For Those On Board the Phuket-Delhi Air India Flight that Suffered An Altitude Drop, Traumatic Memories Linger

Chetanya Goel woke up when his head bumped into something. When he opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was people being thrown into the air. Bags were falling from the overhead luggage compartments onto the cabin floor.

Goel was one of the 137 passengers on Air India flight AI2379 from Phuket to Delhi on August 4 when the aircraft suddenly lost about 300 feet of altitude within seconds. For most on board, those few seconds would stretch into two hours of fear before the aircraft finally landed in Delhi.

Preeti Arora, another passenger on the flight, was returning from a holiday in Thailand with friends after celebrating her birthday. An hour and a half into the journey, the Airbus A320 shook violently for close to 10 seconds and suddenly lost altitude. “The turbulence was so intense we were literally thrown up from our seats and our heads hit the overhead luggage compartment. It was one of the scariest moments I’ve ever experienced,” she says.

Experts believe that it was caused by clear air turbulence.

Once the plane stabilised, Goel regained his senses and looked around him. “People were shouting, crying and praying. Some were holding their heads; the others were holding their hands or legs. Luggage bags were lying on the floor and on seats and some overhead compartment flaps had broken off,” he says, adding that the cabin crew members, some of whom were injured themselves, tried to help people and a few passengers who were doctors also stepped forward to help. “They had a small medical kit, which was not enough to even dress the wounded,” Binis Khan, another passenger, tells Outlook.

The turbulence was over within seconds. For the next two hours, however, nobody on board knew whether it would happen again. The pilot announced an emergency and ordered passengers to fasten their seat belts.

“Everyone was in a panic at that time and we had all just given up hope, thinking that the aircraft was going to crash anytime,” Khan says. The only thought in her mind at that time was her children. “They were waiting for me at home. In that situation, I was thinking that maybe I would never see my children again.”

Finally, the flight landed at Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi at 11:07 AM IST. Air India issued a statement stating that the flight experienced a sudden loss of altitude during cruise, and after the momentary event, the aircraft continued normally. The airline said that 13 passengers and four crew members sustained injuries.

However, multiple passengers claimed that the number of injured passengers was much higher. Shrikant Jha, another passenger, told the media that when the flight landed, there were no pre-arrangements in place for handling the injured passengers by either Air India or the airport authorities.

“When we landed, the staff was clueless about the situation. There was no senior staff,” Jha says. He adds that one and a half hours after landing, the Terminal 3 in-charge came with his staff and arranged for ambulances to transport the injured to the hospital.

Plane Landed, Fear Didn’t

For many passengers, reaching home safely did not bring the ordeal to an end; the trauma of such an incident lingers much longer. “I can never forget that situation,” Khan says, who was returning from Thailand with her husband. She adds that although she did not suffer any physical injuries, she has experienced repeated panic attacks since the flight. She travels often, but now a big fear has settled inside her about travelling by aircraft.

The experience of severe turbulence often extends well beyond the physical injuries, says K Dinesh, a clinical psychologist and retired Indian Air Force officer who specialises in flight phobia. “Those who have gone through this are almost certainly going to be traumatised and many of them will require post-traumatic therapy,” he says.

Even after watching videos of plane crashes, people develop a serious fear of flying, Dinesh says, adding that in the month after the unfortunate crash of the Air India flight in Ahmedabad last year, the bookings for flight-phobia programmes at his facility increased 10 times. He says that passengers on AI2379 are also likely to experience post-incident trauma. While some may recover over time, others could struggle with a much longer-lasting fear of flying.

Demanding Accountability

After the incident, passengers have filed formal complaints and demanded accountability from Air India and compensation for physical injury and mental distress. Air India says it is fully cooperating with the Directorate General of Civil Aviation’s investigation into the matter and continues to support those affected.

But what, legally, does an airline owe passengers after an incident like this? “Under the Air Act 1972, the airline is strictly liable for bodily injury caused during the course of international carriage. You do not need to prove negligence. The fact that the injury occurred on board is sufficient to establish the airline’s liability,” says Amitraj Kaushal, advocate at the Supreme Court of India. He adds that while the law specifically refers to bodily injury, courts have started reading psychological trauma into that definition. “In situations like this, documentation, such as medical records and a therapist’s notes, matters when claiming compensation. I always tell people not to expect an airline to offer this on its own. In practice, you send a legal notice first, and if the airline does not respond meaningfully, a civil suit follows,” he adds.

The aircraft landed safely. Everyone eventually made it home. But for some passengers, the journey is still not over.

“Some people are still left with the trauma, which includes me as well. What we experienced on that flight can’t be understood from the outside. It was the most terrifying experience of my life,” Goel says. He adds that he will probably fly again. But he knows the next time he walks towards an aircraft, it won’t feel like just another flight.

What is clear air turbulence?

Clear Air Turbulence (CAT) is sudden and violent turbulence that an aircraft experiences in cloudless skies. This often occurs above 15,000 feet, between the core of a jet stream and the surrounding air and is undetectable by radar or the human eye.

What causes CAT?

There are three key reasons behind CAT. Firstly, when fast-moving air encounters slow-moving air, it causes a rapid change in airspeed at the edge of the jet stream. Second, encounters between tall mountains and strong winds send strong oscillating waves into the atmosphere. Third, when a warm air layer meets a cooler layer, the wind speed between the two layers differs, causing friction and turbulence.

CAT hotspots in India

Northern India is the CAT hotspot in the pre-monsoon season, between March and May. A study found that in the next 50 years, the region will see a 100 to 200 per cent rise in CAT.

Fazal Rahim is senior correspondent, Outlook Business

(This story appeared in Outlook magazine’s August 31 issue, 'Whose Idea of India?', in which India’s noted public intellectuals, policymakers, cultural practitioners, political leaders, scholars and economists write in detail about the idea of India they believe can best secure the nation’s future as we celebrate 80 years of independence.)