Earlier this month, we heard about two Jet Airways pilots having a fight in the cockpit, and then one storming out, and the other leaving the cockpit too to bring the pilot in charge back in the cabin. This incident is a ticking time bomb, given the aircraft was flying on autopilot for a few minutes perhaps, and if there was an issue the computer couldn’t handle, a gloom and doom scenario waited.
Inside the cockpit
Now, the DGCA, India’s aviation regulator, had already suspended the licence of the male commander when they heard of this incident. It seems the airline has decided to take strict action too, as they should. As per the Times of India today, Jet Airways has sacked the two commanders who were in the cockpit operating flight 9W119 on January 1, 2018.
Jet Airways Boeing 777ER
As per a statement from Jet Airways issued to the newspaper,
Consequent to the review of the events on board Flight 9W 119 London-Mumbai of January 1, 2018, Jet Airways has terminated services of both the cockpit crew with immediate effect.
And it seems the worries don’t end there for this couple because the DGCA is looking at cancelling the licence of the male pilot involved in this flight, and is considering cancellation of his pilot’s licence. And he is on the hook more than the lady pilot, because he was the last person in the cockpit when the other pilot left, and he was ultimately responsible for having left the cockpit unmanned.
I am glad that Jet Airways took swift action against the pilots, as this gives out a message across the system about how rules and regulations of Aviation safety can’t be messed around with at all. What may have been a domestic altercation for the two of them, could have been an unforgiving mistake for the 300+ passengers on the plane.
And on that note, I also hope the practice of influencing scheduling by pilots to be rostered for duty with their family/relatives too is put to rest after this incident.
What do you make out of Jet Airways decision to fire these two pilots?
Slight cause for concern…..a woman has been penalised as a result of being a victim of an assault? Is that the right outcome? I mean how many would say that a wife should remain in the matrimonial home whilst being the victims
of domestic violence. Jet need to publish the reasons why they sacked the female otherwise it appears that the victim has no justice. Just my two pennies worth.
@Dev, here is what I heard. She was the pilot in command, so if she left the cockpit while the other pilot was around, it was okay. But when both of them left, and if she judged that the other pilot had no business being in the cockpit or was not in a state of mind to operate the plane, she should have gone back him and locked him out and continued to perform her duties. I’m hoping we will have a statement from the airline on this.
More than 10 days have elapsed and still nothing. This may go under the radar but I still feel that without clarification as to why the famale was sacked, this seems like punishment for simple crime of being a victim of an assault.