Jet Airways pilots' 'slip-up' makes fliers bleed

The country's bleeding carriers are making fliers bleed now. More than 160 passengers of a Jet Airways plane that took off from here for Jaipur on Thursday morning started bleeding from the nose and ears because the pilots didn't flip on a switch that regulates in-flight pressure. The Boeing 737 had to turn around after half an hour and landed back in Mumbai at 7 am.

National aviation watchdog DGCA said the cockpit crew forgot to turn on the 'bleed' switch. Because of this, the cabin pressure onboard the jumbo jet dropped abnormally low, making at least 30 heads throb. The oxygen masks dropped in front of the passengers midair, but not before the mass bleeds.

Upon returning to Terminal 2 of the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport, five of the sickly passengers were rushed to Nanavati Hospital in Vile Parle, a nearby suburb, and were discharged later the same day. Most others were accommodated on alternative flights.

Aviation Minister Suresh Prabhu ordered an inquiry which will be conducted by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau.

Until the probe concludes, the staff responsible for the goof-up have been taken off duty.

"The crew is being derostered," the ministry said.

It has also asked the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to submit a report on the blunder immediately.

While the incident did not result in grievous casualties, aviation veterans say the investigating agency should look into whether the airline's strained finances have stressed its pilots out. Flying expert Vikram Saxena said, "If the pilot forgot to put on the switch, it is basically a human error, and it could have been due to stress or poor training."

The Naresh Goyal-owned carrier is facing acute cash crunch. It posted back-to-back losses for two quarters this fiscal. The quarter ended March saw Jet's losses at Rs 1,036 crore, which jumped to Rs 1,300 crore in the subsequent quarter. Soon after, the carrier proposed salary cuts up to 25 per cent for staff, but had to defer the plan in the face of resistance from its pilots' union.

"Jet Airways Mumbai-to-Jaipur flight 9W 697 made an air turn back due to loss in cabin pressure. The B737 aircraft, with 166 guests and five crew, landed normally in Mumbai. All guests were deplaned safely and taken to the terminal. First aid was administered to few guests who complained of ear pain, bleeding nose etc. Jet Airways regrets the inconvenience caused to its guests," it said in a statement.

A pilot said on the condition of anonymity, "There are various standard operating practices that are crucial for cockpit crew to follow, and turning on the switch for maintaining cabin pressure is one of them. But the investigation will tell if the cockpit crew's absence of mind that led to the incident."

Airport operator Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL) refrained from commenting on the incident.

About the passengers who were hospitalised, Dr Rajendra Patankar, chief operating officer at Nanavati, said, "All the five patients from the airport were evaluated by our ENT consultant. They suffered barotrauma, with bleeding from the nose and/or ears. They are hemodynamically stable now and are advised to avoid air travel for at least a week."

Many of the fliers took to microblogging site Twitter to share their mid-air ordeal. Amit Relan, who was onboard and witnessed the horror of mass bleeds, said, "The incident was scary and alarming, and has made me very uncomfortable today. We were given no clue mid-air as to what has happened. However, only after landing safely at the airport we were informed that the oxygen masks got deployed due to low pressure. (Sic)"