Oops (A)I did it again...
 

Summarising here : Shanghai flight turbulence... Passengers injured... Supposedly plane damaged too... instead of reporting it, pilots decided to keep quiet... then decided to ask the crew to keep shut too.

Evidently he forgot there are other people on board - people who he can't boss over. People who revealed things like :

"One of the passengers who did not listen to the crew and decided to use the lavatory could not come out for half an hour because of the upheaval. When he emerged, he was bleeding profusely. The toilet where he was stuck was badly damaged. At least 18 travellers were bleeding, but nobody could help them as the seatbelt sign was still on. Passengers were requesting the crew to pass on a message to the pilot to land somewhere so the injured could be treated. But the pilot did not listen and decided to go ahead. He could have easily landed at Kolkata or somewhere as we were in Indian airspace,” the crewmember added.

The first aid to injured passengers was finally administered only an hour before landing. “Usko bolo waapas jaao... usko bolo waapas jaao.. Captain ko bol do..ek din late hoga to chalega (Tell the pilot to return. We won’t mind if we are delayed by one day),” passengers asked the crew to tell the pilot. The pilot did not listen. "

Wow. Just wow.

By the way was this pilot from the same gang that is/was on strike?

Wow.

Why did the pilot feel he had to hide, unless it was his fault somehow?

Under the influence?

I don't see that as a possibility as none of the other flights I have taken this year (75+ and counting) have had that.

That was conjecture. What makes you think no AI pilot is ever drunk?

Well, what was it?
First of all credibility of MidDay is unknown.
Somebody is hiding something or MidDay is blowing things out of proportion.
If somebody is hiding something, who?
Does AI have any SOP's?
Did the pilot follow standard operating procedures?
Did the pilot think it was prudent to continue rather then divert to safer ground?
How badly were the people injured?
Were the passengers warned?
Did the passengers follow crew instructions?

All sorts of questions arise.

Also wonder why it took so long (almost 20 days) - to come out, as it happened on July 5. How come all the passengers kept mum all this while?

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That's true. Maybe it took them that long to recover from the bleeding :)

I suspect there likely was a serious violation, but possibly not as sensational as the article describes it.

But then that's AI : their PR spends all its time (not really) controlling the damage AI have caused to themselves. A proactive statement, even if half true, would have helped immensely. Even the likes of Jet are quick to do that.

I wish I could answer all these questions. I think I need to change my user name!!

shocking....:eek:

a MidDay report, like JustiCe Arnab is mostly 90% conjecture and 10% fact. So take any "news" with truck of salt.

this used to be a 77E operation, but now becoz of strike reasons, is operated by 332 so it would be an ICPA pilot at the helm. 332 fleet have the seniormost and best captains in IC, so i am very surprised at the negative comments.

that said the pilot is in charge: he takes the final call on what to do, not passengers. and what was the passenger doing goin to the toilet when the seat belt sign was on?

Oh do tell!

Yes it's Mid Day (though the Trash of India has managed to out-sensationalise Mid Day for a long time now) bot other publications also carried a variation of the story.

But I think you're missing the point : the problem isn't with the passenger getting up or the crew failing to prevent the injuries, or the pilot's experience or expertise. It's about the pilot's alleged failure to report the incident and his attempt to cover it up.

In all likelihood, if reported appropriately, the incident wouldn't have created all this drama. The cover-up is the contention, not the incident itself.

That said, bleeding and covering-up aside, it should have been a serious incident for AI to decide to ground the plane to check and fix it.

By the way, the plane has around 60 passengers. So there was no need for a 777 or a 330, strike or no strike. An ATR could have done the job! :p

Really. By stopping at 10 points en route.

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Haha. They might manage with three.

A vintage AI "scenic" route!

are these the same guys who run the LHR hotel hoppa service? ;)

Hehe!

Come to think of it, even a 2-stop might be possible with an ATR : Dilly - Lhasa - Chongqing - Shanghai.