Mumbai: A altercation between an Air India pilot and his co-pilot led to a scuffle with the latter bashing up his senior.
According to an English daily, the co-pilot beat up the captain in AI 611 cockpit before the A-320 was set to take off for Delhi.
According to reports, the co-pilot was known for his rowdy behaviour. The incident has once again put the spotlight on the ‘mental wellness’ of pilots, especially in the backdrop of the Germanwings plane crash.
The argument happened when the pilot asked the co-pilot to write down pre-departure figures, including the names of passengers, fuel uptake etc.
Taking offence to the task ‘deliberated’ to him, the co-pilot turned violent, hitting the pilot.
The pilot informed about the incident only once the flight reached its destination.
Media reports indicate that Air India head denied that there was any physical altercation.
Recently, an Air India pilots’ body has urged DGCA to look into the issue of deployment of a section of its “stressed” junior pilots in the cockpit, days after the Germanwings plane crash.
The fresh communication to the regulator comes following the action of Andreas Lubitz, co-pilot of the Germanwings flight who last week crashed the Airbus A320 plane into the French Alps killing himself and 149 others.
Reports thereafter have said that 27-year-old Lubitz was suffering from depression but had hidden this from his airline, which is a subsidiary of Lufthansa.
The incident has triggered a debate over pilots’ mental health in India as well.
