A preliminary investigation by the Directorate-General of Civil Aviation into the free fall and shuddering experienced by a chartered plane carrying Congress president Rahul Gandhi from New Delhi to Hubballi last week has revealed an erratic hydraulic system associated with the autopilot mechanism.
The aircraft, a Falcon 2000 owned by Religare Aviation and chartered by the Congress through a New Delhi-based charter blocker, is said to have become unstable in flight as the pilots struggled to reconnect the autopilot a few times before deciding to land manually. The aircraft landed without incident on its third attempt.
A senior DGCA official said the investigation report, which would be ready in another week’s time, would look at any possibility of error in the maintenance practice followed. “A two-member panel is investigating the incident. While one member is from the Directorate of Air Safety, the other is from the Directorate of Airworthiness,” Joint Director-General Lalit Gupta said.
The panel has been asked to submit its report in two or three weeks and as part of the investigation, the cockpit crew and engineers are being questioned. The committee is expected to call the operations staff of the aircraft to gather details on maintenance checks and review inspection records.
Confirming that the aircraft had suffered a snag, a senior DGCA official said that by the operator’s report, it was a snag of the autopilot and after a few attempts shifted to manual mode and landed safely. “Shutdown of autopilot mode is not uncommon, but requires to be looked into,” the official said.
Randeep Singh Surjewala, spokesperson, Congress said, “What happened to this plane is a serious case of aviation mechanics failure. A complaint letter has been written to the DGCA to look at all aspects of the matter, including that of possible foul play.”
The aircraft and its pilots have been grounded till the inquiry report is submitted.
