IndiGo flouted evacuation norms, says DGCA report

NEW DELHI: Aviation safety guidelines stipulate that in the event of a fire on an external part of an aircraft or near it on ground, passengers should be evacuated from the other side for safety reasons. But the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has found that IndiGo did not do this while evacuating passengers at Kathmandu airport last March when the aircraft’s right side landing gear had a fire after landing.
The safety regulator has asked the airline to ensure that its pilots adhere to standard operating procedures in an emergency evacuation and also that its “procedure for arming and disarming doors” should be “in line with Airbus/aviation operators” of India.
The DGCA has listed the lapses and safety recommendation for IndiGo in its final report on an emergency evacuation carried out by the airline in Kathmandu on March 8, 2014. The low cost carrier’s Airbus A-320 (VT-IEU) had flown into Kathmandu from Delhi with 176 passengers and six crew members. After landing safely, the plane reached the bay and the engines were switched off.
At that time, the ground crew observed smoke in the right main landing gear and informed the pilot of fire in one of the wheels. The pilot asked for emergency evacuation which was carried out by the crew. While no one was hurt, the airline reported this incident to the regulator which started a probe into it and has now made public its final report.
“The cabin crew deployed escape slides where the fire had occurred as their decision was influenced by the pilot in command (PIC). Further the cabin crew were not able to handle passengers during evacuation as number of passengers evacuated with the cabin baggage… The cabin crew followed the PIC instructions and without assessing the external conditions deployed the escape slides on the same side where the fire had actually occurred,” the report by DGCA’s deputy director (air safety) A X Joseph says.
Aircraft safety manuals, found in seat pockets, advise passengers not to go down the emergency slide with either healed footwear or hand baggage.
“It was observed from videos released after the incident that passengers had evacuated from the right side where the fire had occurred and also were seen evacuating on escape slides with the cabin’s luggage… it is inferred that the cabin crew action reflected poor assessment of situation as their actions were not in accordance with their approved safety manual,” it says.
“As per IndiGo existing procedure, the door slides are disarmed during taxi and not after the aircraft is parked on the bay. Hence after the PIC made the evacuation command, cabin crew had to arm all the doors again and then deploy the escape slides for evacuation. This practice is also not as per the recommended manufacturer procedures for disarming the doors,” the report says.
The regulator has given safety recommendation for IndiGo which ask it to ensure PICs adhere to standard operating procedure for emergency evacuations and don’t influence cabin crew at that time. It has asked the airline to bring its procedures for arming and disarming doors in line with Airbus standard. IndiGo has been asked to have cabin crew trained in a way that they can do crowd control during an emergency and that they must assess the external conditions before commencing evacuation.