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."

Jet Airways pilot has licence suspended after “assaulting” another pilot on London-M
 

Quite an extraordinary occurence on LHR-BOM flight.

Alleged assault and flight absent of pilot and co-pilot in cockpit for some minutes.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...ht-jet-airways

BBC reports the same, but without mentioning both pilots out of the cockpit. Shocking

The Jet Airways crew, reported to be in a relationship ...

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/t...-a3731626.html

Ex-crew in ex-relationship....

Both pilots out of the cockpit; door swings shut. Now what?

Aircraft flies on autopilot until fuel exahaustion and crashes?

You are either not a pilot or you did not engage your brain and need to rethink that comment. If you are a pilot, you will realise why you look like a complete tool for making it, if not you are just out of your depth..

I would hope that there will be two extra pilot vacancies advertised immediatedly for Jet Airways if the alleged events occurred.

To have an aircraft sans pilot and co-pilot for any amount of time is unforgivable.

Not a first for an Indian airline.

This happened two years ago on an Air India flightdeck.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...ockpit-dispute

While I am not aware of the details of this incident or the exact story behind it, this is a good example of the “role of emotions” in aviation safety. This incident went to extremes, but it is worth remembering that every decision is influenced by emotions and it is possible to learn in this area. It also indicates the need to develop “emotional resilience” among aviation professionals and to take the Crew Resource Management (CRM) and Human Factors training to the next level by including deeper learning in “emotional literacy”.

No Sweat in Airbus
 

This would have been a non-issue in Airbus. HAL would have closed the cockpit door, landed at destination, taxied to the gate, and repored the alleged incident to Flight Ops.
:ok:

Last Jet Airways Pilot suspended was CP Bernd Hoesslin and it was for no good reason!
 

Remember that alleged "racist... woman abusing Expat Captain" who worked for Jet Airways last Spring?
Bashed to hell by the Internet all over the World last April?

He was also grounded and then let go a month later.
Sounds similar to this Couple?
However it turns out it was an unruly pax Pooja Singh who spread falsehoods about what really happened on that flight.

So let us wait and see what Jet reports on this?

Oddly Bernd Hoesslin, aka Bernd von Hoesslin also filed a DGCA report on he and it was never investigated by them.
He had to sue Jet Airways to get a copy of their "investigation" which iso. of a Flight Safety issue, they made a Commercial one and gave him from what I've read, over 7 months later.

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com...w/62089931.cms

So I doubt Jet will really give out the truth 100%, nor will the DGCA properly investigate looking at their track record.

I see that CP Bernd Hoesslin has an active lawsuit against Pooja and the Cricktman for Defamation - $15 Million. Good luck, he seems to deserve it!

Oh, by the way CP Bernd Hoesslin was finally found no guilty of anything except for following Jets and and the DGCA rules.
No racists comments or abuse of anyone except by this Indian woman towards him and his crew.

Civil aviation minister Ashok Gajapati Raju told parliament on Thursday the government would investigate the incident. “Action will be taken according to regulations and no one will be spared,” he said...
Odd now he's getting his Butt into gear when the safety of the flying public was jeopardized by Pooja Singh who connected a battery operated wheelchair in the forward galley while refueling was taking place with over 100 people on a B738 that April 3rd in Mumbai, then refused to move the wheelchair when asked.
She then argued, became abusive with this CP Bernd when he challenged her about the flight safety merits of this action of hers.
Twisted the facts, used the Internet to screw this guy.

Hmmm what power do Unruly Pax seem to have?

Jet should have had her arrested and filed a police complaint that April 3rd, they never did.

So much for employee support?

So let us see where this goes?

Jet will most likely cover it up from their track record!

cockpit dispute
 

The statement from Jet Airways sounds as if the airline wants to whitewash this matter. Further, it seems strange to roster 2 pilots together if they're in a "relationship" (assuming the airline is aware of this). Very unprofessional from both pilots, and I agree that they should both be looking for another job.

...normal to fly a 9hr trip with only 2 crew?

Interesting reading......

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com...w/62195120.cms

https://littleindia.com/jet-airways-...lots-in-india/


https://economictimes.indiatimes.com...w/62089931.cms

Perhaps single-pilot freight ops for both for quite a while.

Wow.

Ok guys,

If you are going to have a fight onboard the aircraft, please do it in the cabin so we will all be safer.

Imagine a TCAS event whilst they went AWOL, would love to be in that "Tea without biccies" meeting.

How well connected do you need to be in order to also be a female PIC with Jet Airways?
Which begs the question, is there any real prospect of disciplinary action anyway? This is not an event requiring re-training?

Did nobody in the Indian press ever take a Journalism 101 course?

Indian media reports the pilot's license has been cancelled by the aviation regulator.

6-mile high feud
 

It’s deplorable that the individual(s) involved let their emotional state get the better of them while at the controls and the airline needs to introspect on how strong their CRM processes and depts are.

Many airlines and pilots too look at the CRM dept as a waste of precious resources and have shaved their budgets to minimum regulatory requirements . They need to realise the future accidents/incidents are human factor related as technology makes huge strides in safety.

As for the report that the cockpit was empty , I wouldn’t believe our shoddy reporting , they operate 3 man LHR - BOM so as far as I’m aware , cockpit was never empty but you can always trust our Indian press to put some extra masala to make the story spicier.

The Indian press reports the co pilot has had his licence cancelled but surely the captain should suffer the same fate?

To abandon her responsibilities on the flight deck was not in the passengers interests.

If there was a third pilot on board surely he should have declared an emergency with all this emotional mayhem taking place.

It's obviously not ideal but she had been assaulted by the person sitting next to her. What if he had hit her again.... and again.... How long would you sit next to someone who is hitting you?

The fake news in the U.S. is even worse, the woman was the copilot in this AP story:

India airline probes pilot accused of slapping co-pilot - ABC News

I have paxed with this airline some years ago and have to say it is a disaster waiting to happen. On a number of trips in and out of India I have witnessed fights between passengers both in flight and pre take off. Jet is a low cost airline but allows 30k luggage as is the norm in to the Subcon.

However the result is they try to take another 20k as hand luggage.Arguments in the aisle are normal as passengers try to pack overhead bins designed for small carry on bags.

The cabin crew just stand back and watch as they do with Chinese carriers.

The UK CAA need to ban airlines such as this until they can prove they are up to standard on CRM.

I think the usual clamour to sack people is very inappropriate here. leaving aside the reporting-which these days is pretty much the same worldwide but for a few quality papers what do people on here expect a female to do if male colleague, hits them.
If there was a third crew member I think she did the right thing by leaving the flight deck-she would have been shocked and frightened and I dont suppose in any state to exercise her duties until things stabilised .
Women do tend to cry more easily than men but are often tougher when it comes to dealing with pain and I dont see that female pilots should have sitting still and getting hit in the face by the other pilot as part of the necessary 'right stuff' for doing the job.

I think she acted very sensibly-leave the flight deck /place of conflict which could have escalated, let things calm down, recover her wits and assurance and go back and get on with her job.

As for the guy who hit her-well there would have to be some pretty serious extenuating circumstances for him to keep his job-pretty much anywhere hitting a colleague is likely to end in dismissal even in an office let alone on the flight deck of a triple seven.

That would be a neat trick; attending to her responsibilities when she's getting hit in the face.

You should probably re-think this. She de-escalated the situation by removing herself (as a target of violence) from the cockpit. You believe it was in the passengers interest for her to allow the beating to continue?

The AP story at least quotes sources and otherwise adheres to the normal standards of a press article. The issue is not making mistakes (as the AP article does), it's the stream of completely unsourced assertions I typically see in Times of India articles.

Sounds like quite an outfit.

It does make you wonder if EASA/FAA/CAA should make inquires as to the continued suitability of this airline to hold an AOC.

Seriously this is nothing.. nothing.

How about letting two flight attendants fly an A320 with 166 people on board whilst both crew members snoozed in Business class?

Only returning when the autopilot disengaged and they noticed something was amiss.. extremely lucky I'd say.

The validity of the story is unquestionable- the only dispute was whether it was for just 40m or so...

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...w/19860300.cms

or at least the ones complicit in this "operation" dealt with properly...but neither happened...the fellow's uncle is/was deeply embedded in the training dept.

Culture
 

India has a problem with slap culture. Whenever someone feels disrespected, out come the palm and sometimes even the slipper. Just YouTube it to see how prevalent it is. I recall an incident in the last year where a politician slapped an airport worker at the gate for allegedly disrespecting him. If the rulers of the land can't demonstrate how to be civil, how can anyone else be expected to do so?

Just like aweful Korean pilots who can't land planes and crazy assed Latin American pilots who take risks with fuel and end up killing entire football teams, Indians are another culture that need to address their innate cultural deficiencies when it comes to safety.

None of us are perfect but our ugliness can only come to light when incidents occur. Airlines from countries with macho cultures, continue to be the best circus acts in town with such poor and completely avoidable safety incidents.

When they are dismissed, the male slapper certainly should be, would another airline even consider them with this incident on their record ? Would you hire either of these two emotionally disturbed 'professional' pilots to fly an airplane ever again. I don't think so.

Juan Togoh - It is you who needs to engage brain. What super VC-10 said is entirely correct. Suggest you read up on secure cockpit doors.

Nevertheless case will be taken as example for interface removal.

CRM training .........

You are the Commander - the other pilot punches / slaps you in the face (two crew).

What do you do?

(Call senior crew member to cockpit, have second pilot restrained? May Day / Pan to ATC - unlawful interference? Diversion?).

Interesting one for the CRM trainers.

Assaulting the Captain - mutiny?