Three years after turbulence in a SpiceJet flight resulted in the death of a passenger and injuries to many others, Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) probe has concluded that poor crew resource management and decision-making as well as passengers not putting on their seat belts were among the probable causes for the accident.
In its final report into the accident that happened on May 1, 2022, the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) also recommended that aviation regulator DGCA should ensure that its officers follow the procedure laid in APM (Airworthiness Procedures Manual) for obtaining clearance from AAIB during de-registration of aircraft.
The recommendation has been made since the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) deregistered the Boeing 737-800 aircraft involved in the accident and returned to the lessor without AAIB approval. As per norms, DGCA is required to check for clearance or closing report from AAIB if the aircraft has met with an accident before the aircraft is de-registered.
On May 1, the aircraft operated the flight SG 945 on the Mumbai-Durgapur sector encountered severe turbulence. Many passengers, not wearing seatbelts, were thrown off their seats and suffered injuries. One passenger later passed away while undergoing treatment and three passengers sustained serious injuries, according to the AAIB report.
There were 189 passengers and six crew members onboard the flight.
Mentioning the probable causes of the accident, AAIB said the accident was caused by poor Crew Resource Management (CRM) and decision-making on the part of the crew to penetrate bad weather and not maintain specified separation from turbulence-prone weather.
"Due to insufficient time for securing the cabin, the cabin crew could not ascertain if all passengers had seat belts ON. Passenger not complying with seat belt instructions led to avoidable injuries as aircraft encountered severe turbulence," the report, which has now been made public, said.
While emphasising that the primary goal of CRM is enhanced situational awareness, leadership, assertiveness, decision-making, flexibility, adaptability, and communication, AAIB said the cabin crew stated to have not been briefed about bad weather at the time of pre-departure briefing.
"They were informed of expected turbulence by the cockpit crew when the aircraft started to descend.
"As it was the month of Ramadan, many fasting passengers were on board. They had not eaten their meals and were waiting for sunset time to start eating, hence the tray tables were not closed. Cabin crew would have required sufficient time to secure the cabin and ensure that all passengers have their seat belts fastened and tray tables are closed," AAIB said.
Further, it said that due to lack of information about bad weather during the pre-departure briefing they carried out their duties as routine.
Information on weather during pre-departure briefing would have increased cabin crew's situational awareness and would have helped them to plan and adapt according to the situation, AAIB noted.
In terms of safety recommendations, AAIB has said that SpiceJet should ensure that procedure for recurring defect monitoring and control is followed in letter and spirit.
"DGCA, airport operators and airlines should conduct campaigns to raise awareness about the importance of seat belts amongst passengers travelling by air," it added.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
