Two pilots on an Air India flight made a poor choice when they allowed two flight attendants to operate the plane as they took a 40-minute break. The pilot put the lives on 166 passengers in danger as they almost had an emergency when the flight attendants accidentally turned off the auto-pilot.
Air India flight AI 133 was flying from Bangkok to Delhi on April 12 when the pilot decided that they wanted a break, The Times of India reports.
Roughly 30 minutes into the flight, First Officer Ravindra Nath left the cockpit to use the bathroom and he got a flight attendant, J Bhatt to sit in his seat while he was gone.
"According to the guidelines it is a standard procedure to ensure the presence of second person in the cockpit so that if the pilot is not able to operate the aircraft for some reason, the other crew member in the cockpit can immediately call for the other pilot. But what actually happened after this made a mockery of air safety," an Anonymous Air India source told The Times of India.
A few minutes after the co-pilot left, Captain B K Soni called flight attendant, Kanika Kala, and asked her to take his seat. Before leaving the cockpit, Captain Soni spent a few minutes teaching the flight attendant s how to operate the plane.
The captain put the plane on auto-pilot and then left the flight attendants alone for 40 minutes while he and his co-pilot took a nap in business class of the plane.
Pilots are still required to be in the plane even if the plane is on auto-pilot. They still need to monitor the flight status and turn off auto-pilot when necessary.
After 40 minutes, Captain Soni and First Officer Nath had to rush back into the cockpit because one of the flight attendants accidentally turned off the auto-pilot, putting all the passenger on board in danger.
"A senior cabin crew member witnessed the entire drama unfold and brought the matter to the notice of the airline's management. All four were derostered and later suspended for this violation," the source added.
According to Director General Arun Mishra of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), the four employees were definitely suspended.
"Following a safety violation, the airline has already suspended the people in question. We are conducting a inquiry into the matter," Mishra told Mumbai Mirror.
Captain Mohan Ranganathan, member of a government-appointed aviation safety panel, this the DGCA should take some of the responsibility for incidents such as this one. "The DGCA should be held responsible for the increase in such cases as they have failed time and again to effectively enforce safety guidelines," said Ranganathan.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
