BENGALURU – An Air India A320 flying from Phuket to New Delhi in August issued a stall warning when seatbelt signs were off, while a rapid pitch up and then down threw passengers and cabin crew against overhead bins and injured 24 people, Indian investigators said.

The Airbus plane, cruising at 36,000ft, initially ascended 372 feet (113m) and then fell to 292 feet (89m) below it, according to a preliminary report released on Sept 4.

The two-second stall warning came after the flight control system detected the loss of all three of the aircraft’s hydraulic systems within four seconds, disengaging the autopilot and setting off a continuous cockpit alarm.

The hydraulic systems, which use pressurised fluid to power the flight controls and other equipment, began recovering about nine seconds after the first was lost, the report said.

The report from India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) did not say why the pressure loss was detected, which will require further investigation.

The event was updated to an “accident” from “serious incident” by investigators, and the report throws light on a chaotic few seconds on board the flight that had 137 passengers and eight crew.

The 32-year-old first officer was flying the plane at the time of the event, though the 34-year-old captain later took over the controls, it said. Both have been interviewed as part of the investigation.

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