...And The Boss Was In The Back

It's bad enough when the windscreen on your Airbus cracks in the middle of a violent thunderstorm. It's worse when the president of the airline is riding in the back.

That was the situation aboard Air India Flight 273 as it departed Calcutta Thursday. Captain M. Lamba took off as a strong thunderstorm approached the airport. The aircraft flew into the storm and was severely battered by hail -- some of which cracked his windscreen.

“The wind screen has cracked… repeat... the wind screen has cracked, I want to make a priority landing back to airport,” he radioed the tower.

But both airport radars were on the blink and visibility was down to virtually zero. So, with the windscreen perilously cracked, Lamba had to circle the airport for more than an hour.

And if that wasn't pressure enough, one of his passengers was Air India Chairman  V. Thulasidas.

Without radar to guide him back to the airport, Capt. Lamba had to find the ILS on his own, then follow it down through the storm to the runway. He did just that, according to the India Telegraph newspaper. The landing was reported as "smooth."

“The valiant efforts of the pilot and the ground staff, who have shown that navigational aids and communication is more important in flight safety than radar, saved the day,” a senior air safety official told the Telegraph.

As for Chairman Thulasidas... he told reporters he didn't know anything was wrong until he was told about the incident on the ground.

FMI: www.airindia.com