We have been hearing about mishaps taking place on flights over the past year. Incidents of molestations have come up as well as cases of racism mid-flight. However, this time it wasn’t the passengers who were at fault but the pilots themselves.
The captain and the co-pilot of a Jet Airways flight, 9W 119 from London to Mumbai got into a heated altercation on January 1. The commander slapped his female co-pilot mid-flight and the fight flared up in the cockpit.
According to Times of India, the two senior pilots have been grounded for the incident by the airlines.
After being slapped, the co-pilot came out from the cockpit sobbing. During the time she was out, the pilot kept calling the cabin crew on the buzzer asking them to send her back in. According to the Economic Times, a source said,
“After a while, the commander came out of the cockpit, leaving it unmanned and the plane on autopilot, which is a major safety hazard.”
Indian flight norms say that there need to be at least two people in the cockpit at any time during the flight. The source also said that it would have been very difficult to control the aircraft if something went wrong and the autopilot disengaged.
The source further explained the situation, saying,
“It requires at least 45 seconds to punch in the code on the door to enter the cockpit, which is too less if an autopilot gets disengaged. Also, what if the door lock got jammed, the plane would have been flying without anyone in the cockpit.”
The cabin crew feared for the safety of 324 passengers onboard as well as the 14 crew members manning the plane. However, the plane landed safely. In a statement by the Jet Airways spokesperson, he said,
Directorate General of Civil Aviation or the DCGA has taken the incident very seriously. They have ordered an in-depth investigation into the matter. BS Bhullar, the director general of civil aviation said, “We have ordered an investigation and pending that, the DGCA has suspended the privileges of the (female) co-pilot’s licence.”
It is absolutely unacceptable that the pilots took the lives of so many people so lightly. We are happy that no mishap took place, however, it was a disaster waiting to happen.