A Jet Airways passenger plane. (Representative photo/ Reuters file)
Doha: A report into the investigation of a blind landing in Thiruvanathapuram by a Jet Airways pilot in August 2015 was submitted recently to the Indian government by the aviation authority.
According to Indian media, the Indian Directorate General of Civil Aviation report gives details of conversation in the cockpit of the Doha-Kochi flight as the pilots of 9W-555 made six futile attempts to land in bad weather, before landing blindly at the seventh attempt.
The incident risked the lives of 150 passengers and crew and could have led to a major accident.
The aircraft approached Kochi for landing but after three attempts it was unable to see the runway. The pilot then diverted to the closest airport at Thiruvananthapuram and finally landing after sixth fail attempt.
According to a report in Hindustan Times “Boeing 737 was left with just 349kg of fuel when it finally landed, burning most of the fuel during the six go-arounds.”
“Do you know where it (runway) is?” the first officer is heard asking in the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) as the pilots made a seventh attempt to land.
“Just going blindly,” the captain replied.
The paper also reported that the captain was demoted to the rank of co-pilot after the incident, which is classified as “serious”.
The report reveals that the accident could have been avoided if there was a company policy on how many attempts a pilot is allowed in case of unfavourable weather conditions.
Jet Airways meanwhile commented that the airline took all possible measures but the inclement weather at both the destinations created a situation which demanded pilots to apply their skills and training to ensure a safe landing.
