Air India Flight 101 (2018)

Air India Flight 101

An Air India Boeing 77W similar to the one involved
Systems Failure
Date	11 September 2018
Summary	Multiple systems failure, under investigation.
Site	New York and New Jersey, United States
Aircraft
Aircraft type	Boeing 777-337ER
Operator	Air India
Registration	VT-ALQ
Flight origin	Indira Gandhi International Airport, Delhi, India
Destination	John F. Kennedy International Airport, New York, United States (scheduled) Newark Liberty International Airport, New Jersey, United States (actual)
Passengers	342
Crew	15
Fatalities	0
Survivors	357

Air India Flight 101 is a daily nonstop service connecting Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi to John F. Kennedy International Airport, New York. On September 11, 2018, on approach to New York, the aircraft's instrument landing system failed, in addition to the failure of auto-land, wind shear systems, and auto speed brake.^[1]

Events

On the morning of the aircraft's arrival into John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK), the New York City metropolitan area was overcast with low clouds. Following an initial unstable approach to Runway 4R, the crew initiated a go-around. Shortly after that, the flight crew reported the loss of virtually all instruments except for one radio altimeter, and thus could not conduct another ILS approach at any airport, needing a ceiling of at least 600 feet to conduct a LNAV/VNAV approach. Having already been in the air for more than 14 hours, the crew needed to decide quickly on an alternate (Newark Liberty International Airport was the filed primary alternate and Stewart International Airport was the secondary alternate). After being advised that Bradley International Airport and Logan International Airport (Boston) had better visibility, a new METAR was published showing that conditions were improving at Newark, which would prevent the crew from needing to declare a fuel emergency or minimum fuel as the aircraft was already with less than 1 hour of fuel remaining, as AI101 is one of the airline's longest routes, blocked at 14 hours and 50 minutes. AI101 then diverted to Newark where it was cleared for an ILS approach to that airport's 4R runway, although flying a visual approach. While approaching, a low altitude warning was generated, causing a warning from ATC. However, the Boeing 777-300ER was ultimately able to land safely at Newark.^[2] The failures encountered by the AI101 crew have resulted in an investigation as to what caused all systems to fail, in one of the most significant systems failure in a Boeing 777 since the crash of British Airways Flight 38 in 2008.^[2] There are reports that Air India operated Boeing 777-300 ER, encountered minimum equipment list systems failures during operational flights, for at least two or three times, the week before the incident.^[3]

Due to the incident's nature, the plane was unable to fly from Newark to New York to unload passengers, and so passengers were bused from Newark back to New York. The aircraft ultimately ferried back empty to India.

References