Jet Airways flight plunges 5000 feet over Turkish airspace as pilot dozes off

New Delhi In a major scare a Jet Airways flight from Mumbai to Brussels carrying around 280 passengers plunged 5000 feet while overflying Turkish airspace last week as the commander was asleep and the co pilot busy with the iPad containing flight informationTerming it a serious incident aviation regulator DGCA has suspended the two pilots and initiated a probe into the incident It has also set up a threemember team to review the airlines flight training programmes and facilities following the incident last Friday official sources said adding the team has been asked to submit their report by August 31Representational picDGCA has directed the airline to come forward with all related reports as well as the records of the Digital Flight Data Recorder DFDR within this week they said The incident occurred when the Boeing 777300 operating flight 9W228 from Mumbai to Brussels and onwards to Newark plunged from 34000 feet to 29000 feet while traversing on the busy air route to EuropeAs the aircraft descended the air traffic control at Ankara sent an emergency message to the aircraft asking the pilots why they had deviated from the assigned flight path and directed them to climb up to the designated height immediately Both pilots were summoned by DGCA yesterday for questioningWhile the commander said he was on controlled rest implying a short nap inside the cockpit which is allowed by flight operation procedures the copilot told the regulator that she was working on her iPad or the electronic flight bag which has all aircraft documents loaded on to it the sources said Immediately after the Ankara ATC message the copilot woke up the commander who restored the height of the planeConfirming the incident an airline spokesperson said Jet Airways has initiated an internal inquiry into the matter The airline is also extending all cooperation in the matter to the DGCA by providing all necessary assistance for the inquiry Safety is of paramount importance to Jet Airways as is also the welfare of our guests and crew and the airline will always take appropriate steps to ensure the same the spokesperson saidFollowing the incident DGCA has constituted a team comprising officials from its Airworthiness Air Safety and Flight Operations wings to audit Jet Airways training procedures for pilots for an entire year The team would also look into the airlines training policies including how it defined controlled rest for a pilot the sources said adding that inspections would also be carried out of its training facilitiesThe regulator would also probe why the airline or the pilots failed to report the incident to it as the DGCA got to know of the incident only after an anonymous message the sources said While both the pilots kept flying until they were grounded two days ago they did not even file a flight safety report which is a mandatory exercise to document any untoward incident during the course of a flight they saidThe cockpit crew should have informed the airline which in turn should have apprised the Accident Investigation Board of the incident the official sources added The DGCA would also enquire into whether there was any technical failure in the aircraft which led it to lose height and going for an uncontrolled descent or was any switch accidentally pressed by any of the pilot they saidThe Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau has been asked to conduct a detailed investigation into the incident which could take 45 months Only after the Board gives its report would it be possible to determine the quantum of penalty if any for the pilots officials said