Weekly News Debrief: 19-25 May

 Cockpit Left Without a Conscious Pilot:

  • Recently, Spain's Air Incident Investigation Agency, CIAIAC, brought to light and declassified an incident which took place on a Lufthansa A321 flight on February 17, 2024, on a Frankfurt to Seville route.
  • While the Captain had gone to use the lavatory, the First Officer fell unconscious and could not approve the Captain's entry. 
  • The Captain used his emergency code to enter the cockpit, but this only opens the door after a short delay.
  • The plane was on autopilot for ten minutes until the First Officer partially regained consciousness and allowed the Captain to enter. 
  • While all 205 souls on board made it back safely, this raises the question- Should the rule which states that 2 people must be in the cockpit at all times resurface? A lot could have happened in those ten minutes, and it's no harm letting a cabin crew member stay in the cockpit with a pilot until the other returns.

Indigo Flight Makes an Emergency Landing After an Intense Hailstorm:
  • On Indigo flight 6E2142, an A321 registered VT-IMD, en route to Srinagar from Delhi, the plane was severely damaged by hail as it passed through critical weather.
  • Normally, aircraft attempt to avoid weather disturbances.
  • However, in this case, to do so would mean to enter Pakistani airspace, and Pakistani ATC declined permission to enter, due to which the pilots had no choice but to continue.
  • They declared an emergency and successfully made a landing at Srinagar. All 227 passengers were unharmed.

Indo-Pak Airspace Closure Prolonged:
  • Despite the recent ceasefire and de-escalation efforts, Pakistan prolonged its airspace closure to Indian Aircraft till June 23, leading India to do the same.
  • Note that the airspace closure to the other country's aircraft was first implemented by Pakistan, and is illegal.
  • According to ICAO and the Chicago Convention, a country can close its airspace for national security, but cannot discriminate between the nationality of aircraft (Article 9B).


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