Airbus joins probe into Air India flight plunge
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Eight passengers and four cabin crew members were admitted to hospital after landing in New Delhi.
PHOTO: REUTERS
NEW DELHI – Airbus sent experts to New Delhi on Aug 11 to assist investigators probing an Air India flight that plunged dramatically, injuring 17 in a terrifying midair ordeal, the company said.
The probe into the flight comes as “confirmatory” psychoactive drug test results are awaited for the chief pilot.
The Airbus A320, carrying 137 passengers and eight crew, lost around 91m in altitude on Aug 4 while flying from Phuket in Thailand to New Delhi, before stabilising and landing safely.
Air India, in a statement after the plane landed, said the aircraft had “experienced a sudden loss of altitude”, adding that it was “fully cooperating with the investigation, and the aircraft manufacturer has also been notified”.
India’s civil aviation ministry said that the “occurrence has been classified as a serious incident and is under investigation by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau”.
An Airbus spokesperson said that the jet manufacturer was providing “technical assistance” to the Indian investigating authorities.
Indian newspapers have widely reported that the flight encountered several technical snags just before it experienced a sudden loss in altitude – but the carrier, the Indian authorities and Airbus have not provided official confirmation.
“A team of specialists is being dispatched to assist with the investigation,” a spokesperson for Airbus said on Aug 10.
“Airbus is providing technical assistance to the relevant investigating authorities. We are actively supporting the airline and will provide further information as it becomes available,” they added.
Air India has said it “cannot comment on any findings or observations related to the investigation”.
Eight passengers and four cabin crew members were admitted to hospital after landing in the Indian capital.
India’s aviation ministry said on Aug 9 that after the flight landed, both pilots were given a standard “psychoactive substance screening test”.
It said that the screening test of the pilot-in-command “indicated a result requiring confirmatory testing”, with samples sent for analysis. The final report is yet to be publicly released.
Both pilots have been taken off the flying roster during the investigations.
The probe into the Phuket-New Delhi flight is the latest in a series of challenges for Air India, which has struggled to execute a turnaround following multiple setbacks.
It has been hit hard by disruptions caused by the Middle East crisis.
The biggest blow to the airline’s image came in June 2025, when Air India Flight 171 – a London-bound Boeing 787 Dreamliner – crashed shortly after take-off from Ahmedabad, killing all but one of the 242 people on board and 19 people on the ground.
The Indian carrier on Aug 5 appointed former Ethiopian Airlines chief Tewolde Gebremariam as its new chief executive. AFP
