Airbus finds Air India flight lost controls for 4 seconds after hydraulic failure

The Story in Brief

An Airbus analysis has found that Air India's A320 (VT-EXO) lost flight controls for four seconds after three hydraulic system failures within two seconds, causing a sudden 300-foot altitude drop on the Phuket-Delhi flight on August 4. The aircraft was carrying 145 people, of whom 24 were injured. The initial report says elevators and ailerons were lost briefly, and the first officer's nose-down input did not respond.

All three hydraulic systems recovered within seven seconds, and the plane landed safely at Delhi. The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau is probing the incident. Separately, the pilot-in-command has tested positive for a psychoactive substance, and Air India has ordered testing of all its pilots, over 5,000 across Air India and Air India Express.