Just four days after the Mangalore tragedy, another Air India Express aircraft with 112 passengers onboard got into an hazardous situation on May 26 when it dropped altitude suddenly by several thousands of feet thus risking a mid-air collision with other aircraft. The incident reportedly took place in Muscat airspace. Air India has de-rostered two pilots of the flight following the incident and has ordered an inquiry. The DGCA too is probing the incident.
“Air India Express flight IX-212 of May 26, 2010, from Dubai to Pune, during flight, lost some height. There are no reports of any injuries to passengers and crew. The pilots have been de-rostered to enable them to participate in the enquiry. The matter is being investigated,” the airline said in a terse statement.
Sources in the airline said the pilot had left the cockpit to use the toilet after which the autopilot accidentally got switched off. The co-pilot was in the cockpit at that time. The aircraft lost altitude then by thousands of feet but Air India, while not specifying the measure of fall in altitude, denied that the aircraft fell by as much as 15,000 ft.
Sources said the co-pilot appeared to have panicked and could not control the aircraft. “He seemed to have been paralysed by fear,” said a source. The pilot, meanwhile, probably sensed the fall and rushed back but could not enter the cockpit which had got locked. The pilot then had to punch in the security code and entered the cockpit to save the situation.
It is learnt that the two pilots along with the cabin crew of the flight are appearing before the DGCA for the probe.
Sources said that the skies over Muscat are full of aircraft at all times and that it is entirely possible that the Air India Express aircraft may have come perilously close to some other aircraft.