Another issue that needs to be probed is pilot fatigue. Is it possible that the pilot had not been sufficiently rested?
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The mishap at Dabolim airport in which a Jet Airways Boeing 737 veered off the runway at 5 am was a frightening experience for 149 passengers onboard, 15 of whom were injured when they took pro-active action and jumped off the plane sans safety gear. The accident, whether caused by machine failure or pilot fatigue, has raised questions about safety standards in the airline industry. It might be recalled that a few days earlier two jets, one belonging to Spicejet and the other to Indigo came face-to-face on a runway at the Delhi airport. An inquiry has been instituted into the Dabolim accident, but one might have to wait years for the report to surface.
Flight commanders with years of experience have not ruled out human error. The flight was an early morning one and scheduled during the ‘window of circadian low’, a period when the human body clock has the propensity to induce sleep. The Mangalore air crash occurred during this period. In aviation circles, accidents occur in a split moment and this could be one such moment. According to one theory, one of the two engines might have revved up at a lower rate which could have resulted in uneven thrusts. Or one engine could have shifted to reverse thrust. In both cases the plane would be thrown into a spin.
Enquiries into airline accidents are mandatory because the findings help the Directorate General of Civil Aviation and the International Civil Aviation Organisation take remedial measures and upgrade safety standards. That is why it is important for investigators to pinpoint the cause of the mishap with precision and as quickly as possible. Another issue that is a cause for alarm is passengers jumping off the plane. It is quite clear that in a real-life situation the cabin crew was unable to get to the exits before passengers to prevent them from jumping off the plane. It is obvious that the cabin crew was either short of experience or had not been sufficiently trained in safety measures.
Another issue that needs to be probed is pilot fatigue. Is it possible that the pilot had not been sufficiently rested? The Mangalore air disaster which claimed the lives of 158 passengers and crew was blamed on a napping pilot. Sound of the pilot snoring during the flight was caught on the cockpit voice recorder which raised questions of human fatigue. Soon after the disaster rest periods were revised, but pilots and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation have been at logger heads over standards.
The only silver lining on the dark cloud that hovered over Dabolim on Tuesday morning was that no lives were lost, thanks to quick intervention by naval personnel. Nonetheless, there are lessons to be learnt and no stone must be left unturned in the race to make air transport safer.
