Mumbai:
The Civil Aviation watchdog DGCA (Director General of Civil Aviation) has said that the Jet flight incident last night, where 26 people were injured shows serious procedural lapses in dealing with the emergency and evacuation process.
The DGCA has suspended the pilot, first officer and the crew members. (
Read: Serious procedural lapses, pilot and crew suspended, says DGCA)
Inspection has revealed that there was no fire or smoke in the engine area, even though the crew had claimed they could see smoke.
The DGCA has also called for a meeting of the Heads of training of all Airlines to review the training procedures of cabin and flight crews, particularly in emergency and evacuation procedures.
Twenty six passengers of a Jet flight were injured at Mumbai airport during an emergency evacuation after a fire alarm went off in the cockpit on Friday night. Some were hurt because they tried to jump from the plane while others sustained injuries in the chaos when passengers rushed to slide down the chutes.
Eleven passengers were admitted in Nanavati Hospital, six were diagnosed with fracture. Now, only two patients are in the hospital, rest have been discharged.
According to reports, 153 passengers were on board the flight.
"Jet Airways pilot of flight 9W 2302 (Mumbai-Chennai) reported fire in one of the engine while its was on the taxiway. MIAL emergency services responded to the call. However, there was no visible fire," the spokesperson said.
The pilot alerted the ATC and a full emergency was declared. Taking no chances, the commander of the flight decided to evacuate all passengers.
Emergency slides were deployed and 153 panic stricken passengers were deplaned using the chutes.
Fire engines were rushed to the spot, but reported no visible fire.
While sliding out, some passengers were injured and sustained fractures. Most of them were given first aid.
"Well just like any emergency situation, the thing was to escape somehow and I too had the same feeling," said a passenger.
While another passenger said, "The crew handled the emergency very well. All were young people, just around 25 years old, but they were so well prepared and handled it very well."
After several hours, the passengers were put on the same flight to Chennai where the flight arrived a little after 2 am.
Jet Airways in a statement said the commander of the flight proceeded to declare a precautionary emergency although there were no visible traces of fire. (
Read: Jet Airways press release on Mumbai flight scare)
"The commander on board Jet Airways flight 9W 2302 Mumbai-Chennai was informed of an indication of a fire in left engine. Although there was no visible trace of a fire, the commander proceeded to declare a precautionary emergency," the statement said.
All passengers were deplaned safely and a thorough inspection of the engine was carried out, it added. (With PTI Inputs)