DGCA indicts Jet Airways for last year’s passenger injuries: report

New Delhi: India's civil aviation regulator, the Directorate General of Civil  Aviation (DGCA) has faulted Jet Airway India's crew and training standards in a report, a year after two dozen passengers of that airline's flight were injured during an emergency evacuation, reports in the media suggest.

Of the 25 passengers hurt, four were seriously injured as they jumped from the plane's wing, the regulator said in its indictment.

Last year, on 27 August, Jet's cabin crew noticed what appeared to be an engine fire as its flight (9W302) was taxiing at Mumbai airport with 139 passengers onboard. It turned out to be a false alarm but a misreading of the situation by the cabin crew led to emergency evacuation procedures being ordered and resulted in injuries to passengers.

 ''In the process of evacuation, 25 passengers were injured and four of them were seriously injured with multiple fractures on the legs. There was neither smoke nor actual fire in the incident,'' the DGCA said in its investigation report, released Monday.

The regulator said the crew did not have a ''basic awareness of the external lights, especially the anti-collision lights of the aircraft.''

''During cabin crew SEP (safety and emergency procedure) training, crew were trained for emergency evacuation for fire depending on external situational assessment. However, they were not trained to recognize fire from the engine.''