DGCA close to finishing probe into Oct 20 Jet Airways incident

The Directorate-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is close to finishing its probe into an incident on board a Jet Airways flight on October 20 when a pilot sitting behind the crew and travelling as a passenger pulled off a circuit-breaker, endangering the safety of passengers.

"We are conducting a probe into the incident which happened on October 20 and we have almost completed our investigation," a DGCA source told PTI here.

On October 20, a Jet Airways pilot, who was seated behind the flight crew, pulled off a circuit breaker affecting the aircraft's auto-pilot mechanism besides causing the ground proximity warning system to switch off.

With the navigational equipment affected, the aircraft plunged at a speed over the prescribed 1,000 feet per minute over the suburbs of Mumbai while descending.

The problem in the Delhi-Mumbai flight occurred just over 3,500 feet above the ground, and could have resulted in a major catastrophe.

Jet Airways is conducting an internal inquiry into the incident and has already taken the pilot off duty pending investigation.