AAIB flags hydraulic failure in Air India Phuket-Delhi incident; pilot testing expanded
A preliminary AAIB report says all three hydraulic systems briefly failed during an Air India A320 flight from Phuket to Delhi, causing a short loss of flight control and injuries. The report also noted a non-negative psychoactive-substance test for the pilot-in-command; Air India has started voluntary testing for all pilots.
What happened
AAIB’s preliminary report into Air India’s Phuket-Delhi altitude-loss incident flagged a brief failure of all three A320 hydraulic systems and the
Key facts
- Airbus A320 VT-EXO
- 137 passengers
- 6 cabin crew
- 2 pilots
- 20 passengers and 4 cabin crew injured
- 17 people hospitalised
- three hydraulic systems
- about 4 seconds of flight-control loss
- 372 ft climb
- 292 ft descent
- 36,000 ft cruising altitude
- 100% voluntary pilot testing
Why this matters
Potential partners and acquirers will likely increase safety, maintenance, insurance and governance diligence until the AAIB investigation clarifies root causes and corrective actions.
What to watch
- AAIB updates on the root cause of the simultaneous hydraulic-system failures and whether maintenance, design, contamination, or procedural factors were involved.
- DGCA directives covering A320 inspections, maintenance practices, pilot medical screening, substance testing, or operational restrictions.
- Whether the pilot's non-negative test is confirmed, ruled out, or linked to any operational impairment after formal follow-up.
- Additional Air India technical incidents, diversions, cancellations, or abnormal-control reports involving A320-family aircraft.
- Changes in Air India cancellation rates, on-time performance, customer complaints, and fare discounts on Phuket-Delhi and comparable routes.
- Corporate account, insurer, lessor, or aviation-finance commentary indicating increased scrutiny of Air India's safety controls.
- Air India is likely to issue more detailed safety-assurance communications, including fleet-specific inspection actions and clarification of its pilot testing protocols.
- The carrier may temporarily increase standby aircraft, crew reserves, and maintenance turnaround time on affected A320 operations, pressuring on-time performance and unit costs.
- Corporate travel managers and online travel agencies may monitor incident updates closely and steer risk-sensitive travelers toward alternate carriers if disruptions rise.
- Competitors may use reliability, punctuality, and safety messaging to capture high-yield Delhi and international connecting traffic without directly referencing the incident.
- Air India may accelerate investments in maintenance quality systems, flight-data monitoring, crew wellness programs, and third-party audit capacity to protect its turnaround narrative.