New Delhi, Aug 11 — Civil Aviation Secretary Samir Kumar Sinha and senior officials held a meeting with Air India CEO Campbell Wilson on Tuesday in connection with the mid-air turbulence incident involving the Tata Group airline’s Phuket-Delhi flight, which abruptly dropped by 300 feet at an altitude of 36,000 feet, leaving 17 people on board seriously injured last week, according to sources.
Apart from the Civil Aviation Secretary, Director General of Civil Aviation Vir Vikram Yadav and Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) Director General G.V.G. Yugandhar were also present at the meeting.
Executive Advisor to Tata Sons Chairman and former Civil Aviation Secretary Pradeep Singh Kharola as well as Air India's Head of Flight Safety Deepak Joshi accompanied Campbell to the meeting.
The sources said the Civil Aviation Ministry called the three senior airline executives for a detailed explanation on the August 4 incident involving Air India’s A320neo aircraft which was headed to Delhi from Phuket in Thailand.
Kharola, a former bureaucrat, is currently the Executive Advisor to Tata Sons and Air India Chairman N Chandrasekaran.
According to sources, Air India flight AI2379, operated by Airbus A320 aircraft VT-EXO, also suffered from technical glitches, including hydraulic failures and the autopilot disconnecting during the flight.
Aircraft manufacturer Airbus and French aviation accident investigation agency BEA will join the investigation into the incident.
Airbus, as the manufacturer of the A320 involved in the incident, can also provide technical assistance to investigators. The aerospace giant’s participation is part of the technical support provided by aircraft manufacturers under the framework of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) Annex 13. Such assistance can include helping investigators understand aircraft systems and analyse technical and flight data.
The event has been classified as a serious incident by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB).
The investigation is also examining the circumstances surrounding the aircraft’s sudden altitude variation and the actions of the flight crew. The plane’s flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder have been secured for examination as part of the investigation.
These records are expected to help investigators reconstruct the aircraft's response during the turbulence encounter and establish whether any aircraft systems or warnings were involved.
Meanwhile, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has removed both pilots from the roster pending the investigation.
The pilots were subjected to post-flight screening for psychoactive substances after arriving in Delhi. The initial screening test of the pilot-in-command was "not negative", and the sample has been sent for a confirmatory test, the Civil Aviation Ministry said on Sunday.
The government said further action would be taken based on the outcome of the investigation and the confirmatory test.