New Delhi: Air India has de-rostered two pilots for allegedly flying a plane without retracting its landing gear.
The incident occurred on a flight AI 676 from Kolkata to Mumbai on July 22. The pilots apparently forgot to retract the landing gear after take-off.
Flight was diverted to Nagpur after the plane ran low on fuel.
The aircraft ran low on fuel as the landing gear was still out. Known as wheels down, it creates more drag while flying, thus eats up more fuel. Because the wheels were down, the flight flew at 24000 feet and 300 odd knots speed.
Air India said that they are investigating the incident.
Normal procedure is that as soon as the plane takes off, pilots check for positive rate of climb and immediately retract the wheels.
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