It is not often that a news article gets stuck in your mindspace.With #COVID19 spreading a pall of gloom ; new infections , deaths , ventilators , PPE and above all #China dominates every piece of breaking news
Images from @JetPhotos https://twitter.com/smitaprakash/status/1246389389455798272

However a recent story by @Ashoke_Raj for @ANI @livemint and @EconomicTimes broke the mould and brought a smile on many a face.Special Evacuation Flights by @airindian , an extra cheerful Pakistani ATCO (Air Traffic Controller) and loads of pleasanteries and praise

A story which had too many things going right for it. News that stood out as mushy and unreal and had to be investigated atleast to the extent Open Source information would allow

It commenced with confirmations on date , origin , destination and a common Flight Information Region (Karachi).Two flights departed Mumbai for Frankfurt on 2nd April 2020 with European Evacuees and Relief Material

AI 3011(VT-ALX) Boeing 777-333 ER named Sikkim at 03:09 PM and

AI 3009 (VT-ALN) Boeing 777-337 ER named Jammu and Kashmir at 03:11 PM within 2 minutes of each other

Graphics @flightstats

The Jets entered entered Karachi FIR after an approximate 55 minute flight over the Arabian Sea.This led the search to @liveatc which luckily had Karachi ATC RT Archives for 2nd April 2020

Calculations involved Time of Departure , Average Speed , Approximate Time to Karachi (KHI) FIR and UTC (Co-ordinated Universal Time) to Pakistan Standard Time conversions.A Total of 6 Audio Clips with 3 Hours of ATC Chatter was scanned over a period of 6 hours for verification

This clips were rich in content , A six ship Mirage -III/V Formation communicating its Flight Position , A C-130 landing at PAF Base Faisal , A C-130 flying between Masroor and Gwadar , An Ethihad 787 etc

However none of this made it to the final clip here (core content) as audio was carefully limited to relevant RT and Transmissions only and stiched together carefully https://soundcloud.com/hukum-singh-791095145/mix-by-audio-joinercom

The Final Clip is for everyone to hear ....

There is No Assalaam Alaikum!'

Nothing remotely matching "We are proud of you that in a pandemic situation you are operating flights, Good Luck!"

No Query like "Confirm are you operating relief flights for Frankfurt,"

Just Routine ATC - Flight Communications and Crisp Directions. An ATS route is a designated route for
channeling the flow of traffic as necessary for the provision of air traffic services

These two ATS routes relevant in context of the story in question :-

1) KABIM P518 PG KEBUD - Iran (Tehran)
2) KABIM P518 PG ASVIB - Gulf of Oman

Air India 3011 and 3009 communicated their Positions at Waypoint KABIM.The Karachi ATC then communicated them that they had a clear route for the entire sector (Direct Papa Call) to Tehran (KEBUD)

The ATC RT clip does not tally with the published story except for the communication of routes.There are other chinks in the story as well.Why would a ATCO stick his neck out and heap praises on Indian Pilots in a Surveillance state like Pakistan ?

Those RT Calls are surely monitored over Military Channels by Pakistani Intelligence Agencies.Trouble is just an RT away amid an atmosphere of hostility among the two neighbours.I close this with Khuda Hafis and leave all of you to draw your own conclusions

Jai Hind !

@threader_app compile