Not turbulence: Air India A320 suffered rare flight-control event before 300-foot altitude drop

Nearly 2.5 hours after taking off from Phuket at 6.56 a.m., Air India flight AI 2379 operated on Airbus A320 neo was hit by a cascade of technical failures at 9.32 a.m. IST, involving the aircraft’s hydraulic and flight-control systems.

The sequence involved low-pressure indications and failures affecting one or two hydraulic systems at a time, with different combinations involving all three systems — an occurrence several pilots described as extremely rare. This was followed by an autopilot disconnect and simultaneous fault indications affecting.

What Happened

The A320 neo has three independent hydraulic systems that power critical functions including the primary flight controls, landing gear, nose-wheel steering, thrust reversers, flaps and slats, and braking systems. The automated post-flight maintenance report records failures and warning indications in different hydraulic.

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Key Details

As the aircraft pitched up and a stall warning (indicating loss of lift or height)was triggered, one of the pilots took manual control and attempted to push the nose down, according to another Air India source familiar with the sequence of events..

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Why It Matters

The available technical records do not show further fault messages after this sequence. Sources said this indicates that the flight-control systems were recovered following the pilots’ intervention, although the precise relationship between the technical failures, the flight-control response and the subsequent altitude.

• The Hindu has sent Air India a detailed questionnaire and has also sought a response from Airbus.

• The nature of the technical issues referred to Airbus could not be independently established.

What Reports Say

Coverage of the story so far points to:

• Continued reporting by The Hindu as more details emerge