Air India grounds 2 pilots after Hong Kong flight 'descended rapidly'

Air India has grounded its two pilots after the aircraft "descended rapidly and deviated from the normal glide path" at Hong Kong International Airport runway triggering a Ground Proximity Warning System alert.

The incident happened on October 20 when the Boeing 787 was approaching to land at Hong Kong International Airport with 197 passengers and 10 crew members onboard at 6.14 am (local time).

"Before the approach to Hong Kong International Airport, the crew had received cautionary information from the Hong Kong arrival Automatic Terminal Information Service (ATIS) regarding the possibility of Instrument Landing System (ILS) glideslope fluctuation. At 06:08:17 hours, the Air Traffic Control (ATC) further advised the crew of the possible glide path signal fluctuation. At 06:11:00 hours, ATC cleared the aircraft for the instrument landing system (ILS) approach for Runway 07R," read a preliminary report.

"During the approach, the aircraft descended rapidly, triggering a Ground Proximity Warning System (GPWS) alert on board the aircraft. The crew recovered the aircraft at about 200 feet above mean sea level, approximately 2.6 nautical miles from Runway 07R before performing a go around. The aircraft landed uneventfully on Runway 07R on the second approach," the reported further stated.

Chief Inspector of Hong Kong's Transport and Housing Bureau (THB) had ordered an investigation into the incident and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) of the United States of America and the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) of India, representing the State of Design and Manufacture and State of Registry of the aircraft respectively, were notified about the matter.