NEW DELHI: The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) has asked Alliance Air to “strengthen simulator training requirements for flight crew by incorporating advanced scenarios involving heavy rain, low-visibility approaches, and rapidly deteriorating weather conditions.” This recommendation has been made in the final report of a serious incident on Oct 8, 2024, when an Alliance ATR (VT-RKF) with 47 people on board had undershot the runway at Bhubaneswar during landing in “severe” rain.It had “made ground contact approximately 100 metres before the runway threshold.” Luckily there were no injuries to the 43 passengers and four crew members. Also there was no fire on the aircraft which had flown in from Rourkela.“Inadequate communication, cross-checking, mutual intervention, and challenge-response coordination between the pilots contributed to the ineffective management of deteriorating approach conditions and the failure to initiate a timely go-Around. After landing, the pilot-in-command informed ATC that the aircraft had landed on Runway 51 instead of Runway 14, possibly due to nervousness, stress, and confusion following the serious incident, indicating a temporary lapse in situational awareness,” says the report.
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AAIB has listed these among the contributory factors: “Severe convective weather conditions include heavy rain, turbulence, downdrafts, and low visibility in the runway environment. Presence of significant low-level wind shear characterised by rapid transition from headwind to tailwind close to the ground.”AAIB has recommended that Alliance Air should place “special emphasis on pilots who have recorded operational exceedances within a six-month period, with mandatory recurrent simulator sessions and targeted remedial training to enhance decision-making, situational awareness, and adherence to standard operating procedures during adverse weather operations.”
