While India was still reeling from the tragic Ahmedabad plane crash, another Air India flight, which is also a Boeing, faced a challenging situation mid-air. The incident happened just 38 hours after the tragic crash, touted as one of the world’s worst aviation disasters. The flight from Delhi to Vienna started losing altitude and began descending to around 900 feet shortly after takeoff, according to a report by The Times of India.
The Boeing 777 triggered a stall warning and a “don’t sink” alert as it began losing altitude shortly after takeoff on June 14. The pilots quickly took note of these warnings and stabilised the aircraft, the report mentioned.
According to Flightradar data, the flight took off at 2:56 AM on June 14 from Delhi and landed in Vienna after 9 hours and 8 minutes.
However, the incident has raised fresh concerns over the safety of Air India’s wide-body fleet. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), India’s aviation regulator, has launched an investigation, and two pilots have been off rostered pending investigation.
‘Don’t sink’ warning issued
The aircraft received a “don’t sink” warning, though only the activation of the stall warning system, which was triggered by turbulence, was initially noted.
The alarming details came to light during the review of the flight’s data recorder – DFDR. It was examined as part of enhanced surveillance by the DGCA following the AI 171 crash.
“The aircraft was involved in an in-flight occurrence of stick shaker and GPWS caution,” TOI quoted officials aware of the matter as saying.
The officials, per TOI, further added, “Soon after takeoff, stick shaker warning and GPWS don’t sink caution appeared. The stall warning came once, and the GPWS caution came twice. There was an altitude loss of around 900 feet during the climb. Subsequently, the crew recovered the aircraft and continued the flight to Vienna.”
A stick shaker is a device in aircraft that vibrates the control stick to alert pilots of an impending aerodynamic stall. This signals the pilot that immediate corrective action is required to maintain safe flight.
GPWS (Ground Proximity Warning System) is another vital safety feature that warns pilots when the aircraft is at risk of colliding with the ground, mountains, or other obstacles.
Air India’s statement
Air India acknowledged that the flight lost altitude and said that the pilots have been taken off flying duty.
“Upon receipt of the pilot’s report, the matter was disclosed to DGCA in accordance with regulations. Subsequently, upon receipt of data from the aircraft’s recorders, further investigation was initiated. The pilots have been off-rostered pending the outcome of the investigation,” the outlet quoted an Air India spokesperson as saying.
The report also mentioned that the airline’s head of safety was summoned on this issue.
In its June 20 notice, the aviation safety regulator raised concerns regarding “systemic failures in crew scheduling, compliance monitoring, and internal accountability” at the airline, and ordered the Tata-owned group to initiate proceedings against them without delay and submit a detailed report within 10 days.
The agency named three officials- Choorah Singh, Divisional Vice President; Pinky Mittal, Chief Manager-DOPS, Crew Scheduling; and Payal Arora, Crew Scheduling and Planning. Air India had earlier confirmed to FinancialExpress.com that it had acted upon the DGCA directive and the officials were off-rostered.