Hours After AI171 Crash, Another Air India Flight Dropped 900 Feet Mid-Air DGCA Orders Probe, Pilots Taken Off Duty

(MENAFN- Live Mint) The 12 June Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad had taken the world by shock, with over 270 people - including 241 on board - losing their lives. While the country was still recovering from the fatal crash, another Air India wide-body aircraft came close to a presumably serious accident.

According to a report by The Times of India, within 38 hours of the Ahmedabad plane crash, a Delhi-Vienna Boeing 777 aircraft operating as AI187 received multiple critical warnings shortly after its takeoff.

Air India flight drops 900 feet

Officials aware of the matter and cited by the newspaper confirmed that the Delhi-Vienna Air India aircraft dropped approximately 900 feet during its initial climb.

During this time, the wide-body aircraft, registered as VT-ALJ, got a stall warning, as well as two“don't sink” cautions from the Ground Proximity Warning System (GPWS). The warnings alerted the crew about an unusual loss in altitude.

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“The aircraft was involved in an inflight occurrence of stick shaker and GPWS caution. Soon after takeoff, stick shaker warning and GPWS don't sink caution appeared. Stall warning came once and GPWS caution came twice. There was an altitude loss of around 900 feet during climb,” officials quoted by TOI said.

Luckily, the pilots were able to recover the aircraft and it landed safely in Vienna.

"Subsequently, the crew recovered the aircraft and continued the flight to Vienna,” the officials were quoted as saying.

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Stick shaker warning refers to when the control column on the flight deck shakes and makes noise to summon urgent attention of the pilot, detecting something is not right.

As per data from flight tracking websites, the incident happened on June 14 amid a bad weather as the Delhi-Vienna aircraft took off at 2:56 am.

At that moment, a thunderstorm was engulfing Delhi, TOI reported.

Data recovered, pilots off-rostered, probe underway

Officials said initial Air India flight report showed that the pilots received“stick shaker due turbulence after takeoff mentioned and not the other occurrences in detail”.

However, when authorities probed the B777's flight data recorder (DFDR), perhaps following the DGCA's orders to enhance safety, it was found that there were other warning like GPWS don't sink caution and stall warning in play.

An Air India spokesperson quoted by TOI said that a probe has been initiated and the pilots have been taken off duty.

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“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 spokesperson said.

According to the report, the DGCA has taken a stern note of the 14 June incident, especially after the Air India plane crash on 12 June.

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