Thanks Radi. Sounds like my wild guess might at least be plausible. Although the media article didn't say, I assume there will be an investigation into the incident.
Back to what I mentioned about flight crew experience in India, I just visited the careers websites for the main airlines to see what their requirements are for flight crew:
Jet Airways --> Captain positions on all types require a lot of hours both total time (min 3000), PIC (2000) and PIC on type (500), which is good to see. However, there are no requirements listed for F/Os, with just type ratings required and an incident/accident free flying record. But I assume there are some strict experience requirements as well.
JetLite --> Can't find any credible info regarding experience requirements since they are currently not recruiting pilots (which is a big surprise since all the other airlines are still expanding). But since it is a subsidiary of Jet Airways, maybe they either source their pilots from Jet Airways or they have very similar minimum requirements as their parents company. But some websites suggest that being a LCC, JetLite has extremely low hourly requirements for entry.
Kingfisher/Kingfisher Red (Formerly Air Deccan) --> Can't find any credible info here either, but some sources suggest F/Os require just 1000hrs total time and a type rating.
Air India/Air India Express/Alliance Air/ Indian Airlines --> Seem to require min 1500 PIC and 2000 total time.
IndiGo --> Although Captain requirements "seem" adequate, F/O entry seems pretty low. E.g. 700hrs total time + type rating will get you into the F/O seat of an A320.
GoAir --> Nothing mentioned about captains, but F/Os who are type rated require min 300hrs total time to apply. Now this I find a tad scary, because that's only about 50hrs more than someone who has completed the Bachelor of Aviation (Flying) course at UNSW.
SpiceJet --> Can't find any info, but some sources suggest requirements are relatively low.
I also found this which struck me as a little odd:
Jet Airways flight attendants requirements - "Marital status = Unmarried" and "Physical Features = unblemished complexion"
__________________
PPL and flying member at Schofields Flying Club
|