Captain locked out of cockpit

A Bangalore-bound Air India flight from New Delhi had to make an unscheduled landing at Bhopal after the cockpit door got jammed, leaving the flight commander stranded outside, an airline spokesperson said here on Tuesday.

The incident occurred on Monday when the flight commander of AI-403 went to the toilet and returned to find the cockpit door locked.

Despite all efforts by him and the co-pilot and a trainee pilot in the cockpit, the door did not open, leaving the flight commander outside.

The co-pilot took permission from the ground control and diverted the flight to Bhopal, where the aircraft landed at 5:55 pm.A ground team of maintenance engineers rectified the problem and the flight left Bhopal for Bangalore. It reached Bangalore at 10:30 pm.“All precautions and procedures regarding safety were observed during the entire process. The incident posed no danger to the passengers and the crew,” an Air India spokesperson said.
Agencies