Indian Pilot Forgot to Raise The Wheels of The Plane
An unexpected incident occurred on an Air India flight flying from Kolkata to Mumbai in 2017 when an Indian pilot forgot to raise the wheels of the plane.
Two pilots assigned to fly the plane forgot to lower the wheels after taking off.
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| The flight was scheduled to fly between Kolkata and Mumbai. (Photo: AIR INDIA) |
The two pilots, who are women, did not realize that the wheels of the plane had not been raised. They only realized this before the plane landed in Nagpur.
As a result of their negligence, the aircraft that should have had enough fuel during the trip became almost exhausted.
The flight scheduled to arrive in Mumbai was eventually diverted to Nagpur citing fuel availability.
Chronology of Indian pilots forgetting to raise the wheels of the plane
According to SBS, the incident of Indian pilots forgetting to raise the wheels of the plane occurred on July 22, 2017.
At that time, they were tasked with flying an Airbus A-320 with flight number AI 676.
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Meanwhile, The Telegraph reported that the plane was scheduled to fly from Kolkata to Mumbai with 99 passengers on board.
After taking off from Kolkata, the crew noticed an oddity because the plane could not reach an altitude of 24,000 feet.
The aircraft should be able to climb to an altitude of 35,000 feet.
The aircraft was experiencing fuel shortages
A source told local media that Air India's A-320 was new. The A-320 is also the most fuel-efficient aircraft.
During the flight, the AI 676 was only able to reach a speed of 230 knots from a normal speed of about 500 knots.
There are allegations, that the plane cannot fly at normal speed because the wheels that are still hanging are very burdensome for the plane.
About 90 minutes after flying the scheduled two-hour journey, the pilot requested permission for the flight to be diverted to Nagpur.
They reasoned that their plane would run out of fuel before it reached Mumbai.
The pilot realized the plane's wheels had not been lowered
After the request to land in Nagpur was submitted, the pilot immediately prepared the plane for landing. The pilot will also lower the wheels for the landing of the aircraft.
It was then that they realized that the wheels had not been raised after the plane took off from Kolkata.
FlightRadar24 flight footage showed that the plane failed to reach altitudes higher than 24,000 feet but the plane's speed was just over 300 knots.
Meanwhile, the plane's fuel is running out because the wheels that are still out provide a big drag for the aircraft.
The aircraft is designed to fly with minimum drag for better fuel efficiency and longer range.
Pilots sanctioned
Air India, which learned of the incident when the wheels of the plane forgot to be raised, then sanctioned two pilots.
Air India spokesman Dhananjay Kumar said it was investigating the pilot's negligence.
"The pilots were relieved of flying duties after this incident was reported," Kumar told the Times of India.
Meanwhile, a senior pilot at Air India said the incident of the plane's wheels forgetting to raise was a human error or "imprudent approach".
He said he was surprised by the cabin crew because they were not aware of the noise or vibration felt inside the aircraft flying at low altitude.
"This incident demonstrates the very poor situational awareness and crew resource management failure between the two female pilots on the flight."
A shocking revelation about "Indian pilots forgetting to raise the wheels of the plane". Hopefully, the incident will not happen again.