IndiGo Pilot grounded for 'rough landing'

New Delhi: The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has taken an IndiGo Airlines pilot off duty after its investigation found that she had landed the plane on its fragile nose wheel on several occasions.
The DGCA, which was surprised to find the wrong landing many times, has told the carrier to send the pilot — Captain Parminder Kaur Gulati — for a correctional training for landing the plane on the front wheel and not the rear ones which is normal.
Sources at the DGCA told Deccan Herald that the regulator began an inquiry after the January 11 incident of “rough landing” as reported by Capt Gulati after touchdown at the Goa airport.The latest dangerous incident of landing not on the rear but the nose wheel was an erroneous manoeuvre that could have even led to the aircraft disintegrating and catching fire.The Delhi-Goa IndiGo flight was carrying over 100 passengers who experienced the heavy landing with a “thud”. After the bumpy touchdown, the woman pilot in command merely reported the incident as “rough landing”.
The preliminary inquiry revealed that Capt Gulati landed the aircraft at an angle indicating that the nose wheel may have touched the tarmac first.
15/02/11 Deccan Herald

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Categories: Airports Feb 2011, Indigo Airlines Feb 2011, Safety Feb 2011