MUMBAI: Aviation watchdog Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is probing the hard landing of an Air India A320 neo aircraft in Dubai last month, an incident in which the airline has derostered the pilot, officials said on Monday.
The aircraft that operated a flight from Kochi to Dubai made a hard landing in Dubai on December 20 and the plane remained grounded there for almost a week, a senior DGCA official said.
Air India said it has initiated a probe into the incident and the pilot concerned has been derostered pending investigation.
The DGCA is probing the incident, the official said and added that the aircraft concerned returned to Mumbai on December 27, according to the official.
Details about the number of passengers onboard and whether anyone was injured could not be immediately ascertained. An Air India spokesperson said an investigation has already been initiated as per DGCA norms into the incident.
"The pilot was appropriately trained and licensed to fly the aircraft. He has been off-rostered till the process of inquiry is on as per norms," the spokesperson said in a statement.
A source in the know said the A320 neo aircraft with registration VT-CIQ was grounded in Dubai for almost a week after it made the hard landing.
An aircraft that has made a hard landing requires maintenance checks before taking off again, the source added. A smooth or hard landing is described in terms of 'touch down g'.
Generally, a landing that is above 1.8 g is considered a hard landing. A reading of 1.8 g means the gravitational force that was on aircraft tyres at the time of landing is 1.8 times that of the weight of the aircraft.
Earlier in the day, aviation analyst Shakti Lumba said that an Air India A320 aircraft was grounded at Dubai for more than a week after a "3.5 g arrival landing".
"The results of expedited training is showing. The Captain was one from the batch of wide-body co-pilots directly promoted as Captains on the Airbus. Passengers refused to deplane till the Captain apologised Media failed to report this serious incident. @DGCAIndia are you aware ?," he said in a post on X.