Well at least it's not QF

[Russell D]

'Panicky pilot' caused Indian passenger jet plunge

November 30, 2010, 11:56 am

An Indian co-pilot sent an international passenger jet into a terrifying nosedive when he adjusted his seat and accidentally pushed the control column forward, an official report revealed Monday.

The clumsy officer then panicked and was unable to let the captain, who had gone on a toilet break, back into the cockpit as the plane plunged 7,000 feet (2,000 metres).

The captain only saved the Boeing 737 aircraft after using an emergency code to get through the cockpit door and take the controls back from the co-pilot, the report by India's Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said.

The 25-year-old co-pilot told the inquiry he had "got in a panic situation couldn't control the aircraft, neither open the cockpit door and answer the cabin call."

When the captain, 39, got back into the cockpit, he shouted "What are you doing?" as cabin crew ordered the 113 terrified passengers to fasten their seatbelts.

The report said there was "complete commotion" in the cabin and that passengers were "very much scared and were shouting loudly" as the plane dived steeply and boxes and liquor bottles fell into the aisle.

The Air India Express flight was flying at 37,000 feet from Dubai to Pune airport, in western India, on May 26 when the near-disaster occurred. No one was injured.

According to the report, the nosedive was "due to the copilot adjusting his seat forward and inadvertently pressing the control column forward."

The plane fell 2,000 feet before the captain got back into the cockpit -- and another 5,000 feet as he struggled with the panicking co-pilot.

"There was application of opposite force by pilot and copilot on control column," the report said.

It added that the copilot "probably had no clue to tackle this kind of emergency."

"Appropriate action shall be taken against the involved crew," it concluded.

After the incident, the captain tried to calm passengers by telling them that the aircraft had hit an air pocket.
Four days earlier, another Air India Express flight had crashed at Mangalore airport, killing 158 people. A leaked report blamed a sleepy pilot.

I've always had some concerns over the last few years due to India's rapidly expanding aviation industry. I've heard stories (can't say if they are true or not) that because some of the LCCs are expanding their fleets so rapidly in order to meet demand, so F/O are being promoted to Captains after just a year or two in the RH seat.

Plus, I'm not 100% certain how extensive the GA industry is in India, which would be a good indication as to the experience pilots in India have prior to being accepted into the major airlines.

[Nadia B-J]

Yeah, at least it's not Qantas, for a change!

I am getting really sick of and bored that every little thing is getting reported.
It's obvious the media have really got it in for QF.

[NickN]

Out of curiosity.......

If the plane was in level flight (you would assume under Autopilot), how could the FO lean forward and bump the column and cause the plane to nosedive? In Autopilot isn't manual input into the controls unavailable?

And I made my assumption about level flight based on the fact the Captain was able to leave the cockpit for a toilet break.

Anybody else find that part of the story a little odd?

[Russell D]

Yeah I'm sick of hearing QF reported too.

Nick that's a very good point. The only thing I can think off is that he either:

(a) Disengaged the autopilot in his "panic"

(b) The Captain was so desperate/or negligent that he/she went back to use the loo before the a/c was in cruise config.

(c) Remembering back to the Aeroflot incident with the kid in the cockpit, perhaps there might be something to do with the autopilot disengaging automatically if one hold the control column (or joystick) banked or forward/back??? But this would be a wild guess.

[Brock Little]

Remembering back to the Aeroflot incident with the kid in the cockpit, perhaps there might be something to do with the autopilot disengaging automatically if one hold the control column (or joystick) banked or forward/back??? But this would be a wild guess.

Exactly what I thought

[Radi K]

The 737 autopilot will enter into CWS or control wheel steering mode. This is still a mode of the autopilot but will enable the ability of the yoke to have input into flight attitudes.

More info avlb on the web. QF had an incident back in 2005 in an -800 where the CWS was engaged by accident.

[Russell D]

Thanks Radi. Sounds like my wild guess might at least be plausible. Although the media article didn't say, I assume there will be an investigation into the incident.

Back to what I mentioned about flight crew experience in India, I just visited the careers websites for the main airlines to see what their requirements are for flight crew:

Jet Airways --> Captain positions on all types require a lot of hours both total time (min 3000), PIC (2000) and PIC on type (500), which is good to see. However, there are no requirements listed for F/Os, with just type ratings required and an incident/accident free flying record. But I assume there are some strict experience requirements as well.

JetLite --> Can't find any credible info regarding experience requirements since they are currently not recruiting pilots (which is a big surprise since all the other airlines are still expanding). But since it is a subsidiary of Jet Airways, maybe they either source their pilots from Jet Airways or they have very similar minimum requirements as their parents company. But some websites suggest that being a LCC, JetLite has extremely low hourly requirements for entry.

Kingfisher/Kingfisher Red (Formerly Air Deccan) --> Can't find any credible info here either, but some sources suggest F/Os require just 1000hrs total time and a type rating.

Air India/Air India Express/Alliance Air/ Indian Airlines --> Seem to require min 1500 PIC and 2000 total time.

IndiGo --> Although Captain requirements "seem" adequate, F/O entry seems pretty low. E.g. 700hrs total time + type rating will get you into the F/O seat of an A320.

GoAir --> Nothing mentioned about captains, but F/Os who are type rated require min 300hrs total time to apply. Now this I find a tad scary, because that's only about 50hrs more than someone who has completed the Bachelor of Aviation (Flying) course at UNSW.

SpiceJet --> Can't find any info, but some sources suggest requirements are relatively low.

I also found this which struck me as a little odd:
Jet Airways flight attendants requirements - "Marital status = Unmarried" and "Physical Features = unblemished complexion"