DGCA advisory to airlines on potential rudder system issue in Boeing 737 planes
New Delhi, Oct 7: Aviation regulator DGCA on Monday issued an advisory to Indian airlines operating Boeing 737 planes regarding the potential risk of a jammed rudder control system.
The move follows the recent probe report by the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) that highlighted safety concerns involving Boeing 737 aircraft lanes equipped with Collins Aerospace SVO-730 Rudder Rollout Guidance Actuators.
Against the backdrop of the potential risk of a jammed or restricted rudder control system, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has issued safety recommendations to the Indian carriers.
Currently, Air India Express, Akasa Air and SpiceJet operate Boeing 737 planes.
In August, Boeing informed affected operators of 737 planes about the potential condition with the rudder rollout guidance actuator.
A SpiceJet spokesperson said none of its Boeing 737 NG aircraft are impacted.
DGCA said all flight crews are to be informed through a circular/advisory regarding the possibility of a jammed or restricted rudder control system.
"Appropriate mitigations must be communicated to help crews identify and handle such a situation," it added.
Further, all operators have been asked to conduct a safety risk assessment for aircraft to evaluate and mitigate the risk associated with the rudder control system.
The regulator also said that all Category III B approach, landing, and rollout operations, including practice or actual autoland, must be discontinued for these planes until further notice. Category III B pertains to operations in low visibility conditions.
Among other measures, airlines have been asked to mandatorily include discussion about potential rudder control system issues as a mandatory topic in recurrent training sessions.
It will also be included in the Instrument Rating/Proficiency Checks (IR/PPC) during pre-simulator briefings.
"Operators have been instructed to include specific exercises in Recurrent Training and IR/PPC that simulate scenarios involving a jammed or restricted rudder control system, including rollout procedures.
"Appropriate flight crew responses and mitigations should be practised during these exercises," the regulator said in a release.
DGCA also said the interim measures aim to enhance safety and ensure that flight crews are well-prepared to handle potential rudder control issues effectively.
The rudder rollout guidance actuator is designed to control the rudder's movement during Category III B approach, landing and rollout operations.
On September 27, Boeing in a statement had said that in August, it had informed affected 737 operators of a potential condition with the rudder rollout guidance actuator, which is part of an option autoland system.
"The autoland system includes layers of redundancy and we are working with our supplier to develop additional guidance to address the potential condition," it had said.
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'Last rites' of INDIA bloc: BJP on Cong-DMK fallout in Tamil Nadu
New Delhi (PTI): The BJP on Wednesday took a swipe at the Congress for extending support to Vijay's TVK in forming the government in Tamil Nadu and breaking away from its long term ally DMK, saying the party has a history of "betraying" its allies.
The saffron party also attacked the opposition INDIA bloc, claiming the alliance is "falling apart like a pack of cards" and lacks any common ideology or vision.
The Tamil Nadu Congress has decided to support TVK leader Vijay in forming a secular government in the state, sources said.
The decision to support the TVK was taken at an urgent meeting of the Political Affairs Committee (PAC) of Tamil Nadu Congress late on Tuesday night.
Reacting to the development, BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla claimed the INDIA alliance had effectively come to an end after the declaration of assembly election results on May 4.
"There is nobody whom the Congress has not deceived. Imagine what they will do to the Samajwadi Party if they have done this to the DMK," he wrote in a post on X.
Calling it the "last rites" of the INDIA bloc, Poonawalla, in a video post, said, "It has become a Bharat free of the DMK, TMC and the Left, and now Congress has dumped the DMK for the TVK."
The BJP spokesperson alleged that the opposition bloc was formed solely out of political compulsions and personal ambitions.
"The INDI alliance never had any mission or vision. It was only about ambition for position, corruption, commission and obsession against Modi ji that they came together. But now it is all falling apart like a pack of cards," he said.
Questioning the unity of the opposition parties, Poonawalla said the alliance was absent in several states during the election.
"Where was the INDI alliance in Bengal, in Kerala, in Gujarat, in Punjab, in Delhi, in Haryana, in Karnataka? There is no INDI alliance," he said.
The DMK on Wednesday described the Congress move to extend support to TVK as a "backstab" by its long-time national ally.
Speaking to PTI videos, DMK spokesperson Saravanan Anadurai said, "The Congress party has decided to ally with the TVK, pledging their support to the party. I think they have backstabbed... They have backstabbed the people of Tamil Nadu. They've backstabbed the mandate given by the people of Tamil Nadu."
He said that the decision came even before the electoral process had fully concluded.
"Even before the ink on the returning officer's signature on the victory certificate dried up, they've chosen to go ahead with an alliance," he said.
Vijay's TVK won 108 seats in the 234-member Tamil Nadu Assembly, falling short of the halfway mark. He needs the support of 10 MLAs to form a government with a simple majority. The results were declared only on Monday.
The Congress has won five seats, while the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) has bagged four seats. The CPI and CPI-M have two seats each. The outgoing ruling party, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), has won 59 seats while the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) has won 47 seats.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has won only one seat, and so have the Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK) and the Amma Makkal Munnettra Kazagam (AMMK), while the VCK has won two seats.
The Congress had fought the assembly polls in a pre-poll alliance with the DMK, while the BJP had a tie-up with the AIADMK.
