“Jet Airways BOM-BRU loosing 5,000ft altitude” was a scam!!!

[Passenger]

Last Thursday, there was breaking news on all Belgian and international media: “a Jet Airways Boeing 777, flight from Mumbai to Brussels, suddenly dropped 5.000ft above Turkey because the pilot took a nap and the co-pilot “was busy on her iPad”. It was discussed here in the topic “Abnormalities”:

From "The Times of India":
"...A Jet Airways aircraft winging its way from Mumbai to Brussels last Friday suddenly dropped 5,000 feet in the Ankara airspace over Turkey. The commander of the Boeing 777 aircraft was taking 'controlled rest', which means a nap as per rules. The aviation regulator is now probing if the co-pilot too had dozed off..."
More details:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/indi ... 211580.cms

and

The (female) co-pilot has claimed she was busy on her tablet and did not notice that the aircraft had lost altitude. A call from an alarmed Ankara ATC is what jolted the pilots into action.
http://ibnlive.in.com/news/mumbaibrusse ... ource=t.co

Many of us have probably wondered why The Aviation Herald has not reported about this quite serious incident so far. And here is why: it did not happen. The Aviation Herald indeed had researched this occurrence and dismissed the whole story. "According to radar data", The Aviation Herald states, "the aircraft, departing Mumbai on Aug 8th, was en-route over Turkey on Aug 9th at FL340 but never busted the flight level. Transponder data always showed it between 33.975 and 34.025 feet".

The flight departing Aug 7th and being over Turkey on Aug 8th was cruising at FL320 and had no altitude deviation, too.

So what happened?

According to Simon Hradecky, editor The Aviation Herald, the incident (quid non) was reported to the Indian DCGA by one (1) anonymous SMS text message. The DGCA however opened an investigation whether there would be any substance to the claims in that SMS. For the Times of India, the fact that the Indian DCGA opened an investigation was a full confirmation that it had happened.

Additional factors that point out to a false report by Times of India:

- Why did the Indian DGCA not receive a notification from Turkish ATC and/or Turkish CAA, supplied by the controller querying the aircraft?

- How can an aircraft on autopilot descend 5000 feet without interaction? If the autopilot had been inadvertently disengaged, a very loud wailing sound would have alerted the pilots that the autopilot has disengaged. If the pilot was asleep and the co-pilot was working on their iPad, both would have heard that wailing sound.

Did nothing happen then?

Actually, it is indeed possible that an irregularity occurred. Could be that captain had left the cockpit for a nap (in violation of regulations), and/or could there have been an inadvertent autopilot disengagement, caused by a violation of rules regarding scheduled cockpit naps. Perhaps some crew member (or a passenger?) noticed this, and sent an anonymous SMS to the Indian DCGA?

[teach]

How about a link to the Aviation Herald story?

[Flanker2]

Flightglobal says that the crew has been suspended.

[Passenger]

Flightglobal says that the crew has been suspended.

Flightglobal just copy/pasts what Times Of India wrote. And they end with this: "Attempts by Flightglobal to reach the airline and DGCA for more information were unsuccessful".

[sn26567]

How about a link to the Aviation Herald story?

The Aviation Herald does not report a story that did not happen

[teach]

How about a link to the Aviation Herald story?

The Aviation Herald does not report a story that did not happen

So where did it write this then?

Many of us have probably wondered why The Aviation Herald has not reported about this quite serious incident so far. And here is why: it did not happen. The Aviation Herald indeed had researched this occurrence and dismissed the whole story. "According to radar data", The Aviation Herald states, "the aircraft, departing Mumbai on Aug 8th, was en-route over Turkey on Aug 9th at FL340 but never busted the flight level. Transponder data always showed it between 33.975 and 34.025 feet".

'the Aviation Herald states'. So where does it state this? Passenger didn't just write all of that himself, he read it somewhere, so I'd like a link to where he read it. I searched for it, and couldn't find a thing, only a post on pprune where someone states this, again without a link, and possibly because they read it here.

I'm not saying it's not true what Passenger wrote, I'd just like to see his source. Is that really too much to ask? It should be standard that people state their source.

[andorra-airport]

only a post on pprune where someone states this, again without a link, and possibly because they read it here.

Because the poster on PPRuNe (Austrian Simon, Salzburg) is Simon from The Aviation Herald ? Im not 100% sure, but it could be an explanation.

[Passenger]

”…The Aviation Herald states…”. So where does it state this? Passenger didn't just write all of that himself, he read it somewhere, so I'd like a link to where he read it. I searched for it, and couldn't find a thing, only a post on pprune where someone states this, again without a link, and possibly because they read it here. I'm not saying it's not true what Passenger wrote, I'd just like to see his source. Is that really too much to ask? It should be standard that people state their source.

Because the poster on PPRuNe (Austrian Simon, Salzburg) is Simon from The Aviation Herald ? I'm not 100% sure, but it could be an explanation.

I hadn’t read that PPrune yet, but I can assure you that my sources are very reliable, including the quotes from The Aviation Herald. Before I posted this story here, I have sent a private mail to webmasters Bart (luchtzak) and André (sn26567) with my source(s). That's all I want to say about it.

Would be great if we could focus on the content, not on the poster...

[Homo Aeroportus]

... Would be great if we could focus on the content, not on the poster...

Drop the tar bucket and feathers guys.
This week-end we celebrate the 45th anniversary of the Woodstock festival ; peace and love/


H.A.

[teach]

I hadn’t read that PPrune yet, but I can assure you that my sources are very reliable, including the quotes from The Aviation Herald. Before I posted this story here, I have sent a private mail to webmasters Bart (luchtzak) and André (sn26567) with my source(s). That's all I want to say about it.

Good, that's all I need to know.

Would be great if we could focus on the content, not on the poster...

Nobody here is focusing on the poster, though it is a very sad state of affairs when simply asking to provide a source for a claim (something I believe everyone should do, especially on the internet) is now apparently seen as a personal attack.

[Passenger]

Would be great if we could focus on the content, not on the poster...

Nobody here is focusing on the poster, though it is a very sad state of affairs when simply asking to provide a source for a claim (something I believe everyone should do, especially on the internet) is now apparently seen as a personal attack.

No problem, I didn't saw it as a personal attack. I just found it strange that, so far, nobody with cockpit and/or cabin experience has responded yet to the clear statements from The Aviation Herald.

[AustrianSimon]

Hello, all,

Just to state, it was really me, Simon Hradecky, who released this information on informal channels as it can't be covered on avherald.com

Let me add, that we have some unconfirmed and unverifyable indication that an autopilot disconnect may have happened in flight and there is some reason to believe, that the scheduled nap by the captain did not go according to rules, again unconfirmed and unverifyable. The reported 5000 feet excursion however is clearly disproven as is the entire story by the Times of India - not that unusual, of the hundreds of the aviation stories they broke over the years only a few stories, countable on the fingers of one hand, have been (partically) verified, the vast majority has been completely disproven. As result, we do not even believe the date printed on their front page anymore.

The whole foundation of this story has been one anonymous SMS sent to India's DGCA and the fact, that the DGCA opened an investigation whether the allegations in that SMS have any merit whatsoever (which was taken by the Times of India as full confirmation that the allegations in the SMS were true). To aid the investigation the crew was suspended, which is a normal and routine step and is absolutely no proof of wrongdoings (it is only proof of an ongoing investigation).

Servus from Salzburg
Simon Hradecky
Aka AustrianSimon here and on Pprune
The Aviation Herald
http://avherald.com

[sn26567]

Hi Simon. Thanks for registering to this site and giving some firsthand information on this event. We wish you a warm welcome.

Envoyé de mon GT-I9100 en utilisant Tapatalk

[Passenger]

The same Indian newspaper has produced another scam, this time with Air India:

http://avherald.com/h?article=4792dfbe&opt=0