http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2010/11/30/report-co-pilot-moved-seat-sent-jetliner-plumetting/?hpt=C2
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.
Location: Western Hemisphere
Posted on: 30-11-10 19:05:05
Recovery from a dive is taught in a basic flying class within the first 40 hours of stepping onto a cockpit and it is a fairly simple procedure which, if ignored is catastrophic. An air transport pilot such as this pilot should have gone through several, several, several steps beyond that basic step. So, if the story is right, this douche bag needs to go back to Junior Kindergarten.
Also, curiously wondering why autopilot wasn't engaged? Maybe it dis-engaged when it sensed an over control which during emergency descent might be required.
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Dimple2001
I wish to know as to in which flight this co pilot is now a days working, cause i dont want to fly in that plane. This guy is bloody incompetent.
