Heavy landing in 'Hong Kong', Jet Airways pilot avoids reporting

A top Jet Airways pilot allegedly did not report a heavy landing made by a wide body aircraft due to which the plane was not subjected to mandatory structural safety checks and kept flying without the same.

The alleged non-reporting happened on April 28, 2017, while operating a flight on a Boeing 777 (VT-JEQ) from Delhi to Hong Kong. The commander was also acting as the designated examiner, doing the tenth and final route check of a co-pilot who would have been promoted to the rank of captain, had he operated this flight perfectly.

However, due to some reportedly incorrect procedures like “inadequate flare” the aircraft touched down before the touch down point and made a heavy landing — in technical terms it made a 3.2 G landing while according to Boeing, the B-777 should not have over 2G landing.


Since such heavy landings can damage aircraft structure, it is mandatory to get the plane checked to ensure it is not stressed or damaged before being released for flights again. But in this case the crew did not report the issue due to which the aircraft has been flying unchecked since the heavy landing last week. On the other hand, the commander failed his co-pilot for the “inadequate flare” which led to the hard landing.

A statement by Jet said: “Hard landings are not an uncommon phenomena in the industry and reporting a hard landing depends on crew judgement and other factors. In the absence of empirical assessments, reporting of such events that may require maintenance inspection is dependent primarily, on crew prudence. The said aircraft remained serviceable even after completion of requisite inspections.

“The airline has an internal active safety management system, which is continuously updated with learnings from across the aviation industry. At Jet Airways, safety of our guests, crew and assets is of paramount importance.” Defining the duties of a designated examiner, DGCA rules say: “The pilot in command retains all command responsibility and is ultimately responsible for the safety of operation… The designated examiner shall remain alert to all flight safety hazards and announce these immediately.”