Hmm…. Interesting. Some people trying to defend passengers and others defending the pilot’s and crew’s actions. Everyone jumping into conclusion even before the inquiry on the incident or study on evidences completed.
The frustration of passengers should be taken into consideration after a flight (of course plight) journey which stretched over 16 hours, or more from Abu Dhabi to Cochin. Air India and its staff’s irresponsible and arrogant business are notorious.
Did the passengers try to enter into the cockpit forcefully? Or did they actually enter the cockpit? It is obviously a serious concern. If something happened like this, of course the responsible passengers should be held responsible for a serious breach of security.
However, my uncertainties:-
• Cockpit doors on most commercial airliners have been strengthened and are now bullet resistant (secured by pass word). How can a group of 4 unarmed ordinary passengers could forcefully break the bulletproof door forced their way into the cockpit, which is impossible even by trained hardcore terrorist hijackers!
• To communicate with air traffic control that an aircraft is being hijacked, a pilot under duress should squawk 7500 or vocally, by radio communication. An air traffic controller who suspects an aircraft may have been hijacked may ask the pilot to confirm "squawking assigned code." If the aircraft is not being hijacked, the pilot should not squawk 7500 and should inform the controller accordingly.
• In this situation, why the pilot should transmit “squawk 7500”, when the aircraft was on the ground, and there were only protesting from the upset passengers which involves pregnant women, children and infants! Rather the commander could request the airport security through control tower to intervene in the situation by simply conveying a radio message, or bring down the weightiness of alarm by sending a distress call. A “Squawk Seven Five Zero Zero”, could send panic across the airports in the country, and a captain definitely aware of that. Hence, one should believe that the pilot had some premeditated assumptions.
• How the commander and the crew members failed to properly inform the passengers about the situation and console them. Definitely uncertainty leads them to react aggressively inside the aircraft. Rather, the commander inconsiderately announced a message to the hapless passengers that, they should continue their journey to Cochin by road! However, the passengers also have the responsibility to assess the situation calmly and protest wisely, by keeping in mind that they are inside a flying machine, which has many security regulations.
• How a responsible commander could easily abandon the aircraft with full of passengers by declaring that, “crew duty time/shift is over”! Poor visibility is not a fault of airline, airport, pilot or passengers. Diverting the landing of an aircraft to nearby airports due to poor landing conditions happening all around the world. However, at this juncture why the captain can’t spare few more minutes to fly the aircraft, after refuelling from TVM to COK for the benefit of the passengers and her employer?
Air India’s egotistical ( step-motherly attitude ) approach to the Kerala sectors is not an unfamiliar topic to Gulf NRIs.
Regards
Justin Pereira
Sharjah
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