Now Reading: Air India flight lost hydraulic power for four seconds, Airbus data shows
-
01
Air India flight lost hydraulic power for four seconds, Airbus data shows
Air India flight lost hydraulic power for four seconds, Airbus data shows
An Air India A320 flying from Phuket to Delhi suddenly lost hydraulic power in all three of its systems for about four seconds on 4 August, leaving the flight controls unresponsive, according…
An Air India A320 flying from Phuket to Delhi suddenly lost hydraulic power in all three of its systems for about four seconds on 4 August, leaving the flight controls unresponsive, according to Airbus. The incident injured 20 passengers and four crew members. The aircraft then pitched up and lost altitude before the systems recovered.
The cause of the simultaneous pressure loss remains unknown. Airbus has asked Air India to test the hydraulic systems, pressure switches and transducers. A two-member Airbus team is in India. The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau is leading the probe with help from France's BEA.
The pilots' conduct is also under scrutiny. One of India's two pilot associations says the crew followed procedure to ensure a safe landing. The pilot tested positive for a psychoactive substance but has said he was taking sleep medication. Investigators must determine whether he was impaired and whether that affected his decision-making, such as continuing to Delhi rather than landing at nearby Kolkata.
Indian Opinion Analysis
Livemint's account presents the hydraulic failure and the pilot's positive drug test as separate but coincident events, yet it also notes investigators are examining whether the pilot's condition affected the emergency response. The report may underplay the severity of a simultaneous triple hydraulic loss, a rare event that Airbus itself is treating seriously, while the pilot lobby's insistence on following the rulebook could overstate crew performance before all data is known. The measured reading is that neither the technical nor the human factor can be ruled out until the AAIB reconstructs the precise sequence from flight recorders and component tests. The key number to watch is whether similar hydraulic anomalies appear in other A320s as checks widen.
Source: livemint.com
This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above.
