Air India goofs up again: Maharaja’s royal plane flies with wheels out for entire duration of flight

Moneycontrol News 

In another addition to its parade of inefficiencies, two pilots of Air India's Mumbai-bound flight from Kolkata on July 22 flew the entire route with the wheels out, forcing a landing at Nagpur to refuel, as per a report in the Times of India.

Due to the landing gear not being retracted, the flight, a new Airbus A-320, continued to fly at a height of 24,000 feet as opposed to an assigned level of 35-37,000 feet and flew at 426 kmph for the next one and a half hours, as per the report in the newspaper.

Air India On A Wing And A Prayer

The extra drag due to the weight of the wheels caused the flight to consume more fuel which led to an early landing.

As per the report, the pilots realised that the wheels were out during the entire flight only while preparing to lower the gear to refuel while landing at Nagpur.