Airline Cited "Serious" Lapses In Procedure

The crew of a Jet Airways flight has been suspended by the airline after an incident which occurred Friday in Mumbai. The airline said it had uncovered "serious procedural lapses" on the part of the crew.

The Pilot, first officer, four cabin crew, and four other personnel have been suspended after an incident in which an "additional crew member" traveling as a passenger noticed a fire in the left engine of the aircraft during taxi for departure on Friday, and informed a second "ACM" of the problem. That ACM reported the fire to the captain, who had it confirmed by one of the active cabin crew.

The Calcutta News Network reports that the pilot pulled the fire handles for both engines as well as the APU and ordered the aircraft to be evacuated. He reportedly did not discharge any of the fire bottles. The crew deployed emergency slides over both wing exits, as well as those on the front and aft starboard doors. The port side aft emergency slide was also deployed.

14 of the 133 passengers on board the aircraft sustained injuries during the evacuation.

But according to a release from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, "(an) aircraft inspection was carried out in the night time under supervision of DGCA team. No fire or smoke was observed in the engine area. Both the engines were checked and boroscope inspection was carried out. No abnormality was observed in engines and its systems. CVR and DFDR have been removed."

The official release goes on to state the reasons for the suspension are: "Preliminary fact finding by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has indicated serious procedural lapses in dealing with the emergency and evacuation situation as per existing procedures laid down in aircraft rules and regulations, by the operating aircraft crew members of the Jet airways flight 9W2302 scheduled to fly from Mumbai to Chennai yesterday (Friday). Hence the Pilot in Command (PIC), First officer, four cabin crew members and four ACMs have been suspended till further orders."

FMI: http://dgca.nic.in