NEW DELHI: Two SpiceJet pilots have been de-rostered after landing a Hyderabad-Belgaum flight on wrong end of runway at the destination on Sunday. Aviation authorities have taken a stern view as the crew allegedly did not report this and operated the DASH8 Q400 back to Hyderabad.
It was only when Airports Authority of India (AAI) reported this “serious incident” that SpiceJet informed the Aircraft Accident Investigation Board (AAIB), say investigators. However by then crucial cockpit voice recorder recording (CVR) at the time of incident was gone as CVR records in a loop keeping only the last two hours of conversation in the flight deck, they add.
Incident categorised as serious, AAIB to probe
Air traffic control had cleared SpiceJet DASH8 Q400 aircraft (VT-SQC) operating SG-3733 to land on runway 26 at Belgaum. However, the pilots landed on runway 08 (meaning, it touched down on the other end of the runway instead of the designated end),” said a senior official.
The aircraft landed at 11.30 am on the unassigned runway. “While this was serious enough, the pilots committed an even bigger mistake by not informing about the same. They flew back to Hyderabad and went home. Only after AAI informed about this, did SpiceJet inform AAIB at 3.37 pm (four hours after the wrong landing),” said senior investigators.
Belgaum-Hyderabad journey time is 1 hours and 40 minutes. Operating the return flight meant that the CVR recording at the time of wrong landing may have “washed out as the tape can record upto two hours only”.
The incident has been categorised as a serious one and AAIB will probe this. “SpiceJet chief pilot spoke to AAIB officials and the latter have asked the crew of this flight to appear for investigation on Monday,” said a source. A SpiceJet spokesman said: “On Sunday (October 24), SpiceJet DASH8 Q400 aircraft operated from Hyderabad to Belgaum. As per information received, ATC had cleared the aircraft to land on runway 26 at Belgaum. The aircraft, however, landed on runway 08. The aircraft landed safely. Both pilots have been grounded and an investigation initiated.”
In the past there have been instances when crew have waited to report an issue on a flight after some time to ensure CVR recording is erased and fresh recordings have gone. For instance, a few years back the crew and pilots of an Indian carrier’s (not Spice-Jet) international flight had a fight on board. The crew which reported the matter waited for hours to ensure the aircraft had flown for some hours and fresh CVR recording recorded.
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