 "Photo: PTI")
A preliminary investigation report has blamed a false alarm of fuel shortage raised by the pilot that triggered a political storm of an attempt to kill West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
The airline declined the findings and said that it will contest the decision of the regulator to suspend the pilots. Many pilots and aviation experts that Business Standard spoke to rubbished the claims of the regulator and saw a “political angle” to the incident.
According to the findings report submitted by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to the Ministry of Civil Aviation, the pilots of 6E 342, that was carrying Banerjee asked for a priority landing from the air traffic control at Kolkata Airport citing shortage of fuel. However, according to top ministry officials subsequent investigations by DGCA revealed that at no point of time, the aircraft was running short of fuel
The pilot of the aircraft declined to comment on the issue and directed queries towards the company which in an elaborate statement defended its pilots saying that the commander had followed all protocols and never declared a fuel emergency.
“Pilots operating flight 6E 342 have been kept off flying duties till investigations and discussions with DGCA are complete, IndiGo captain had followed all SOPs as laid down by the regulator and at no stage, the captain declared a fuel emergency. There have been no violations or breach of any regulatory requirement in the above mentioned matter,” an IndiGo spokesperson said. A top executive of the airline said that while it has complied with the regulator’s decision and de-restored the pilots, it will contest the decision.
“There are absolutely no grounds for suspension, that is why we have protested the DGCA order, our pilot did nothing wrong,” said the executive.
The sources in Kolkata Airport said that 6E 342 was scheduled to take off from Patna airport at 6:35 PM but due to visibility conditions, it was delayed. The flight ultimately took off at 7:25 pm and approached Kolkata Airport around 8:15 pm. However, with the main runway closed for repairing, the airport was suffering from heavy congestion and 6E 342 kept hovering for almost 20 minutes. “The aircraft was eighth in the sequence and the pilot informed that there was VIP on board, the ATC ultimately gave clearance to land at 8:40 pm,” the source said.
The DGCA has asked IndiGo to suspend both the pilots along with four others from SpiceJet and Air India to suspend the pilots for a period of seven days.
While SpiceJet and Air India has confirmed that they have complied with the order and suspended the pilots, IndiGo as of now has de-rostered which the pilots have been taken off-duty pending investigations. All the three airlines declined that there was any shortage of fuel.
Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju had earlier ordered a probe on the three flights of IndiGo, SpiceJet, and Air India saying that the flights had reported low on fuel.
