In 2014 in the Donetsk region, some debris from Flight MH17, in 2014. Photo Credit: Reuters
70 years ago, Ian Fleming created a fictional character of a secret service agent named James Bond, named 007, which had a license to kill. On 1 September 1983, a Korean Airlines jet, flight 007, on a fixed flight via Encourage from New York to Seoul, was shot by a Russian Air Force Sukhoi fighter aircraft, when the Korean flight devoted its flight path due to the naval error. All 246 passengers and 23 crew were killed. One of the passengers was the daughter of Hans Empramson-About, who launched an organization to help the victims of air accidents. His initiative made a big push to publish rules regarding conflict risk in the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). But it was shot in ICAO by Russia and his colleagues.
Case of wrong identity
On July 3, 1988, an Iran Air Plain, Flight 655, was shot at the Strate in Hormuz, by the United States Naval Warship, USS Winckens. All 290 passengers were killed when the ship’s missile aircraft was brought down, which was incorrectly explained to become a fighter aircraft. During the Iran-Iraq War (1980–88), the US patrolled the civic aircraft required to broadcast the identity friend or enemy mode code. Apparently, the warship crew identified a fighter to the Iranian aircraft and orders were issued to shoot it.
On November 22, 2003, DHL cargo aircraft flew from Baghdad for Bahrain. As the flight was rapidly climbing, a surface for an air missile launched by terrorists hit the leftist wing between the engine and the wing tip. The crew lost all hydrolics and because the fuel tank was filled, there was no fuel vapor to explode in the exposed fuel tank. The crew controlled the flight using only the inter -engine thrust and managed to carry out a safe landing, demonstrating extraordinary skills. The author had the privilege of participating in a special presentation by the crew at the Flight Safety Foundation IASS 2004 seminar in Shanghai, China.
On 27 February 2019, after Balakot, when the Indian Air Force (IAF) and Pakistan Air Force fighter aircraft were engaged in a dogfite, An IAF Mi-17 helicopter was shot dead By air missile from the surface of IAF’s air defense system. Six workers lost their lives What was a serious error. Here again, the helicopter was incorrectly identified as an enemy.
On July 17, 2014, Malaysia Airlines flight with 283 passengers and 15 crew from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, MH17 Shot by Russian supported forces with a surface -to -air missile While flying on eastern Ukraine.
All these examples highlight the issue of incorrect identity.
After September 11, 2001, specific processes are to be followed in the event of track deviations, or failure of navigation signals due to weather. Specific radio procedures are applied to compliance with the crew, otherwise Air Force fighter jets can shoot a civil aircraft if it is believed that it is flying in a suspicious manner. On February 16, 2017, an Indian airline flight, Jet Airways flight 9W 118, with 330 passengers and 15 crew members, from Mumbai to London, hovering 36,000 feet. This flew into some flight information areas without creating radio contacts with air traffic control of the region. The aircraft did not distract from its scheduled track. When it entered the German aircraft north of Cologne, the German Air Force deployed two of its Eurofighter Typhoon to stop the Indian aircraft. If the crew of Jet Airways did not respond to the Germans on the emergency frequency, they could have been shot.
The Directorate General of India’s Security Regulatory, Civil Aviation (DGCA) made it a cover as a failure of the aircraft’s communication system. If it was actually a communication failure, the aircraft team should have used the required transponder code and ground stations would know that it was an aircraft facing communication failure. Fighter jets would not have been deployed to intercept.
Conflict area, their threats
On December 25, 2024, an Azerbaijony airline case on flight from Baku to Baku in Azerbaijan in Russia, but which Kazakhstan city crashed near Akatau After being diverted, another incident has been the result of another incident, where a Russian-Anti-ai-aercraft defense system may have damaged life. Some of the 67 passengers were left on the board. For a state, precious life is not brought back to go away by saying ‘sorry’. Due to fog, the aircraft had penetrated through its scheduled route. GPS is also a loss of spoofing and false signals or navigation that also affects signals.
More than 500 people have lost their lives due to shooting of civil airlines. With growing wars and conflicts, struggle areas or close flights are becoming dangerous, especially when there are countries that do not respect international borders and are evil elements that cause trouble by interfering with GPS signals.
Indian regulator silence
This focuses on a serious issue. Does airlines in India have extensive training for pilots that are to identify the jamb signal and do the airlines have standard operational procedures to take navigation with alternative methods? There are reports of GPS errors or failures in the airspace on Pakistan, Afghanistan and Myanmar. With the rapid expansion of flights and including a large number of aircraft, do airlines in India have enough experienced pilots? For example, Air India operates several non-stop flights on the United States on the west coast of the United States that are avoided by the American carrier. There are also reports of some leasing aircraft with Air India, which are not equipped for extended flights in the hilly areas. We do not hear anything from DGCA what preventive measures it is taking in these cases.
We have shot three passenger aircraft by Russia or Russian-Juda agents. We have a US Navy in shooting a passenger airliner. We have a cargo aircraft shot by a terrorist group with missiles supplied by Russia or the United States, as conflicts in West Asia include one or other super power support side in conflicts. The massive use of drones and defense forces using missiles to shoot flights makes really unsafe for passenger aircraft flying on the struggle areas. There is another danger. The skill level has fallen as it is now rapid training resulting in derogatory monitoring to assess pilot proficiency. The world has to wake up and take cognizance of this new danger. Indian aviation may expand rapidly but, at the same time, there is no urgency or compulsion to ensure the quality of flight skills of pilots. As the Swiss cheese theory of the James Region suggests, holes in the cheese are lining.
Do we work now or pass any other disaster?
Captain A (Mohan) Ranganathan is a former airline instructor pilot and aviation safety advisor. He is also a former member of Civil Aviation Safety Advisory Council (CASAC), India
Published – 23 January, 2025 12:16 AM IST