NEW DELHI, April 12 – There was panic when pilots on India’s Jet Airways flight from London to Mumbai, while flying through Germany recently, did not respond to communication from air traffic controllers for about 25 minutes, Indian media reported.
According to the report, the incident happened just a few days after the mysterious disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 on March 8, which heightened the seriousness of the case.
It was not immediately known how many travellers were on the aircraft, a Boeing 777-300ER, which has a seating capacity of 312, reported an English daily, DNA.
The case was investigated by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), which received a complaint from the German air traffic control on March 13.
The two pilots on the Jet flight 9W 117 were taken off the roster for two weeks, during the course of the inquiry, the report said.
The DGCA inquiry found that the pilots had taken off their headsets and did not hear the communication as the audio volume was low.
Communication was re-established after the air traffic controllers sent a text message to the pilots through the Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System (ACARS), a satellite-based system, and the pilots responded to the traffic controllers.
Jet officials also joined the DGCA in the inquiry into the case.
“Based on the investigation report, Jet Airways has ensured strict disciplinary action against the pilots. The report has been sent to the German authorities for closure,” the report quoted an unnamed spokesperson for the airlines as saying.
— BERNAMA
