Jet pilots body says should not blame flight crew before probe is completed

New Delhi: The National Aviator’s Guild (NAG) Friday said it is “open” to discuss the incident of cabin pressure loss on Jet Airways’ Mumbai-Jaipur flight Thursday, but any premature conclusion blaming the crew should not be reached before the probe is completed.

In a mid-air scare, a Jaipur-bound Jet Airways flight had lost cabin pressure after the crew “forgot” to turn on a control switch leaving 30 passengers bleeding from ears and nose and forcing the aircraft to return to Mumbai. The aircraft was carrying 171 people.

“We have had a preliminary look into the incident involving two of our members with regard to the improper handling of pressurisation on the Mumbai-Jaipur flight. The matter is under investigation by DGCA and hence it would prudent to await the results of the probe,” a NAG spokesperson said in a statement.

The NAG is the domestic pilots’ body of Jet Airways, claim to represent over 1,000 pilots at the Naresh Goyal-controlled airline.

“Without having access to the FDR (flight data recorder), CVR (cockpit voice recorder) and other relevant flight documents, it would be well nigh impossible to arrive at an accurate assessment about the causes of the incident”, the statement added.

At the same time, it was quick to add that they are open to discussing the matter at length under the guidelines of the DGCA’s safety management system manual for airlines.

The cockpit crew of the Boeing 737, which had 171 people on-board including five crew members, was derostered and government asked the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) to probe the incident.

An AAIB official had said the incident could be a case of negligence on the part of the pilots since controlling cabin pressure is part of mandatory checks before operating a flight.