6 ms·

Looks like they went halfway across the Arabian Sea before turning around, strange... https://www.flightradar24.com/data/flights/ix611#1e2da319 https://www.flig

by mbell 8y ago

Looks like they went halfway across the Arabian Sea before turning around, strange... https://www.flightradar24.com/data/flights/ix611#1e2da319 https://www.flightradar24.com/data/flights/ix611#1e2da319

nitinreddy88 8y ago
What caused them to retun in half way? Report says Trichy airport informed pilot about posssible damage to plane. Pilot ignored it saying everything is green. What happened in 4hrs to divert back to Mumbai is still mystery. Will be interesting to see full report
- oe 8y ago
  Is it possible that Dubai refused to let them land with a flyable but potentially pretty broken plane?
  - ksrm 8y ago
    No
  - nindalf 8y ago
    Do you think it's even theoretically possible that an air traffic controller will say "looks like you might be having trouble with your plane... we're not going to allow you to land here. Go elsewhere"
    - nopzor 8y ago
      No. If the pilot declares an emergency the pilot is in command, effectively.
  - sokoloff 8y ago
    It is much more likely that Air India dispatch wanted the airplane repaired at a base where they have maintenance. I also suspect it was better for the crew to end their last airline flight as crew in their home country... A few years ago, was on a Delta flight out of Detroit to Boston. Over halfway to Boston, we turned back as the airplane had a maintenance issue that Delta wanted to deal with at DTW rather than BOS. (They do have a permanent presence at BOS, but a larger one at DTW.)
  - manigandham 8y ago
    It would be the opposite, every major airport will be open for a plane in trouble.
    - cjbprime 8y ago
      And even non-major ones! I hear you can even land at an air force base in the US as a civilian private pilot without any negative consequences, providing you have declared emergency.
      - manigandham 8y ago
        Yes, if you have nowhere else to go, but it's a last resort and there's definitely a high chance of fines or more serious consequences, especially if it's an active base with sensitive material or operations.
        cjbprime 8y ago
        I'm not aware of any more serious consequence having ever happened for a legit emergency, and I am aware of fatal accidents where private pilots were e.g. out of fuel and didn't realize the AFB was an option even though they could've made it.
        bbulkow 8y ago
        You know, it's funny, you save the plane, then you get second guessed about whether you used air Force resources wisely, which can have serious repercussions. Or as a professional, have consequences to your career. It is a crap shoot, based on optics, and partially based on real data. You have to hope your investigator, or boss, sees the data the same way you did.... You made the opposite choice, lose your airframe and your life, and then you should 'clearly' have made the other decision, because the data's in...
        mveety 8y ago
        No, that almost certainly wouldn't happen. If you declare, you're basically given cart blanche provided you can reasonably justify your actions, and if an AFB is closer than a civilian airport, for example, its absolutely okay to land there (though you should probably give them a call first saying you're landing). Your first priority is not dying; legal consequences don't matter when you're in that situation, and the FAA knows that. If breaking a law will save you they'd rather you do that than die, and they almost certainly won't punish you for it.
  - pbarnes_1 8y ago
    No. That's really not how anything works.
- AdrianB1 8y ago
  If they went to burn the fuel, going somewhere and returning is easier than circling for 4 hours.
  - pbhjpbhj 8y ago
    Easier, but more dangerous; surely not protocol.
  - angry_octet 8y ago
    You would prefer to stay near an airport, rather than far away over the sea.
    - sokoloff 8y ago
      And you would want to stay at low altitude, where you can burn the fuel much, much faster as well as divert more quickly if anything went south. Nothing gets better at FL360 in this situation if your intention all along was to divert.
  - FabHK 8y ago
    No. 1. You would not want to ascend to flight level 360 (particularly with a damaged plane). 2. You would not want to leave the vicinity of an airport (particularly with a damaged plane).

by mbell 8y ago

nitinreddy88 8y ago

What caused them to retun in half way? Report says Trichy airport informed pilot about posssible damage to plane. Pilot ignored it saying everything is green. What happened in 4hrs to divert back to Mumbai is still mystery. Will be interesting to see full report

oe 8y ago
Is it possible that Dubai refused to let them land with a flyable but potentially pretty broken plane?
- ksrm 8y ago
  No
- nindalf 8y ago
  Do you think it's even theoretically possible that an air traffic controller will say "looks like you might be having trouble with your plane... we're not going to allow you to land here. Go elsewhere"
  - nopzor 8y ago
    No. If the pilot declares an emergency the pilot is in command, effectively.
- sokoloff 8y ago
  It is much more likely that Air India dispatch wanted the airplane repaired at a base where they have maintenance. I also suspect it was better for the crew to end their last airline flight as crew in their home country... A few years ago, was on a Delta flight out of Detroit to Boston. Over halfway to Boston, we turned back as the airplane had a maintenance issue that Delta wanted to deal with at DTW rather than BOS. (They do have a permanent presence at BOS, but a larger one at DTW.)
- manigandham 8y ago
  It would be the opposite, every major airport will be open for a plane in trouble.
  - cjbprime 8y ago
    And even non-major ones! I hear you can even land at an air force base in the US as a civilian private pilot without any negative consequences, providing you have declared emergency.
    - manigandham 8y ago
      Yes, if you have nowhere else to go, but it's a last resort and there's definitely a high chance of fines or more serious consequences, especially if it's an active base with sensitive material or operations.
      - cjbprime 8y ago
        I'm not aware of any more serious consequence having ever happened for a legit emergency, and I am aware of fatal accidents where private pilots were e.g. out of fuel and didn't realize the AFB was an option even though they could've made it.
        bbulkow 8y ago
        You know, it's funny, you save the plane, then you get second guessed about whether you used air Force resources wisely, which can have serious repercussions. Or as a professional, have consequences to your career. It is a crap shoot, based on optics, and partially based on real data. You have to hope your investigator, or boss, sees the data the same way you did.... You made the opposite choice, lose your airframe and your life, and then you should 'clearly' have made the other decision, because the data's in...
      - mveety 8y ago
        No, that almost certainly wouldn't happen. If you declare, you're basically given cart blanche provided you can reasonably justify your actions, and if an AFB is closer than a civilian airport, for example, its absolutely okay to land there (though you should probably give them a call first saying you're landing). Your first priority is not dying; legal consequences don't matter when you're in that situation, and the FAA knows that. If breaking a law will save you they'd rather you do that than die, and they almost certainly won't punish you for it.
- pbarnes_1 8y ago
  No. That's really not how anything works.
AdrianB1 8y ago
If they went to burn the fuel, going somewhere and returning is easier than circling for 4 hours.
- pbhjpbhj 8y ago
  Easier, but more dangerous; surely not protocol.
- angry_octet 8y ago
  You would prefer to stay near an airport, rather than far away over the sea.
  - sokoloff 8y ago
    And you would want to stay at low altitude, where you can burn the fuel much, much faster as well as divert more quickly if anything went south. Nothing gets better at FL360 in this situation if your intention all along was to divert.
- FabHK 8y ago
  No. 1. You would not want to ascend to flight level 360 (particularly with a damaged plane). 2. You would not want to leave the vicinity of an airport (particularly with a damaged plane).