The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) on Friday released its preliminary report on the Air India Phuket-Delhi flight that dropped nearly 300 feet on August 4. experts have flagged key questions that remain unanswered While the report details the sequence of events.
The aircraft lost all three hydraulic systems within seconds, triggering a stall warning and a subsequent drop in altitude, according to the report. The AAIB report revealed the sequence of events, which led to the sudden drop in altitude. The systems recovered seconds later, allowing the flight to resume normal operations. However, former pilots say the AAIB report leaves the central technical question open. The second pilot also questioned the decision to fly all the way to Delhi instead of landing sooner. “Why would you not go to Kolkata or Bhubaneswar when you have so much medical emergency and people are bleeding and the aircraft is in a damaged state? The incident, which unfolded in quick succession in a matter of seconds, has led to questions over what first led to the failure and the subsequent recovery of the hydraulic systems. As probe continues, these technical questions remain to be answered.
Here’s a second-by-second breakdown of the incident: 9.32:51am IST: The stall warning was triggered for two seconds. The aircraft encounters altitude upset, gains 372 ft and then falls by 292 ft from its assigned FL360 during the event.
