An Air India Airbus A320 flying from Phuket to Delhi last week suffered a string of technical malfunctions including three separate hydraulic system failures, an autopilot disconnection and turbulence before plunging roughly 300 feet in a mid-air incident that has triggered a formal investigation.
PTI reported on Monday (August 10) that India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) has opened a probe into the August 4 episode involving Air India flight AI2379, operated by A320 aircraft VT-EXO. Sources said France’s Bureau d’Enquêtes et d’Analyses (BEA) and aircraft-maker Airbus are expected to join the investigation from Tuesday. The aircraft was manufactured in France.
What the probe suggests
Sources cited by PTI said the aircraft ran into several technical issues mid-flight, starting with the autopilot disconnecting unexpectedly. The co-pilot then took manual control, after which the crew received a flight-control stall warning, according to the sources.
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Several indicator switches also flickered off briefly as the aircraft cycled through multiple technical and mechanical glitches. Turbulence struck shortly before the altitude loss, sources added.
Investigators are now piecing together the sequence of failures and other contributing factors behind the sudden drop. The probe aims to pin down the exact cause and determine whether the various system glitches were linked to one another.
What happened on August 4
The aircraft was cruising when it abruptly lost about 300 feet of altitude before stabilising. The crew brought the situation under control, and the flight continued on to Delhi, landing safely.
The Phuket-Delhi flight was carrying 137 passengers, including three infants, along with eight crew members. The Civil Aviation Ministry said some passengers and cabin crew sustained injuries as a result of the incident.