An Air India Airbus A320 flight from Phuket to Delhi encountered violent turbulence during its cruise. The sudden altitude change resulted in at least 12 injuries among the 134 people on board.
The 12 injuries at Indira Gandhi International Airport
Emergency services were stationed on the tarmac at Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport to meet the Air India aircraft upon its safe landing . As reported by the source,injured passengers and crew members were seen being rushed to ambulances, some with visible bandages on their heads. The medical response was immediate, with those injured being transported to the Medanta medical centre in Gurugram, located southwest of New Delhi.
The severity of the incident is highlighted by the physical condition of those on board. While airline officials stated that no "serious" injuries had been reported at the time of their statement, one patient is believed to have suffered a spinal fracture. Footage from the scene captured the distress of the passengers, including one individual seen with his arm in a sling, underscoring the impact of the sudden descent.
A two-minute struggle with sudden altitude shifts
The turbulence struck the Airbus A320 approximately 90 minutes after it departed from Phuket, Thailand. According to the report, the aircraft experienced a sudden change in altitude that caused it to tilt significantly for a period of two to three minutes. This instabiliity was so intense that passengers who were not wearing seatbelts reportedly struck their heads against the cabin's ceiling .
The physical impact of the turbulence extended beyond the passengers to the aircraft itself, causing visible cracks to appear in the plane's interior. Many passengers were reportedly sleeping when the event occurred, leaving them vulnerable to the sudden, violent jolts. Air India has since characterized the incident as a "brief turbulence-related event" that occurred while the plane was cruising at altitude.
Shadows of the June 12 Ahmedabad crash
This recent turbulence incident occurs during a period of heightened scrutiny for Air India's safety record. The airline is still reeling from a catastrophic crash on June 12 involving a Boeing 787 Dreamliner. That flight, which was bound for London Gatwick, crashed into a medical college just 32 seconds after departing from Ahmedabad Airport,resulting in 260 deaths.
The investigation into that fatal Ahmedabad crash revealed critical human error, specifically involving fuel switches being moved from "Run" to "Cutoff." The tragedy, which claimed the lives of 241 passengers and 19 people on the ground, left only one survivor, British national Vishwash Kumar Ramesh. the memory of that event provides a somber backdrop to the current investigation into the Phuket-Delhi flight's altitude fluctuations.
Probing the sudden altitude change reported by Air India
While Air India has pledged to cooperate fully with authorities , several critical details regarding the Phuket flight remain unverified. It is not yet clear if the "brief turbulence-related event" was caused by unexpected meteorological conditions or if there were underlying mechanical issues that contributed to the altitude shift. Furthermore,the airline's description of the event as "brief" appears to conflict with passenger accounts of a prolonged and terrifying period of instability.
Investigators will need to determine why the crew was unable to stabilize the aircraft before the sudden drop occurred. until the official findings are released, the exact nature of the turbulence and its relationship to the aircraft's sudden altitude change remains one of the most pressing questions for the aviation community.
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