Two Jet pilots grounded for letting 'trainee' take charge with 100 passengers onboard
Two Jet pilots grounded for letting 'trainee' take charge with 100 passengers onboardu00a0
In a bizarre case, two Jet Airways pilots tested the skills of a trainee pilot on a regular flight on October 20.
Risking the safety of 100 passengers onboard, the two pilots of the Jet Airways Delhi-Mumbai flight (9W-322), allowed the check-pilot to take over the controls of the flight.u00a0
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Risky flight: The check-pilot, who was seated behind the cockpit crew, pulled off a circuit-breaker, affecting the Boeing 737-900's auto-pilot mechanism. Representative photo |
The mistake
The check-pilot, who was seated behind the cockpit crew, pulled off a circuit-breaker, affecting the Boeing 737-900's auto-pilot mechanism and other equipment.
With the navigational equipment affected, the aircraft lost height rapidly, at a speed over the prescribed 1,000 feet per minute, while preparing to land at Mumbai airport.
The incident occurred over the suburbs of Mumbai, almost 3,500 feet above ground. Aviation experts said the incident could have resulted in a major accident.
Punishment
Meanwhile, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has taken a stern view of the incident.
The rating of the concerned check-pilot has been suspended pending enquiry, while both the pilot-in-command and the co-pilot have been de-rostered pending enquiry, an official spokesperson of the Civil Aviation Ministry said.
The airline, while carrying out an internal enquiry, detected "an abnormal rate of descent" during monitoring the data of the flight.
Rating of a check-pilot is an essential requirement for renewal of a pilot's flying licenceStrict action
The DGCA has issued instructions to all training captains, including pilots, cautioning them against the use of prohibited in-flight emergency simulations, the spokesperson said. Strict instructions are also being reiterated for complete flight data monitoring by airlines, in addition to random sampling of the data by DGCA.
