Air India grounds two pilots after its Hong Kong flight 'descended rapidly', orders probe

NEW DELHI: Air India (AI) has grounded two pilots after an aircraft which they were flying "descended rapidly and deviated from the normal glide path" at the Hong Kong International Airport runway recently.

News agency ANI reported that the Air India has grounded its two pilots after its aircraft ''descended rapidly'' and ''deviated from the normal glide path at Hong Kong International Airport runway on October 20 triggering a Ground Proximity Warning System alert.''

Air India grounded its two pilots after the aircraft descended rapidly and deviated from the normal glide path at Hong Kong International Airport runway on Oct 20 triggering a Ground Proximity Warning System alert. pic.twitter.com/0AL9gPFZo8 — ANI (@ANI) 6 December 2018

The action against two pilots has been taken for ''laxity on their part'', reports said.

The Air India has also ordered a probe into the incident.

“The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) of the United States of America and the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) of India, representing the State of Design and Manufacture and State of Registry of the aircraft respectively, were notified,” a leading daily said quoting a senior AI official.

Air India pilots have been in the news for all the wrong reasons. 

Last month, the airline had grounded the pilots of its Delhi-Sweden flight after the Dreamliner’s wingtip struck a building at Stockholm’s Arlanda airport on arrival while taxiing to the gate there.

The aircraft had 179 passengers and there were no injuries. The Boeing 787 was grounded there for checks and repairs. 

“We have de-rostered both the pilots. Further investigation is on,” a senior AI official had then said.

The Stockholm Police, in a statement, said that all 179 passengers “could disembark from the plane on a mobile staircase and thereafter enter the terminal.”