New Delhi, Feb 16, DHNS: The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has taken an IndiGo Airlines pilot off duty after its investigation found that she had landed the plane on its fragile nose wheel on several occasions.
The DGCA, which was surprised to find the wrong landing many times, has told the carrier to send the pilot — Captain Parminder Kaur Gulati — for a correctional training for landing the plane on the front wheel and not the rear ones which is normal.
Sources at the DGCA told Deccan Herald that the regulator began an inquiry after the January 11 incident of “rough landing” as reported by Capt Gulati after touchdown at the Goa airport.The latest dangerous incident of landing not on the rear but the nose wheel was an erroneous manoeuvre that could have even led to the aircraft disintegrating and catching fire.The Delhi-Goa IndiGo flight was carrying over 100 passengers who experienced the heavy landing with a “thud”. After the bumpy touchdown, the woman pilot in command merely reported the incident as “rough landing”.
The preliminary inquiry revealed that Capt Gulati landed the aircraft at an angle indicating that the nose wheel may have touched the tarmac first.
The safe way of landing an aircraft is to ensure that the bigger — and sturdier — main landing gear wheels touch the runway first. After the speed of the plane is reduced, the already opened nose landing gear — smaller wheel just below the cockpit — touches the surface.
After an inspection on landing, Capt Gulati and the engineer concerned are said to have merely carried out an inspection of the aircraft and reported that everything was normal.
On its return flight to Delhi from Goa, flight 6E 332 experienced midway problems in the landing gear. The plane’s electronic systems sent out warning relating to nose undercarriage being internally damaged.
The landing gear did not retract as it should, soon after takeoff.The aircraft had to then return to Goa to offload passengers. Later, it tookoff from Goa without passengers and landed at the Delhi airport.