The co-pilot has a history of psychotic behavior towards colleagues. After Germanwings episode, Indian airlines are not taking any chance. I think the pilot in question may have flown his last flight as Air INdia has placed him on suspension!

All Indian carriers have a similar situation on their hands and Indigo is hardly any better! infact the dynamics at Indigo (staff sourced from recruiting agencies and allegations of Pay to Fly programmes for junior pilots) makes their situation more questionable! A lot of stuff with private airlines is not reported because they handle their PR very well! We have had aircraft of private airlines going off runways without any news of it in the mainstream media! Regional media which is still segregated from the PR lobbies based in major cities are a better source for this news! This is the reason why RTI's filed with DGCA become important to get a true picture for us journos!

One pvt carrier had an incident where the co-pilot locked himself in the cockpit with a cabin attendant during a turnaround trying to convince her to go out with him- this was in collusion with the captain! The pilot of another pvt carrier slapped the FA for getting his meal wrong - or refusing alcohol - depending on who you choose to believe. On another pvt carrier, both pilots left the cockpit for a brief while, while the cabin crew were putting up a impromptu Bollywood dance performance to celebrate an Indian festival!

So the problem is endemic and with private carriers the crew are discouraged from reporting it! And the private airlines are experts at preventing news of such incidents from getting out in rare situations that things are reported to the DGCA!

With Air India, atleast they stick to the rules - being a Govt carrier, they have little choce in the matter! Crew are encouraged to file reports - which is how this story got out!