Mumbai: Last week, the national carrier Air India learned that not having enough cabin crew members on its flights to keep an eye on passengers can have unforeseen consequences. Just before a Dreamliner aircraft was pushed back for takeoff at Moscow, a flyer opened a door and the escape raft fell out.
Had it not fallen onto the aerobridge, the slide would have inflated within seconds with much speed and force and caused serious injury and damage to personnel and vehicles on the ground, apart from inflicting engineering expenses on the debt-ridden airline.
The incident took place minutes before the scheduled 8.30am (Moscow time) departure of AI's Moscow-Delhi flight. A passenger, seated on 14A, had returned from one of the washrooms and was on his way to his seat. "I was about to take my seat when I heard a staffer knocking on the window asking to open the door. So I opened the door without realizing that I shouldn't have opened it," said the statement given to the airline by the passenger who had opened the door. A source said: "As the door opened, there was a sudden hissing sound, followed by a loud thud, and that was when the flight attendants noticed the passenger's errant behaviour. It was too late to stop him." The escape slide raft fell onto the aerobridge, and an engineering team had to be called to detach it from the aircraft.
10/02/15 Times of India
To Read the News in full at Source, Click the Headline
Had it not fallen onto the aerobridge, the slide would have inflated within seconds with much speed and force and caused serious injury and damage to personnel and vehicles on the ground, apart from inflicting engineering expenses on the debt-ridden airline.
The incident took place minutes before the scheduled 8.30am (Moscow time) departure of AI's Moscow-Delhi flight. A passenger, seated on 14A, had returned from one of the washrooms and was on his way to his seat. "I was about to take my seat when I heard a staffer knocking on the window asking to open the door. So I opened the door without realizing that I shouldn't have opened it," said the statement given to the airline by the passenger who had opened the door. A source said: "As the door opened, there was a sudden hissing sound, followed by a loud thud, and that was when the flight attendants noticed the passenger's errant behaviour. It was too late to stop him." The escape slide raft fell onto the aerobridge, and an engineering team had to be called to detach it from the aircraft.
10/02/15 Times of India
