NEW DELHI: A Jet Airways flight from Chennai to Mumbai was landed by a trainee pilot on the instructions of the Captain of the flight. While the Captain was suspended internally for this violation of safety norms and playing with the lives of 200 people on board, he was later reinstated on the recommendation of a renowned Bollywood actor. However, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) in its usual show for priority to safety has suspended the Chief of Flight Safety of the airline who had little role in the incident.
The story unfolds like this: On October 14, Jet Airways Captain Sheikh Ahmed was operating a flight from Chennai to Mumbai along with First Officer Khajuria and a charming supernumerary pilot in the jump seat. Soon, Ahmed asked Khajuria to vacate his seat and permitted the supernumerary pilot to sit there. “When a flight is at a height of 10,000 feet or lower the cockpit has to become a sterile zone... In this case, when Khajuria asked the Captain to seat him back, Captain Ahmed ignored his plea and went on to allow the lady supernumerary pilot to land, in gross violation of safety,” said a Jet Airways official in Mumbai.
Khajuria made an internal complaint about the incident with Chief of Flight Safety, Vishesh Oberoi, who suspended Captain Ahmed for three months. But, his suspension was revoked on January 3 by the Chief Pilot of Jet Airways’ 737 fleet. Airline sources told Express that it was done after a Bollywood actor, close to Ahmed, spoke to the airline’s top brass to soften their stand.