Jet grounds two senior pilots for fighting in cockpit of London-Mumbai flight

NEW DELHI: Jet Airways has grounded two of its senior commanders for fighting inside the cockpit of a London-Mumbai flight on January 1.
The commander flying as co-pilot allegedly slapped the lady commander mid-flight after which she left the cockpit in tears.

After great persuation, the lady pilot went back to the cockpit but reportedly came out in a huff shortly afterwards. This time, a frightened cabin crew, fearing for everyone's safety, requested her to go back to the controls and operate the flight to its destination. Luckily, the plane landed safely.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has suspended the licence of the male co-pilot and ordered a probe into the entire episode.

This unprecedented cockpit fight happened on 9W 119 soon after Jet's Boeing 777 took off for its 9-hour journey to Mumbai with 324 passengers and 14 crew members on board on New Year's Day at 10am (UK time).

Both the pilots of this flight were commanders and the lady was captaining 9W 119 while the other was the co-pilot for this sector.

"Shortly after the plane took off, the two pilots had a fight. The co-pilot slapped the lady commander and she left the cockpit in tears. She stood in the galley sobbing. The cabin crew tried to comfort her and send her back to the cockpit, but in vain. The co-pilot also kept buzzing (calling from the intercom in the cockpit) the crew, asking them to send the second pilot back," said sources.

When the cabin crew could not do so, the co-pilot reportedly came out of the cockpit — leaving the cockpit unmanned in gross violation of safety rules — and persuaded the commander to return with him to the controls.

"However, they had a fight for the second time following which she came out again. This time, the cabin crew was quite afraid of the fight happening in the cockpit. They requested her to go to the cockpit and fly the plane safely to its destination," said sources. Realising the fear factor among everyone, she returned to the cockpit and the plane landed safely in Mumbai just after midnight of January 1-2.

Confirming this fight, a Jet Airways spokesman said: "A misunderstanding occurred between the cockpit crew of Jet Airways flight 9W 119, London - Mumbai of January 01, 2018. However, the same was quickly resolved amicably and the flight with 324 guests including 2 infants and 14 crew continued its journey to Mumbai, landing safely. The airline has reported the incident to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and the concerned crew have been derostered pending an internal investigation that has since been initiated. At Jet Airways, safety of guests, crew and assets is of paramount importance and the airline has zero tolerance for any action of its employees that compromises safety."'

Terming this a "serious issue", DGCA chief BS Bhullar told TOI: "We have ordered an investigation into this and have suspended the privileges of co-pilot's license pending the probe."