Pilots’ Mid-Air Dive Gets Them Suspended From Jet Airways
Two pilots’ mid-air dive got them suspended from Jet Airways Thursday. The incident happened last Friday on a flight from Mumbai to Brussels.
According to India’s civil aviation regulator, the Jet Airways plane dived 5,000 feet, forcing air traffic controllers to issue an emergency warning. Yahoo! News reports that the captain was on a scheduled rest break when the plane went into a mid-air dive over Turkey.
The dive put the aircraft, a Boeing 777-300 Extended Range, into an altitude assigned to another aircraft. Air traffic controllers in Ankara issued an emergency warning to the co-pilot on duty, who allegedly didn’t notice the altitude change because she was using her tablet computer at the time.
The Director General of Civil Aviation announced Thursday that it summoned the captain and co-pilot for questioning about the “serious incident” during the flight. In a statement, the regulator explained, “Both the pilots have been taken off the roster pending inquiry.”
The regulator added, “Additionally, the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau has been asked to conduct a detailed investigation into the accident.”
Jet Airways also launched an investigation into the pilots’ mid-air dive. It stated, “Safety is of paramount importance to Jet Airways, as is also the welfare of our guests and crew.”
The airline is India’s second-largest local carrier by market, according to the Wall Street Journal. It has ten Boeing 777-300ERs, each of which can carry up to 312 passengers. The carrier is 24 percent owned by Etihad Airways of Abu Dhabi, and is aiming to turn profitable in the fiscal year ending March 2017.
However, those plans could be derailed in light of the pilots’ mid-air dive.
India’s civil aviation regulator added that both the pilots were questioned Wednesday about the mid-air dive during Flight 9W228. It will also audit Jet Airways’ training procedures “to find out whether there are any shortcomings.”
India’s air passenger market has expanded rapidly, but many companies are still mired in debt because of cut-throat fare wars, high fuel costs, and poor infrastructure. The airline sector was also shaken in 2011 by a scandal over several unqualified Indian pilots flying on fake licenses.
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration also stripped India of its top safety rating in January. The FAA cited a lack of safety oversight for its decision. It downgraded the country’s aviation safety rating from category one to category two, putting it at the same level as Zimbabwe, Bangladesh, Indonesia, and other countries.
It isn’t clear if the pilots involved in the mid-air dive of Flight 9W228 will be placed back on active duty.
[Image: Plane Spotters]
