desi

You dont see much news about India in US print media (except for the business section) typically.
(CNN in its early days used to run exactly same clip every 6 months or so about cows blocking traffic in Delhi - they would report it as if it is a new event in July but most people on the clip were wearing winter sweaters)

I think this 9W episode might replace "cows caused traffic" or "rats on AI flight".

Amazing that PR person had audacity to term this as "amicably resolved misunderstanding" (seemed so much like stuff coming from Ms Huckabee's mouth)

Looks like both western and Indian media use words Pilot, Co-Pilot, Commander interchangeably

Instead of providing link, suggest googling "Jet airways cockpit fight". Google will bring up about two dozen differently titled links. They all have more or less exactly same story (content wise) but the title selected by the particular news outlet tells you a lot about that media outlet.

erik123

Should be the end of his career. if you can control your emotions you shouldn't be in the cockpit.

Keyser

this was all over the news here in india a few days ago....their pr team can spin it anyway they want but this whole thing is a disaster for both the airline as well as the pilots involved....

luv2ctheworld

From what I read, it was a female pilot in command and male co-pilot. Physical altercation is never acceptable in a work environment (if anywhere at all, except maybe the gym to vent some steam :P)

It will be interesting to find out if it was a "lovers quarrel", or if the male co-pilot wanted to show her who was the "boss" Or just plain unprofessional/illegal behavior (assuming it is illegal to physical strike someone).

puchong

Has there been any further news as to what caused the "misunderstanding" - personal, professional or some other differences? Has the Indian media moved on to other news that they consider more important (e.g. Bollywood gossip, cricket etc)? Why do so many of these bizarre cockpit stories (9W now, AI earlier) emanate from India?

678flyer

Perhaps they need a sticker on the cockpit door like IndiGo has done.

678flyer

Combination of many things but mostly it is a very young nation with soaring income levels and easy access to technology.

Until the mid 90s, when the choices to psssengers were just AI and IC, the pilots were invariably ex Indian Air Force in their 40s or older, with the cabin crew also of similar age. Maturity levels were higher and there was no social media. Now, we have folks in their 20s, earning money around 20x their peers who are not in flying jobs and a social media explosion thanks to some of the cheapest cell phone plans on the planet. Plus a culture where the concepts of privacy, minding your own business, etc don't really exist. WhatsApp rules the airwaves with trash getting forwarded with monotonous regularity.

Plus a media run by similar folks - recently, there was a "breaking news" item and lots of pontification about abdication of responsibility when the leader of one of the largest political parties was spotted in a cinema watching Star Wars instead of doing something more serious (as a Star Wars fan though, I do believe watching Star Wars is serious stuff ).

This is just my opinion. And I say this as a person who was born, raised and has lived most of his life in India.

Keyser

truer words have never been spoken....

Maxwell Smart

Or perhaps all of the above?



Reading comments on a pilot forum, it appears that both pilots were captains, and the female capt was the PIC and male capt was FO for this flight. That may be contributing to the sometimes incorrect usage of 'captain', 'co-pilot', and 'commander' in various media articles on this event.

Maxwell Smart

Both pilots have now been fired.

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...w/62426015.cms

desi

That's so pathetic of Jet Airways.

Woman employee "de-escalated" by getting out of cabin (not illegal or against protocol) when PHYSICALLY ASSULTED, and she loses her job?
Is 9W an airline or Hollywod studio?

Maxwell Smart

If she was the co-pilot, then I would agree with you. But she was the Pilot in Command. IMHO, yes, she should be fired since she totally failed to exercise her proper command authority towards the safety of the passengers and aircraft. After getting out of the flight deck to de-escalate the situation (correct action), she should have gone back in, ordered the other pilot out, declared an emergency and landed the aircraft as soon as practical.

Or if she was still composing herself, once the other pilot also came out, then that action should have resulted in an automatic decision to get back in, and keep the other guy out of the cockpit, since such a ridiculous and incomprehensible act (leaving the flight deck unmanned) meant that at the time he was no longer mentally fit to operate the flight (oh, and he had assaulted the captain, too).

Instead, the whole saga happened TWICE. Different, but totally inexcusable actions by both pilots.

desi

Agree with you in theory.
But it is one thing for third party to make monday morning armchair quarterbacking and another for woman being physically assaulted at that very moment.
If she was being physically assaulted, is expectation of her being able to "kick guy out" even possible? (She could have asked other staff help in kicking the guy out but how many FA would have stepped in to do that?)
Dont think she deserved to be fired, IMHO (sent for training/counseling? yes, but not fired)

erik123

While unfair - cases like this don't deserve a second chance as that is the best way to prevent re-occurrence across the airline. Same as catching a worker smoking at an oil refinery. One strike and you are out.

PiperAtGatesofDawn

Apparently this was a lover's spat. Question is - how did Jet allow two people in a relationship to fly a plane together (if they knew). What are they doing to make sure they don't make this mistake again.

And of course we're not seeing any of that. Jet as usually has taken the easy out. And their PR is pretty much a bunch of jerks.