September 4, 2026
Air India probe flags triple hydraulic loss, pilot drug take a look at
An Air India aircraft which skilled a sudden drop in altitude whereas flying from Phuket to New Delhi final month suffered a short lived lack of hydraulic programs, Indian investigators have mentioned.
The aircraft’s pilot additionally returned a “non-negative” end in a confirmatory take a look at for psychoactive substances, India’s Plane Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) mentioned in a preliminary report on Friday.
The physique is probing the incident involving the Air India A320 flight, which plummeted 300 toes (91 meters) on August 4 whereas cruising over the Indian state of Odisha, earlier than recovering and touchdown safely in Delhi.
A complete of 20 passengers and 4 crew members had been injured.
Following the incident, Indian media reviews mentioned that the first captain of the flight examined constructive for marijuana in a confirmatory drug take a look at.
On Friday, the AAIB, up to date the occasion, which was earlier categorized as a “severe incident” to an “accident.”
What did the probe company say?
The AAIB mentioned that the flight-control system detected the lack of all three of the plane’s hydraulic programs for a number of seconds.
“The plane encountered altitude upset,” it mentioned within the report, including that the aircraft gained 372 toes initially and fell by 292 toes.
A two-second stall warning got here after the hydraulic failure, disengaging the autopilot and setting off a steady cockpit alarm, the report mentioned.
The stall warning got here when the seatbelt indicators had been off and the speedy pitch up and down threw these on board towards the overhead bins, resulting in the accidents, the report elaborated.
“Subsequently, the plane operation returned to its regular working situation,” the company’s report mentioned.
The report went on so as to add that the pilot-in-command returned a “non-negative” take a look at for psychoactive substances.
“The affirmation of use of psychoactive substance is a severe concern,” it mentioned with out figuring out the substance.
What has Air India mentioned?
Following Friday’s report, Air India launched an announcement saying that it had began voluntary testing of “100% of its pilots” after the incident as “an extra step to strengthen its safety-first strategy.”
“We acknowledge the discharge of the preliminary report by the Plane Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) and proceed to increase our full cooperation to the investigation, together with offering entry to all related operational, upkeep and technical information,” the Indian flag service mentioned.
