Air India A320neo Lost Key Controls for 4 Seconds During Flight

An Air India Airbus A320neo that dropped about 300 feet mid-flight on August 4, injuring 24 people, briefly lost control of its key flight surfaces after a simultaneous failure of all three hydraulic systems, according to a preliminary analysis by the aircraft manufacturer. The incident occurred on flight AI2379 from Phuket, Thailand, to New Delhi, India, and is now the subject of a formal investigation by Indian authorities.

The aircraft, carrying 137 passengers, six cabin crew, and two pilots, landed safely in Delhi despite the sudden altitude loss. According to the Airbus analysis, the plane's elevators and ailerons, which control pitch and roll, became unavailable for approximately four seconds. During this period, the aircraft pitched upward. The first officer, who was flying the plane, applied a full nosedown input, but there was no immediate response from the flight controls until the hydraulic systems recovered within seconds. The resulting sudden nosedown movement caused injuries, with 17 people requiring hospitalization.

Airbus, in a communication to Air India, did not establish a definitive root cause for the hydraulic failure. The manufacturer instructed the airline...