IndiGo will review why its pilot and cabin crew were seen flouting safety protocol alongside passengers during the May 28 emergency evacuation and carrying luggage while streaming down emergency slides following a bomb alert.
The evacuation was carried out on an IndiGo flight from Delhi to Varanasi before take-off following a note inside the lavatory that warned of a ‘[email protected] am’. The bomb alert was later declared a hoax.
Visuals of the incident showed several passengers leaving the aircraft on an emergency slide with their bags. An IndiGo pilot brought his flight bag along and a member of the crew could be seen walking on the apron with her stroller bag after exiting the aircraft through the emergency slide.
Bomb scare on Varanasi-bound flight at Delhi airport
Safety and emergency procedures during an evacuation require everyone to leave their bags behind as these can injure other passengers, damage the inflatable slide and impede evacuation. Removing bags from the overhead bins can slow down the evacuation that has to be completed within 90 seconds.
“To see trained pilot and cabin crew evacuating with bags shows a complete disregard for safety and emergency procedures. It sends out the wrong message to passengers who are given instructions to leave everything behind,” said Arun Kapur, former safety and emergency procedures instructor at Air India.
Visuals show more than one passenger coming down the emergency slide at a time and colliding with each other. “Cabin crew who stand near the exits have to command the evacuation and ensure not more than one passenger enters the slide,” said Mr. Kapur. Such planes use single-aisle slides, though these are wide enough to be used as rafts in case of an emergency landing on water.
“Safety is our prime concern and our crew acted in the best interest of our customers’ safety. As with all safety and security events, our flight safety team will be reviewing this as well,” an IndiGo spokesperson said.
Former airline instructor pilot and aviation safety adviser, Captain Mohan Ranganathan, pointed out that at the time of emergency evacuation, the anti-collision lights of the aircraft were still blinking, which meant that the pilots panicked and did not complete their evacuation checklist. These lights are switched on before the engine starts and are switched off after the engine is shut down in order to ensure that ground staff and vehicles are at a safe distance from the aircraft during taxiing.
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