Two Air India Pilots Suspended for Pre-Flight Brawl in Cockpit
Air India suspended two pilots after they two reportedly came to blows in the cockpit of a flight from Jaipur to Delhi Sunday night.
The plane's first officer, Agence France-Presse reports, apparently became "irritated by his superior’s request to write down critical information for the flight" and then proceeded to "beat up" the captain.
"There were only heated exchanges between the commander and co-pilot over some issue," a spokesperson for the airline told the Hindustan Times. "We have already derostered the two pilots pending an inquiry."
Air India officials told the Wall Street Journal that the two completed the flight following their alleged fight "to avoid inconveniencing passengers"—the pilot reported the first officer after landing in Delhi. The reported incident is another in a slog of setbacks for the airline, which hasn't turned a profit since 2007. From the Journal:
In 2013, Air India suspended a pilot and two flight attendants after local media reported that both pilots operating a Bangkok to New Delhi flight left control of the plane in the hands of two flight attendants so that they could take a nap. At the time, Air India had denied that the cockpit was left unattended by the pilots.
Separately, in August last year, both pilots of an international Jet Airways flight were suspended after their aircraft suddenly dropped 5,000 feet over Turkish airspace.
The flight from Mumbai to Brussels plunged from 34,000 feet to 29,000 feet as the commander of the flight was taking a nap and the co-pilot failed to notice the drop in altitude until contacted by air traffic controllers in Turkey, Indian newspaper reports said. Jet at the time said it had initiated an investigation. An airline spokeswoman said she did not have details about the latest status of the investigation on Monday.
The first officer, meanwhile, apparently denies the fight ever became physical.
[Image via AP]