Clumsy co-pilot caused plane to dive

[Teoh Z Yao 0]

Clumsy co-pilot caused plane to dive

 

By Chloe Turgis

 

A plane's dramatic nosedive was caused by a co-pilot accidentally pushing a button while adjusting his seat, a report by India's Directorate General of Civil Aviation stated on Monday.

 

The captain was away on a toilet break when the Boeing 737 aircraft started plunging 7,000 ft.

 

But the captain managed to save the plane by taking the controls back – only after using an emergency code to enter the cockpit again, since his co-pilot panicked and was unable to let him back in.

 

The clumsy 25-year-old co-pilot, working aboard an Air India Express flight from Dubai to Pune in India on 26 May, had "inadvertently [pressed] the control column forward", according to the official report into the incident.

 

No one on the flight was injured, but the report indicates that the 113 passengers were "very much scared and were shouting loudly" during the terrifying dive.

 

The report also says that the co-pilot "probably had no clue how to tackle this kind of emergency", adding: "Appropriate action shall be taken against the involved crew".

 

Source

 

Check the boldface... :-D

 

Does pushing control column disengage the autopilot?

[Mohd Suhaimi Fariz 2]

Source

 

Check the boldface... :-D

 

Does pushing control column disengage the autopilot?

 

I think so. In fact, there was an accident, Eastern Airlines 401 that was caused by the pilot bumping the control column and not noticing the plane descending before it's too late.

 

But more worryingly the co-pilot, when faced with a situation like this, froze and panicked. What if he finds himself without the captain who probably is incapacitated?

[Naim 6]

Report: Co-pilot moved seat, sent jetliner plummeting

 

An Air India Express 737, similar to this one, was saved from crashing when co-pilot used emergency code to get back into the cockpit.

 

The co-pilot of an Air India Express 737 sent the jetliner into a terrifying 7,000-foot plunge in May when he accidentally hit the control column while adjusting his seat, investigators report.

 

According to the report from India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation, the co-pilot panicked and was unable to execute the proper procedures as the jetliner dropped from 37,000 feet at a 26-degree angle. The plane and its 113 passengers were saved when the pilot, who’d gone on a bathroom break, used an emergency code to get into the locked cockpit, jumped back into his seat and grabbed the controls to bring the plummeting plane out of its dive.

 

The aircraft would have broken apart if the descent had continued, the aviation agency report said. The aircraft was not damaged and no one was injured, the report said.

 

After the pilot, 39, regained control of the plane, he told passengers, who were in the middle of a meal when the jet plunged, that the plane had “went through an air pocket and that is why there was a rapid descent,” according to the report.

 

The aviation agency report concluded that the 25-year-old co-pilot had not been trained in the specific scenario the jet encountered and “probably had no clue to tackle this kind of emergency.”

 

Neither the pilot nor co-pilot were named in the report.

 

The Air India Express flight was en route from Dubai to Pune, India, on May 25 when the incident occurred.

 

http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2010/11/30/report-co-pilot-moved-seat-sent-jetliner-plumetting/?hpt=C2

[E Faizal 0]

I hope neither MAS or Air Asia 'greeny' will not having this panic syndrome ... during my flight...

[Naim 6]

I hope neither MAS or Air Asia 'greeny' will not having this panic syndrome ... during my flight...

 

Yeah, the kid panicked. I've often wondered about this on my flights too ... some 25-yr-old (or even younger) responsible for 180 lives (some of them high net worth) + US$80m worth of machine? Even in an open-heart surgery, can find 7-8 highly-qualified, highly-paid ppl working on just 1 life (could be an old pensioner).

[Sandeep G 1]

Haven't read the official report personally, but I've also adapted the skill of taking whatever the press says with a pinch of salt (or be it Masala in this case).

 

Rigorous screening before hiring of an individual, followed by continuous monitoring of an individual throughout training and then constant monitoring & proficiency checks every 6 months for the rest of that inidividuals career punctuated by numerous other developmental courses & careful medical screening annually or bi-annually plus the need to make timely & SAFE decisions that result from high levels of training on an everyday basis and from gained experience by one's own self or through the mistakes/experiences of others and working in a dynamic environment where the situation is never the same twice and adding in to the mix internal and external stressors from home and at work plus the everyday threats of terrorism, fatigue and weather all the while with up to 300 unsuspecting individuals in the back of a scaled pressurised toothpaste tube - and there's still more. My English isn't bad, I wanted to make the sentence 'never-ending' to emphasise a point - I hope you can see it.

 

Please, don't be too quick to jump down the throat of a young (or even elder) individual whose circumstances we will really never know in full. Glad that this story nonetheless had a safe ending.

[Sanjay Thaker 0]

Agreed, Sandeep. Indeed it is too premature to jump to any kind of conclusions especially so since this isn't exactly an official report on the incident.

[Naim 6]

Agreed, Sandeep. Indeed it is too premature to jump to any kind of conclusions especially so since this isn't exactly an official report on the incident.

 

Here it is: http://www.dgca.nic.in/accident/reports/incident/VT-AXJ.pdf

Edited December 1, 2010 by Naim

[Teoh Z Yao 0]

1.3 Damage to aircraft. There was nil damage however the aircraft experienced positive g of 2.02 g and negative g of -0.2g, however necessary inspections were carried out as per AMM 05-51.

 

Is this standard in incident reporting?

[Mohd Suhaimi Fariz 2]

Is this standard in incident reporting?

 

Translation problems perhaps?

[Teoh Z Yao 0]

Translation problems perhaps?

 

Sounds unlikely...