The new system will augment safety during landing of international flights especially Boeing and Airbus planes on the city airport runway.
Suresh Chandra Hota, director of the airport, informed, “At present weather conditions and visibility on the runway are being recorded manually. This manual system will be replaced by an AWOS soon to get more accurate data,” adding that the airport will become more hi-tech with this addition.
Sarat Chandra Sahu, director of the Regional Meteorological Centre, said, “During fog condition, met officials usually go to the runway in a vehicle and measure the visibility. However, this new system will record runway visibility range and aviation weather system including pressure, temperature and wind direction automatically.”
Due to the present manual system, flights are being diverted from the Bhubaneswar airport in case of poor visibility in winter.
Raj Mohapatra, a Pilot, said, “The AWOS is the latest version of ATS. In winters, normally poor visibility becomes a challenge for a pilot. But this new system will give accurate data to pilot during landing.”
The cargo plane with 16 on board crashed in a residential area, 45 km west of Tehran, the Iranian Student News Agency (ISNA) quoted Pir Hossein Kolivand, head of the Emergency Centre of Iran, as saying.
It was supposed to land in Karaj's Payam Airport but the pilot mistakenly took the plane to the Fath airport, which was not suited for large cargo aircraft.
After landing at the wrong airport, the plane went out of control and overshot the runway, hitting an empty residential building and catching fire, ISNA reported.
A woman was among the dead. Ten bodies were identified while five others needed genetic examinations, said Hamid Davood Abadi, head of the Forensic Medicine Centre of Alborz province.
The Iranian Army said only one person -- a flight engineer -- of the 16 people had been found alive and taken to hospital for treatment.
The plane was flying from Kyrgyzstan's capital Bishkek and was carrying a cargo of meat to Iran, the Army said.
It was not clear who owned the plane. A spokesman for Iran's civil aviation department said the plane belonged to Kyrgyzstan, while Kyrgyzstan's Manas International Airport said it was operated by Iran's Payam Air.
The astronauts will fly on spacecraft developed by SpaceX and Boeing as part of the the US space agency's Commercial Crew programme to send humans to the International Space Station (ISS) on private US spacecraft.
Williams has been named for the Boeing programme to the ISS, the first test flight scheduled to take place in the middle of 2019.
"For the first time since 2011, we are on the brink of launching American astronauts on American rockets from American soil," NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said while announcing the names of the astronauts.
In 2014, Boeing and SpaceX were awarded a combined $6.8 billion in contracts from NASA to develop spacecraft capable of flying crews to the space station, The Washington Post reported.
NASA on Thursday confirmed a delay in the first piloted flights of Boeing and SpaceX.
SpaceX is targeting November 2018 for Crew Dragon's first uncrewed demonstration mission (Demo-1), three months later than the previous schedule released by NASA early this year. The crewed demonstration flight, with two astronauts on board, will follow in April 2019, four months later than previously announced.
Boeing's CST-100 Starliner, on the other hand, will likely perform two crucial test flights next year, instead of this year as planned.
Each test flight will provide data on the performance of the rockets, spacecraft, ground systems, and operations to ensure the systems are safe to fly astronauts.
The crew for Boeing's Crew Flight Test and SpaceX's Demo-2 flights will each include at least a flight commander and pilot aboard to test out the systems.
After successful completion of the flight tests with crew, NASA will review flight data to verify the systems meet the agency's safety and performance certification requirements and are ready to begin regular servicing missions to the space station, the US space agency said.
"The state government on Monday approved Boeing's proposal to set up an engineering and technology facility with electronics and avionics manufacturing and assembly at an investment of Rs 1,152 crore," Karnataka Udyog Mitra Managing Director B.K. Shivakumar told IANS here.
The facility will be built in 41.7 acres of land the American firm has been allotted in the Aerospace Park at Devanahalli, about 40km from the city, and adjacent to the Bengaluru international airport.
"When commissioned, the Boeing facility will provide 2,300 direct jobs and many more indirect or associative jobs," said Shivakumar.
The aerospace behemoth, which makes various types of aircraft for civil and military operations worldwide, has a global research and development centre in the city since a decade.
The high-level high committee of the state Industry Department also approved the proposal of CDC Development India Ltd to set up a Technology Innovation International Park in the hi-tech, defence and aerospace Park at a cost of Rs 740 crore, with an initial job potential for 25 high-skilled techies.
"CDC has been allotted 100 acres of land in the Aerospace Park to build its tech park," said Shivakumar.
Universal Builders has been allotted 21.3 acres of land in the hardware park area of the aerospace park at a cost of Rs 525 crore for a housing project.
The committee has also cleared the Indian Coast Guard's proposal to set up a training centre at Mangaluru, about 350km from here, at an investment of Rs 1,010 crore.
"The training centre will be built in 160 acres of land in the New Mangaluru Port Trust at Panambur and will create 250 direct jobs," added Shivakumar.
The bids for the bridge financing, to be guaranteed by the government, close on November 1.
"Air India invites offers from banks/financial institutions to arrange a bridge financing up to $555 million for financing the acquisition of three B777-300 ER aircraft to be drawn equally at the time of taking delivery of the aircraft," said the document issued this week.
Air India has agreed with US major Boeing to buy 15 B777-300 ER aircraft and has already taken delivery of 12 planes. Two of the remaining aircraft are to be delivered in January and the last in February.
"The government of India has indicated that they will issue guarantee for the bridge financing of B777-300 ER aircraft for a period of 12 months or till the date the loan is refinanced, whichever is earlier," the document said.
"Pre-payment/short closure of the bridge loan should be allowed without any extra cost to Air India," it said.
The financing facility would be a direct loan without the requirement of formation of a special purpose vehicle (SPV) structure, which requires title transfer, it added.
Air India placed orders for 68 Boeing aircraft in 2006, including these 15 B777-300 ERs and 27 Dreamliners, of which the airline has already taken delivery of 65 planes.
Earlier this year, the government announced its intent to divest from ownership of Air India.
Manufactured by TASL in Hyderabad, the parts will be delivered to Boeing for final assembly of the 15 helicopters on delivery to the Indian Air Force, TASL said in a statement here.
"This delivery is another significant step in our journey to increase defence capability and manufacturing capacity out of India with our strategic partners," said Pratyush Kumar, President of Boeing India.
He said Tata Advanced Systems has demonstrated its ability to deliver high-quality components to the CH-47 Chinook programme on schedule, which in turn "helps Boeing meet commitments to our customers".
"We are clearly invested in leveraging the full potential of capability that exists in India to continue delivering greater value for less cost to our US and international customers," he added.
Sukaran Singh, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, TASL, said undertaking the responsibility of complete manufacture and assembly for Boeing "gives us an excellent opportunity to display our capability of development and assembly projects in high technology areas to global quality standards".
India's Ministry of Defence finalised an order with Boeing in 2015 for production, training and support of 15 CH-47F Chinook heavy-lift helicopters to enhance New Delhi's capabilities across a range of military and humanitarian missions. Deliveries for the same will begin in 2019.
TASL is already delivering crown and tailcones for CH-47 Chinook helicopters for the US Army and international customers. The CH-47F Chinook is the advanced multi-mission helicopter, which is being operated by the US Army and 18 other defence forces around the world.
Boeing's network in India includes 35 direct and 120 indirect suppliers that manufacture advanced and complex components and sub-assemblies for a range of various commercial and defence aircraft such as the 787 Dreamliner, 777X, F/A-18, F-15, P-8, CH-47 Chinook and AH-64 Apache.
In a late night development, the Ministry of Civil Aviation tweeted: "DGCA (Directorate General of Civil Aviation) has taken the decision to ground the Boeing 737-MAX planes immediately. These planes will be grounded till appropriate modifications and safety measures are undertaken to ensure their safe operations."
"As always, passenger safety remains our top priority. We continue to consult closely with regulators around the world, airlines and aircraft manufacturers to ensure passenger safety."
Further, Commerce and Industry and Civil Aviation Minister Suresh Prabhu took to Twitter to direct officials to prepare a contingency plan to avoid inconvenience to passengers.
"While passenger safety is a zero tolerance issue, efforts are already on to minimise the impact on passenger movement as their convenience is important," he tweeted.
Globally many countries have banned the operations of the aircraft after an Ethiopian Airlines' Boeing 737-800 MAX flight crashed on Sunday killing all 157 people on board.
On Tuesday, the UK joined Singapore, Australia and a number of other countries in banning Boeing 737 Max planes from operating in or over its airspace.
In India, SpiceJet and Jet Airways operate 17 Boeing 737-800 MAX aircraft. While SpiceJet has 12 aircraft, Jet has five planes of this type.
Earlier in the day, SpiceJet in a statement said: "The Boeing 737 MAX is a highly sophisticated aircraft. It has flown hundreds of thousands of hours globally and some of the world's largest airlines are flying this aircraft."
"We are actively engaged with both Boeing and the DGCA and will continue to put safety first, as always. We have already implemented all additional precautionary measures as directed by the DGCA yesterday (Monday)."
On its part, Boeing said: "Safety is Boeing's number one priority and we have full confidence in the safety of MAX. We understand that regulatory agencies and customers have made decisions that they believe are most appropriate for their home markets. We'll continue to engage with all of them to ensure they have the information they need to have confidence in operating their fleets or returning them to service.
"It is also important to note that the Federal Aviation Administration is not mandating any further action at this time, and based on the information currently available, we do not have any basis to issue new guidance to operators."
On Monday, India's civil aviation regulator had issued fresh safety directives for operations of this make of aircraft in the country.
"The issue has been reviewed in DGCA today (Monday) along with the Indian operators covering all reported snags or defects of significant nature along with rectification action(s) taken on these aircraft," the regulator said in a statement on Monday.
"Compliance of an earlier advisory issued by DGCA post Lion Air accident on December 3, 2018 was also reviewed. During the review, it was observed that the 'Daily Defect' and 'Daily Incident' reports contained defects of routine nature and no significant concerns were observed."
Accordingly, the directive deals with the technical aspect and operational.
Late on Tuesday, the Ministry of Civil Aviation tweeted: "DGCA (Directorate General of Civil Aviation) has taken the decision to ground the Boeing 737-MAX planes immediately.
In a continuation to its Tuesday's call to ground the B737 Max operations, the Ministry on Wednesday added: "B737Max operations will stop from or to all Indian airports.
"Additionally no B737 Max aircraft will be allowed to enter or transit the Indian airspace effective 1600 hours Indian time or 1030 UTC."
In India, SpiceJet and Jet Airways operate 17 Boeing 737-800 MAX aircraft. While SpiceJet has 12 aircraft, Jet has five planes of this type.
On Tuesday the DGCA tweeted: "These planes will be grounded till appropriate modifications and safety measures are undertaken to ensure their safe operations."
"The time line is to cater to situations where aircraft can be positioned at maintenance facilities and international flights can reach their destinations."
The suspension came after several countries including the UK, Australia, Italy, Singapore restrained their airlines from operating the aircraft type.
Globally many countries have banned the operations of the aircraft after an Ethiopian Airlines' Boeing 737-800 MAX flight crashed on Sunday killing all 157 people on board. It came just months after an Indonesian flight met with the same fate.
On Tuesday, the EU, joined a number of other countries in banning Boeing 737 Max planes from operating in or over its airspace.
Ethiopian Minister of Transport Dagmawit Moges gave a summary and the recommendations of the preliminary report into the crash in which she singled out the "aircraft flight control system" as contributing to the plane's difficulty in flying away from Addis Ababa and then crash six minutes later.
"Since repetitive uncommanded aircraft nosedown conditions were noticed in this preliminary investigation, it is recommended the aircraft flight control system related to flight controllability be reviewed by the manufacturer," she said in a press conference here.
She said that "pilots repeatedly followed procedures recommended by Boeing before the crash, but despite their efforts were not able to control the aircraft", the BBC reported.
It was the second crash of a Boeing 737 Max aircraft in five months. Last October, Lion Air flight JT 610 crashed into the sea near Indonesia, killing all 189 people on board.
Like the Lion Air crash, attention in the Ethiopian Airlines crash has been zeroing in on the Manoeuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS) -- a flight control system which pushes the nose of the aircraft down to avoid a mid-air stall.
While Moges didn't mention the MCAS by name, her comments suggested that the system was activated during the flight and the pilots were not able to use Boeing's recommended methods to disable it.
Investigators believe MCAS also contributed to the crash in Indonesia, where they say erroneous data from an outside sensor led the system to force the nose of the plane down over and over again, reports say.
In a statement, Ethiopian Airlines' Chief Executive Tewolde GebreMariam said he was "very proud" of the pilots' "high level of professional performance".
"It was very unfortunate they could not recover the airplane from the persistence of nosediving," the airline said in a statement.
The 737 Max family of aircraft was grounded following the Ethiopian Airlines crash.
Ethiopian Airlines stated following the press conference that the report showed no fault lay with the pilots who "followed the Boeing recommended and Federal Aviation Administration-approved emergency procedures".
"Despite their hard work and full compliance with the emergency procedures, it was very unfortunate that they could not recover the airplane from the persistence of nose diving," the airline stated.
"We have decided to temporarily move from a production rate of 52 airplanes per month to 42 airplanes per month starting in mid-April," CNN quoted CEO Dennis Muilenburg as saying in a statement on Friday.
Muilenburg was talking about the company's entire 737 production system, which includes more than just the Max line of jets. But most are Max planes.
The Max came under scrutiny following the two involving Indonesia's Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines. A total of 346 people died in the two accidents.
All of Boeing's 737 Max planes were grounded after the crash in Ethiopia on March 10.
In his statement on Friday, Muilenburg also said he has asked the company's board to establish a committee that will review the policies and processes Boeing uses to design and develop its airplanes.
That committee will look at how effective the company is able to assure the "highest level of safety" for the Max planes, as well as Boeing's other planes.
The latest decision comes the day after a preliminary report on the Ethiopian Airlines tragedy showed that the pilots of that plane performed all of the aircraft manufacturer's procedures, but were unable to control the jet before it crashed, CNN reported.
On Thursday, Boeing recognised the similarities between the two crashes, and acknowledged the role of its anti-stall system.
The Ethiopian report does not specifically name that system, but its findings seem to indicate that the system pushed the plane into a dive fuelled by erroneous angle of attack sensor readings.
Boeing is working to develop a software fix that will get the 371 grounded 737 Max jets back in the air.
Muilenburg also said on Thursday that the company was "sorry for the lives lost" in the 737 Max crashes.
"The history of our industry shows most accidents are caused by a chain of events," he wrote in his apology.
"This again is the case here, and we know we can break one of those chain links in these two accidents."
Boeing's stock dipped nearly 2 per cent in after-hours trading on Friday.
American, the world's largest airline, decided to extend cancellations from early June through August 19, to help plan ahead for the busy summer travel season. Southwest Airlines last week also extended flight cancellations for 737 Max planes from June until August, CNN reported.
"Based upon our ongoing work with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Boeing, we are highly confident that the MAX will be re-certified prior to this time," American Chairman and CEO Doug Parker and President Robert Isom said on Sunday in a message to airline staff.
"But by extending our cancellations through the summer, we can plan more reliably for the peak travel season."
Approximately 115 flights a day will be cancelled through August 19, representing about 1.5 per cent of the airline's total daily flights, they said.
The airline has 24 737 Max jets in its fleet.
American has previously said that all flights that were originally scheduled on a MAX plane will not be cancelled, with some being substituted with other aircraft.
The 737 Max was grounded in March after one of the planes flown by Ethiopian Airlines crashed, killing everyone on board. It was the second accident involving the jet model in less than six months, after another flown by Indonesia's Lion Air crashed last October.
The crashes killed 346 people in total.
The causes of the crashes are still being investigated, but the focus has been on an automatic safety feature that may have forced the nose of each plane lower when it incorrectly sensed the plane was in danger of going into a stall.
Boeing and the FAA said they are working on an upgrade of the 737 Max software to deal with that safety feature.
Boeing announced earlier this month it was cutting the production rate for all of its 737 planes from 52 a month to 42 amid the worldwide grounding.
"What do I know about branding, maybe nothing (but I did become President!), but if I were Boeing, I would fix the Boeing 737 MAX, add some additional great features, and rebrand the plane with a new name," Trump said in a series of tweets on Monday.
"No product has suffered like this one. But again, what the hell do I know?"
Last month at the President's direction, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ordered the planes pulled from service after the two crashes related to a stabilisation system and faulty sensor readings.
Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 crashed the morning of March 10 after taking off from Addis Ababa on its way to Nairobi, Kenya, killing all 157 people onboard. Lion Air Flight 610 plunged into the Java Sea in Indonesia in October 2018, killing all its 189 people.
The US government was one of the last in the world to ground the Boeing planes after dozens of other nations banned them amid growing pressure from lawmakers and airline labour unions to suspend flights.
The causes of the crashes are still being investigated, but the focus has been on an automatic safety feature that may have forced the nose of each plane lower when it incorrectly sensed the plane was in danger of going into a stall.
Boeing and the FAA said they are working on an upgrade of the 737 Max software to deal with that safety feature.
Some US airlines have extended flight cancellations into mid-August, with an expectation that the plane will be re-certified to fly before that deadline.
Earlier Monday, first daughter and senior adviser Ivanka Trump paid tribute to the victims of the Ethiopian Air crash during a visit to Addis Ababa.
Boeing previously acknowledged that an alert system that was supposed to be a standard feature in the fleet "was not operable on all airplanes", reports CNN.
But the statement released on Sunday described a troubling timeline that shows how long some at the company were aware of the problem before finally deciding to act.
Boeing maintained that the software issue "did not adversely impact airplane safety or operation".
It's not known if the lack of the alert function played a role in the Lion Air accident and the March 10 Ethiopian Airlines crash, which killed 157 people.
But the disagree alert could have notified pilots that a sensor was malfunctioning. In both disasters, preliminary investigations suggest faulty data from a malfunctioning angle of attack (AOA) sensor triggered the aircraft's anti-stall software, known as MCAS, which pitched down the nose of the planes as pilots struggled for control.
In Sunday's statement, Boeing said that its senior leadership and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) did not know about the issue until after the Lion Air crash.
Neither the FAA or Boeing interfered with the fleet's operations until the Ethiopian Airlines crash.
The crashes led to the grounding of the 737 MAX jets worldwide, while Boeing continues working to fix the problem.
Boeing said it was issuing a display system software update "to implement the AOA Disagree alert as a standard, standalone feature before the MAX returns to service".
"When the MAX returns to service, all MAX production aircraft will have an activated and operable AOA Disagree alert and an optional angle of attack indicator," the company said.
"All customers with previously delivered MAX airplanes will have the ability to activate the AOA Disagree alert."
According to the report issued on Tuesday, Boeing did report some orders for the other jets in late March, even in the wake of the March 10 crash of an Ethiopian Airlines jet and the grounding of the 737 MAX that followed, reports CNN.
At least 356 people were killed in the two crashes -- Lion Air in October and the Ethiopian Airlines on March 10 -- involving the 737 MAX aircraft that took place within a span of five months.
Lufthansa ordered 20 of the 787 jets on March 15, and British Airways ordered 18 of the 777X on March 22, the report said.
But the only orders reported by Boeing for April were bookkeeping entries: Four 737 MAX jets that had been sold to Boeing Capital in the past were transferred to an unidentified lessor last month.
Boeing didn't count those as new orders. Instead, it reclassified sales it had already reported in the first quarter.
None of Boeing's other jet models have crashed, and airlines have not reported any safety problems other than the 737 MAX.
Executives from several airlines, including Norwegian Air and United Airlines, have said they expect to reach an agreement with Boeing over some form of compensation as a result of having their 737 MAX planes grounded.
The plane maker said in a statement on Thursday that it has flown the aircraft with the updated software on 207 flights for more than 360 hours, reports CNN.
The software heads next to the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and its counterparts in other countries that want to review it.
"We're committed to providing the FAA and global regulators all the information they need, and to getting it right. We're making clear and steady progress and are confident that the 737 MAX with updated MCAS software will be one of the safest airplanes ever to fly," Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg said in the statement.
"Boeing has developed enhanced training and education materials that are now being reviewed with the FAA, global regulators and airline customers to support return-to-service and longer-term operations," the company statement said.
"This includes a series of regional customer conferences being conducted around the world."
An FAA spokesman however, said later Thursday that the Boeing materials, including the software, have not yet been submitted.
The development comes ahead of an international gathering of aviation regulators in Dallas next week to discuss the reviews of the MAX.
The 737 MAX 8 and 9 were grounded worldwide after the March 10 Ethiopian Airlines crash that investigators have described as appearing similar to a Lion Air accident that took place in Indonesia last October. A total of 346 people died in the two crashes.
In both accidents, the automated Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System, or MCAS, pushed the planes' noses down while the pilots struggled to regain control.
Multiple investigations, including the initial crash investigation, are ongoing.
Criminal prosecutors, Congressional staffers and the Transportation Department inspector general are reviewing the initial certification of the 737 and the FAA's processes.
Aviation regulators in other countries will complete their own reviews of the software separate from the international Joint Authorities Technical Review the FAA has organised.
The delivery of the first batch of the AH-64E Apache helicopters to the IAF at the Hindan air base came nearly four years after a multi-billion dollar deal for the choppers was sealed.
Boeing said the first batch of the Apaches arrived in India and an additional four choppers will be delivered to the IAF next week.
"The eight choppers will then move to the Pathankot Air Force station for their formal induction by the IAF, in September," it said.
The AH-64E Apache is one of the world's most advanced multi-role combat helicopters, and is flown by the US Army.
The IAF had signed a multi-billion dollar contract with the US government and Boeing Ltd in September 2015 for 22 Apache helicopters.
Additionally, the Defence Ministry in 2017 approved the procurement of six Apache helicopters along with weapons systems from Boeing at a cost of Rs 4,168 crore for the Army. This will be its first fleet of attack choppers.
Senior IAF officials said the addition the Apache fleet will significantly enhance the force's combat capabilities as the chopper has been customised to suit IAF's future requirements.
"The arrival of the Apaches, ahead-of-schedule, validates Boeing's commitment to delivering on its promise of modernising India's defence forces. Boeing has ensured high rate of mission readiness and increased operational capabilities through its current partnerships with the IAF," Boeing said in a statement.
The company has delivered more than 2,200 Apaches to customers around the world since the aircraft entered production and India is the 14th nation to select it for its military.
"By 2020, the IAF will operate a fleet of 22 Apaches, and these first deliveries are ahead of schedule," Boeing said.
The aerospace major said the AH-64E has the latest technology insertions, maintaining its standing as the world's best attack helicopter.
The AH-64E Apache for the Indian Air Force completed successful first flights in July 2018. The first batch of Indian Air Force crew began their training to fly the Apache in the US in 2018.
"It is the only available combat helicopter with a spectrum of capabilities for virtually any mission requirement. For the AH-64 E, this includes greater thrust and lift, joint digital operability, improved survivability and cognitive decision aiding. It is uniquely suited to meet the commander's needs, including reconnaissance, security, peacekeeping operations, and lethal attack - in both land and littoral environments - all without reconfiguration," it said.
The AH-64E Apache is one of the world's most advanced multi-role combat helicopters and is flown by the US Army.
"Eight of the Apache attack helicopters are set to be inducted into the IAF, that will enhance the force's combat capabilities," a senior IAF official said.
The IAF had signed a multi-billion dollar contract with the US government and Boeing Ltd in September 2015 for 22 Apache helicopters.
The first four of the 22 helicopters was handed over to the air force by Boeing on July 27.
The delivery of the first batch of Apache helicopters to the IAF at the Hindan air base had come nearly four years after a multi-billion dollar deal for the choppers was sealed.
Additionally, the Defence Ministry in 2017 approved the procurement of six Apache helicopters along with weapons systems from Boeing at a cost of Rs 4,168 crore for the Army.
This will be its first fleet of attack choppers. By 2020, the IAF will operate a fleet of 22 Apaches. These first deliveries were ahead of schedule.
The AH-64E Apache for the Indian Air Force completed successful first flights in July 2018. The first batch of Indian Air Force crew began their training to fly the Apache in the US in 2018.
Senior IAF officials said the addition of the Apache fleet will significantly enhance the force's combat capabilities as the chopper has been customised to suit IAF's future requirements.
Boeing has delivered more than 2,200 Apaches to customers around the world since the aircraft entered production and India is the 14th nation to select it for its military.
"By 2020, the IAF will operate a fleet of 22 Apaches, and these first deliveries are ahead of schedule," Boeing had earlier said.
The aerospace major said the AH-64E has the latest technology insertions, maintaining its standing as the world's best attack helicopter.
"It is the only available combat helicopter with a spectrum of capabilities for virtually any mission requirement. For the AH-64 E, this includes greater thrust and lift, joint digital operability, improved survivability and cognitive decision aiding.
"It is uniquely suited to meet the commander's needs, including reconnaissance, security, peacekeeping operations, and lethal attack - in both land and littoral environments - all without reconfiguration," it said.
At present, more than 160 suppliers provide the company with advanced components and subassemblies for commercial and defence aircraft as part of Boeing's integrated global supply chain.
These parts and assemblies cover critical components such as aerostructures, wire harness, composites, forgings, avionics, mission systems and ground support equipment.
"Opportunity is a 'buzzword' with us and we are constantly looking at doing more here, with partners. Our annual sourcing from India stands at $1 billion from over 160 suppliers, but this number will continue to grow," Boeing India President Salil Gupte told IANS.
Currently, the company runs a successful joint venture with Tata Advanced Systems known as Tata Boeing Aerospace (TBAL), which is located in Hyderabad and manufactures fuselages for the AH-64 Apache choppers globally.
"Ultimately, TBAL is set to become Boeing's sole producer for Apache fuselages globally," Gupte said.
Other companies such as Dynamatic Technologies manufactures the 'ramp' and 'aft pylon' for the Chinook heavy-lift helicopters.
On the civil aviation side of the business, Boeing with TAL manufacturers 'floor beams' for all Dreamliner airplane variants -- 787-8, 787-9 and 787-10 -- at the TAL's manufacturing facility.
Other firms like Rossell Techsys, Bharat Forge, SASMOS HET Technologies and Hindustan Aeronautics manufacture different types of components for the company.
Besides, the company expects an exponential domestic passenger traffic growth in India as new long-haul opportunities and infrastructure development will help the sector to further expand.
The global aerospace major has predicted demand for 2,380 new aircraft in India, valued at $330 billion, over the next 20 years.
According to its annual India Commercial Market Outlook (CMO) 2019, many of the new airplanes will replace ageing aircraft and help operators grow their network as India's aircraft fleet is projected to quadruple in size to approximately 2,500 by 2038.
Boeing currently employs 3,500 people in India, while more than 7,000 people work with its supply chain partners.
The company has been present in India's civil aviation sector for more than 75 years. It has also provided aircraft and choppers to the Indian Air Force and the Indian Navy.
"We have intelligence from multiple sources, including our allies and our own intelligence. The evidence indicates that the plane was shot down by an Iranian surface-to-air missile. This may well have been unintentional," the prime minister said in a press conference in Ottawa on Thursday, Efe news reported.
The Iranian government responded to the Canadian prime minister's comments, with spokesman Ali Rabiei denying in a statement that the commercial airliner had been shot down.
"All these reports are psychological warfare against Iran ... all those countries whose citizens were aboard the plane can send representatives and we urge Boeing to send its representative to join the process of investigating the black box," Rabiei said.
Trudeau said Canadian officials believe that the supposed shootdown of the airliner "may have been unintentional."
The Canadian prime minister refused to answer questions from reporters about whether Canada considered the United States the ultimate party responsible for the accident because of Washington's confrontation with Tehran after the killing of top Iranian Gen. Qasem Soleimani on Jan. 3 by a US drone at the Baghdad airport.
Trudeau said it was "too soon to be apportioning blame" for the crash or "drawing any conclusions" about what happened to the airliner.
"The families of the victims and all Canadians want answers. I want answers. That means closure, transparency, accountability and justice," Trudeau said. "This government will not rest until we get that."
UIA flight PS752, which was headed from Tehran to Kiev, was carrying 167 passengers and nine crew members.
Sixty-three Canadians were aboard the Boeing 737-800, which crashed just outside Tehran.
The plane was also carrying 82 Iranians; 11 Ukrainians, including two passengers and nine crew members; 10 Swedes; four Afghans; three Germans; and three Britons.
The Boeing 737-800 went down shortly after Iran fired dozens of missiles at bases in neighbouring Iraq used by the US military in retaliation for Soleimani's killing.
"It is now more important than ever that we know exactly how such a tragedy could have happened," Trudeau said.
The prime minister said his government asked Iran to permit Canadian investigators to participate in the crash investigation, but Tehran has not agreed to do so even though Iranian officials demonstrated an "openness" to the idea.
"Canadians have questions and they deserve answers," Trudeau said.
The prime minister held his press conference in the capital not long after US President Donald Trump said he had "suspicions" about what happened to the Boeing 737-800.
"It's a tragic thing when I see that, it's a tragic thing. But somebody could have made a mistake on the other side," the US president said.
Earlier in the day, Iranian Civil Aviation Organization director Ali Abedzadeh told the ISNA news agency that the plane was not shot down.
"Scientifically, it is impossible that a missile hit the Ukrainian plane, and such rumours are illogical," Abedzadeh said.
Abedzadeh said eyewitnesses saw the UIA plane "on fire" before it went down and the pilots did not make any emergency calls before attempting to return to the airport.
"Several domestic and foreign flights were flying in Iranian space at the same altitude of 8,000 feet (2,400 meters). The issue of the missile's impact on the aircraft cannot be true in any way," Abedzadeh said.
The Boeing 737-800 took off early Wednesday and crashed minutes into its flight.
Canada is home to more than 250,000 people of Iranian descent. Many of the Canadian victims of the UIA crash were families and students who had travelled to Iran for the holidays.
(IANS)