Air India Flight Lost Hydraulics, Pilot Fired After Drug Test
Translated from English and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.
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- An Air India Airbus A320 temporarily lost three hydraulic systems during a flight from Phuket to New Delhi on August 4, causing a sudden altitude change and injuring 24 passengers.
- The aircraft’s autopilot disengaged after the hydraulic failure, but the plane stabilised and landed safely with 137 passengers and eight crew aboard.
- Air India fired the captain after he tested positive for psychoactive substances, while Indian authorities continue investigating the serious incident.
An Air India Airbus A320 briefly lost three hydraulic systems during a flight that plunged in midair last month, injuring 24 passengers before stabilising and landing safely.
The aircraft was flying from Phuket, Thailand, to New Delhi on August 4 with 137 passengers and eight crew members aboard. India’s civil aviation ministry classified the event as a serious incident.
A preliminary report released by India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau said the flight-control system detected the loss of three hydraulic systems for several seconds. The failure caused the autopilot to disengage. The report said the aircraft initially gained 372 feet before falling 292 feet.
“The aircraft encountered altitude upset,” the report said. Airbus and France’s civil aviation safety agency, the BEA, are assisting the Indian investigation.
Air India fired the captain after a drug test returned positive for psychoactive substances. The report did not establish in the supplied material whether the test result was linked to the hydraulic failure or the aircraft’s loss of altitude.
The aircraft encountered altitude upset.
About this summary
Originally published by Dawn in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.
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