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Test flight done on Airbus aircraft

IA on Wednesday said that its flight to Singapore, which encountered heavy turbulence over the Bay of Bengal and was forced to make an emergency landing at Madras airport, had 'no defects'.

The aircraft was on Wednesday 'test-checked' by Capt Samant Joseph, an IA check-pilot, airport sources said. According to a senior engineer, the aircraft in all probability encountered 'wind shear', which could have an effect on the airframe, and hence a clearance was being sought from the manufacturer.

Confirming the test flight, IA's Regional Director A Chandrasekhar informed that the aircraft was likely to be pressed into service soon as investigations were now complete.

He said investigations had confirmed that 'turbulent weather condition' was the reason for the Singapore-bound plane landing at Madras airport.

Meanwhile, the DGCA'S Director of Air Safety V K Chandana carried out his inspection and obtained the transcription of the conversation between the aircraft's pilot and the Air Traffic Control.

Chandana had also obtained the aircraft cockpit voice recorder, the sources said, adding he would take it to Bombay for decoding.

The flight data recorder of the aircraft, which was decoded in Bombay on Tuesday night, indicated that the auto-pilot got disengaged and the flight dropped from 29,000 feet to about 19,000 feet within 60 seconds resulting in injuries to at least 11 passengers, airport sources in Bombay said.

The aircraft began its climb again but it dropped from 26,000 feet to 20,000 feet in 34 seconds, the flight data recorder revealed, the sources said.

The flight was en route to Singapore with 187 passengers and 11 crew when it encountered heavy turbulence 25 minutes after take off forcing the commander, Capt Chandrashekar, to return to Madras and making an emergency landing.

The aircraft had some broken panels in one of the toilets and a damaged landing light, the sources said.

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