As the probe into the tragic Air India Flight AI171 crash— which claimed 275 lives earlier this month—continues, an earlier case from 2017 resurfaces in memory, when a GoAir A320 narrowly avoided disaster after a bird strike led to a critical error mid-air. While the two incidents are entirely different in nature, the 2017 scare remains a stark reminder of how swiftly things can go wrong in aviation.
On June 21, 2017, GoAir flight G8 274, operating an Airbus A320 and carrying 156 passengers from Delhi to Mumbai, encountered a bird strike on engine 2 shortly after takeoff. In a critical error, the cockpit crew shut down the unaffected engine 1 instead, halting the climb at just 3,330 feet.
A critical error at 3,000 feet
The final investigation report of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) revealed that the bird had struck engine number 2, causing unusual vibrations. But in a serious mix-up, the pilots shut down the unaffected engine (engine 1) instead. Now flying on the very engine that was actually damaged, the aircraft struggled to climb beyond 3,330 feet.
Realising the mistake three minutes later, the pilots tried restarting engine 1 but were hit with a start valve fault — adding to the chaos. Eventually, they managed to bring it back online at around 3,100 feet, enough to turn the aircraft around and make a second, safe landing attempt in Delhi.
There were no injuries, but things could have gone very differently.
What the DGCA found
India’s aviation watchdog, the DGCA, launched a probe and flagged multiple failures in its report published in 2018. These included:
- Incorrect engine shutdown
- Failure to follow emergency procedures
- Lack of situational awareness
- Poor communication in the cockpit
- Faulty handling under pressure
It also noted that the aircraft lost significant power and altitude while the pilots worked to recover from the error — including a brief activation of “Alpha Floor,” a protective mode that kicks in during severe instability.
The incident ended safely, but only just. The visuals told their own story After the emergency landing, engineers found blood stains on engine 2 and damage to two of its fan blades. Clearly, the engine that was left running — the wrong one — had indeed been compromised.
The pilots were derostered, and the DGCA recommended “suitable corrective action” against both.
Why it still matters today
This GoAir incident is now widely used in pilot training modules to teach the importance of cockpit discipline, quick thinking, and correct engine assessment.
Experts say the episode echoes the 2009 “Miracle on the Hudson” — where pilots safely landed a jet in a river after losing both engines to bird strikes. But unlike that legendary rescue, the GoAir case serves as a cautionary tale of what could go wrong — especially when compounded by human misjudgment.
