Mangalore crash: ‘Pilot was asleep’
Pilot error caused by “sleep inertia” on the part of the Serbian-born British commander Capt. Zslatko Glucika was the cause of the crash of Air India Express’ flight IX-812 at the Mangalore airport on May 22 this year that led to the death of 158 persons on board, top sources said, while citing the findings of the report of the government-appointed court of inquiry into the crash.
The pilot had slept in the cockpit for about one hour and forty minutes during the flight from Dubai to
Mangalore that lasted a little more than three hours. Just before descent, he woke up and took control of the aircraft. Capt. Glucika was also warned by his co-pilot Capt. H.S. Ahluwalia thrice to “go-around” and a fourth time that the descent was an “unstabilised approach”.
But the Serbian-born pilot did not heed the warnings probably on account of the “sleep inertia” which led to loss in situational awareness and alertness.
Capt. Glucika overshot the touchdown zone of the runway and landed on the 8,000-foot runway after overshooting 5,200 feet. On realising the plane was going to crash into the gorge beyond, he swung the throttle and tried to take-off but failed in this perilous attempt.
The court of inquiry, set up in the first week of June, submitted its report on Tuesday evening to the civil aviation ministry after making a presentation to civil aviation minister Praful Patel. The report will be made public only after it is placed before Parliament, sources said.
According to Indian civil aviation rules, it is not permitted for pilots to sleep during the flight. In this case, while the pilot slept during the flight, the co-pilot was flying the aircraft.
Sources said the pilot had received more than the adequate time-period for rest from the airline. But obviously, the pilot seemed very exhausted for some reason which is why he slept during the flight.
There is no evidence to suggest any consumption of alcohol, sources said. The “sleep inertia” afflicting the pilot probably affected his alertness and slowed his reflexes. Sources also said the 8,000 feet-long Mangalore table-top runway was more than sufficient for the aircraft to land but the main reason for the crash was the enormous over-shooting of the touchdown zone of the runway.
Capt. Glucika had also been reprimanded by Air India Express early this year for a “hard landing” by Air India Express at Thiruvanathapuram airport in March this year.
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