Plane dives 6,000 feet, mid-air crash averted

The flight IX-212 was cruising over Muscat skies when it suddenly hit an air pocket.
According to official sources, the flight was cruising at a normal height and it was on auto pilot mode. As it hit the air pocket the plane suddenly began to drop at 2,000 feet per minute.

At this moment, the commanding pilot Anupam Tiwari was out of the cockpit as he was on a toilet break.

The co-pilot could not control the plane’s unexpected descend in the turbulent condition. The Boeing 737-800 aircraft came down by about 6,000 feet. The danger was compounded as at the reduced height the plane was on a collision course with another aircraft flying at that height. This was when the ATC alerted  the AI flight to quickly climb to 37,000 feet.

Several of the 112 passengers and six cabin crew were reportedly injured in the sudden descend of the aircraft, but the airliner denied injuries to any one. “There are no reports of any injuries to passengers and the crew,” it said.

Air India, which is facing flak after the Mangalore tragedy and the flash strike by its employees, also stated that the flight from Dubai to Pune “lost some height” (and not 15,000 ft as reported). It also said the pilots of the flight had been de-rostered to enable them to participate in the investigations, to be conducted by the carrier as well as the Directorate-General of Civil Aviation.