BOMBAY An executive Air India (Al) commander virtually “hijacked” an Al aircraft earlier this month when he flew the empty plane to Delhi from Rome despite orders from the airline headquarters to fly the craft straight to Bombay.
The incident, being dubbed “pilot hijack” in airlines circles, has raised the hackles of the pilots’ community here. The latter are particularly perturbed by the fact that despite the episode having taken place on June 7, no action has yet been taken against the “erring” commander. Some pilots have alleged that the management had turned a blind eye towards the episode as the commander was an executive pilot.
The plane had been on route from Rome to Delhi, when it developed a technical snag and was forced to return to Rome. Commander M.S. Sandhu decided to bring it back to Delhi later. The Director in Rome directed Captain Sandhu to fly the aircraft back to Bombay since no Passengers were listed on that flight and it was no longer “commercially” viable to take the air craft to Delhi. But Comm Sandhu refused, and proceeded to Delhi, saying he would take orders only from the Director of Operations. Despite an order from the director while he was air borne which Comm Sandhu received and acknowledged, he proceeded with the flight to Delhi.
The reasons for Comm, Sandhu’s action are not known, but sources reveal that his family had been travelling on board that Might, on their way to attend a private function at Delhi,
Pilots here are wondering how a commander of an aircraft, especially an executive pilot, could use Al as his private jet” ignoring all orders from the management!
Article extracted from this publication >> June 10, 1994
