivering very single day something extraordinary, it doesn’t mean that we can afford to take it all for granted.
Decision like abrogation of Article 370 , Triple Talaq Bill, surgical strike and all the awards and recognitions he is receiving for the remarkable work on development and climate change, is extraordinary and worth celebrating and highlighted and talked about.
Friends, never forget that there are forces who are trying every single day to change the narrative. Forces who depends on negative energy, forces which are constantly working very hard to ensure that India and Indians should never be able to realise and celebrate its extraordinary powers and its extraordinary achievements.
Ending the negativity and highlighting the positivity, ensuring that this message repeatedly reaches to everyone in the society in all possible ways is one most important task at our hands.
Celebrations gives us the belief and faith that we are capable of more.
Abrogation of Article 370, Triple Talaq Bill, Gates Foundation Award, meltdown of Pakistan at UNGA, anniversary of surgical strikes, massive action against high level corruption, aggressive financial reforms and boom in share markets: there is so much to celebrate, the list is long and growing…
This is New India. it celebrates a little and achieve a little more every single day.
The government of India has banned the export of all varieties of onions. As per a notification published by the ministry of commerce and industries on 29 September 2019, the government has ordered that the export of all varieties of onions are banned with an immediate effect.
Via Nistula Hebbar on Twitter
It is notable here that the prices of onions are currently at the highest level since September 2015. On September 26, Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan had asked the states to buy onions from Centre and asserted that their requirements would be fulfilled immediately.
In national capital Delhi, the prices of onion had touched Rs 70 per kg. Delhi government had availed 70 mobile vans selling onions at Rs 23.90 per kg. Earlier, agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar had stated that the prices will come down in a few days. He had added that prices have shot of due to tight supply. The government was also considering stock limiting.
During his Mann ki Baat aired on Sunday, Prime Minister Modi shared a telephonic conversation he had recently with the legendary singer, Lata Mangeshkar, who turned 90 on the 28th of September. Narendra Modi had called her before leaving for the United States to attend the United Nations General Assembly.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ou0Ju1HQFZE]
“Wish you a very happy birthday, congratulations in advance. May your health be good, your blessings be with all of us, I called you before I left for America,” the Prime Minister said. “There would hardly be anyone who does not show utmost regard for Lata Mangeshkar ji. She is elder to most of us and has been witness to different eras in the country. We address her as ‘didi,'” PM Modi added further.
The legendary singer was effusive in her praise for the Prime Minister as well. She said, “Even you don’t know what you really are. I know that the picture of India is changing with your arrival and that, that makes me very happy. It makes me feel very good.”
Narendra Modi also recounted his personal relationship with Lata Mangeshkar. He recalled how she always treated him to Gujarati delicacies whenever he had the opportunity to meet her. He mentioned how she has always inspired him has had the pleasure of receiving his letters. Lata Mangeshkar also said that she had a conversation with Narendra Modi’s mother over the phone and took her blessings.
Lata Mangeshkar has received numerous awards during the course of her stellar career including the Dada Saheb Phalke and Bharat Ratna. She is the recipient of three National Film Awards and four Filmfare Best Female Playback Singer Award, among others.
Can a pilot press a wrong button in a cockpit causing the plane to crash?
This is an Airbus A320 cockpit. With so many panels, levers and switches, is there a chance that pilot presses a wrong button and put the plane’s safety in jeopardy?
Pilots are highly professional with thousands of hours of training on ground, simulator and aircrafts before they get to fly a commercial plane. There are redundancies built into the flight systems. Aircrafts have warning mechanisms. The ground staffs constantly observe all aircraft movements.
Yet this happened on 14th February 1990 with an Indian Airlines aircraft, Flight 605 from Mumbai (Then Bombay) to Bengaluru. Flight 605 was a scheduled flight between Mumbai’s CSIA to Bengaluru’s HAL airport on an Airbus A320.
On the fateful day, it was being piloted by CA Fernandez who had 9037 hours of flying out of which 68 hours was on A320. Capt. Fernandez was undergoing the first of 10 route checks required for qualification to Captain. He was being supervised by co-pilot and check pilot SS Gopujkar.
Capt. Gopujkar had 10,340 hours of flying experience out of which 255 hours was on A320.The aircraft left Mumbai at 11:58, after an hour delay, with 139 passengers and 7 crew members. The take off and cruise phase of the flight proceeded normally. At around 12:25, the aircraft began its descend into Bengaluru and contacted Bengaluru approach control. The approach control let the pilots know about visibility, weather and wind all of which were normal.
After about 15 minutes, the flight was cleared to descend to flight level 110 (FL 110 = 11,000 feet). At 12:53, IA Flight 605 appeared on Bengaluru’s radar blip. At this point, the approach control handed over flight 605 to Bengaluru Air Traffic Control tower who would lead the aircraft to the ground.
Tower informs the pilot to approach on Open Descent mode, make a right turn and make a visual approach to Runway 09. A bit of explanation here.
During descend, aircrafts can select either of the 2 modes. Open Descent vs Vertical Speed.
Open descent (OP DES) is when the aircraft begins its approach phase. You must have heard the pilots saying, “Ladies and Gentleman, we will shortly commence our descend to Mumbai”. That’s when the pilots engage the open descent mode.
In this mode, () the aircraft goes to idle thrust i.e. the engines are running at ideal RPM. Imagine your car going down a hill. At most times, you take your feet off the accelerator pedal but the car still maintains the speed because of the downhill. If you want to control the speed, you would apply brakes or change the pitch of the road lowering the downhill angle (No you can’t do that hence you have to apply brakes).
OP DES mode is something similar. The Auto Flight System (AFS) commands idle thrust and the elevators adjust the pitch to maintain the target speed. The pilot inputs the speed and the AFS pitches up (slows down the aircraft) or down (speeds up) the aircraft to maintain that speed at idle thrust.
Open Descent mode is selected to lose altitude fast i.e. say from 10,000 feet to 1000 feet. It’s really simple. You are at 10,000 feet and want to go down to 1000 feet. You let the engines in idle mode and allow the aircraft to come down. Once you are at 1000 feet at final approach, you can’t be in open descent any more. From here on, it has to be guided descent with adequate engine power.
Imagine you are at the fag end of the downhill and your destination is on sight. Ideally you won’t leave your engine at idle and would like to take control. That’s when pilots switch to Vertical Speed mode.
Vertical Speed (V/S) mode is chosen during final approach i.e. when the aircraft establishes itself on glide slope (GLS). Unlike OP DES, in V/S mode, the AFS manages both pitch and thrust level. Once on final approach, the standard angle of descent is 3 degree. Aircraft can’t descend at idle power because the aircraft needs to maintain a guided profile in order to touch down the runway at the right place. You can’t have a target speed here. Your speed has to change constantly so as to maintain the aircraft on the GLS.
Difference between OP DES and V/S (representational purpose only)
The picture above tries to describe the difference between OP DES and V/S. The picture is for representational purpose only. Aircrafts don’t descend at such steep angles. The altitude and distance to runway are made up figures not to be taken at their face value. All that the pilot has to calculate here is, when to start their descend so that they can kill enough altitude and distance to join the glide slope at 1000 feet altitude and 5 mile distance from RWY. This is called the descend profile of an aircraft. The point at which it must start descending is Top of Descent or T/D as shown in the picture. A wrongly calculated descend profile often results in runway overshoot or early touchdown. Remember the Mangauru incident involving at Air India express? Well, another article some day. We have given a more mathematical calculation involving simple trigonometric height and distance concepts here.
Now back to Flight 605. After being cleared for RWY 09, at around 5000 feet, Fernandez realises they are 600 feet above the glide slope(GLS). To rejoin the glide slope, Fernandez asks for a go around. It would mean that, they would climb again to 6000 feet, go around, come back and rejoin the GLS at normal altitude. At this point, Gopujkar asks, “Do you want a go around or vertical speed?” Fernandez choses the latter and asks for a descent rate of 1000 feet/min, higher than the normal 700 feet/min. They now go to V/S mode where flight computers are managing pitch angle and engine power for guided speed to descent at 1000 feet/sec. This is the right mode for landing once you join glide slope. After they joined the GLS, captain Gopujkar asks captain Fernandez to put it back to 700 feet/sec.
Capt Fernandez, however, instead of choosing the vertical speed knob, choses the altitude knob. The knobs are located next to each other and were similar in design. That could have led to the confusion. So the pilots, instead of asking the aircraft to descent at 700 feet/min asked it to descend to 700 feet. This action switches back the aircraft from V/S mode to OP DES again which means engines are now at idle power. However, both pilots are unaware of it.
With minimal engine power, the plane starts falling first. At lower altitude with slats and flaps extended, due to lack of engine power, there is not enough lift to keep the aircraft flying. The radio altimeter gives a call out at 500 feet. This is when captain Gopujkar realized, something is not normal. He quips, “So you are descending on idle power all this time, eh?” At this point they tried switching off the flight directors, an autopilot system that displays a guide on the artificial horizon and attitude, which helps the pilots to fly manually or auto pilot to fly the plane as per the guidance. Had this been switched off, the plane could have sensed that it was dropping fast and could have gone to speed mode to give enough engine power for a possible recovery. But, flight directors were not put off.
Flight Director, A320
At 135 feet, both pilots finally realized the gravity of the impending disaster. Fernandez screams, “Hey we are going down” to which Gopujkar exclaims, “Oh shit”. Last recorded voice on the CVR. Fernandez immediately orders a TOGA (Take-off Go-around) and applies full take off power. But it was too late by then. The aircraft’s nose pitches up but the aft part of the fuselage hits Karnataka Golf Club’s ground, 2300 feet short of BLR runway, 200 feet right to the imaginary centre line.
The aircraft rolls to left and then lifts to 230 feet again. Descends again and hits the ground where the landing gears dug into the ground and aircraft hits a 12 feet high embankment. Investigators suggested that had they pulled the throttle 2 seconds earlier, the disaster could have been avoided.
Indian Airlines Flight 605 After The Crash
Immediately after the crash, fire starts in the aircraft. Some passengers jump out of a break that had opened in the fuselage. Crew members helped passengers disembark. However, due to an unserviceable radio transmitter between Bengaluru ATC and fire station, fire brigades could not arrive and passengers who survived the crash, burnt to death. From 146 passengers and crew members, only 54 survived. Official investigations by DGCA as well as Airbus blamed pilot errors to be the cause. Indian Commercial Pilot Association however disputed this. They blamed erroneous design by Airbus to be the cause. They claimed that the engine went into idle power because of a serious flaw in Airbus’s Fly-By-Wire (FBW) automation system.
Less than 2 years after the crash, a similar incident occurred in France involving another A320 which forced the Airbus engineers to change the design of both the knobs and add two preceding Zeroes (00,XXX) to the vertical speed display to avoid confusion.
Altitude and Vertical Speed Selector Knobs of an A320
Though such an incident is not possible in today’s time due to improved instrumentation, it goes on to show how a small mistake can lead to a disaster with catastrophic consequences.
