Air India pilot locked out as plane cockpit door jams

NEW DELHI: State-run carrier Air India says the cockpit door of one of its planes got jammed during a flight while the captain was using the toilet, forcing an unscheduled landing by the co-pilot in central India.
An airline statement says the captain couldn’t return to the cockpit because the door was locked and that all efforts to open it, even from inside, failed during Tuesday’s flight from New Delhi to the southern Indian city of Bangalore.
The co-pilot landed the plane at the nearest airport. The door was fixed by ground maintenance staff and the plane resumed its flight.
The airline said the incident posed no danger to the passengers.
On May 4, 2013, Air India said that it had suspended a pilot and two female flight attendants after a passenger jet's autopilot system was accidentally switched off "due to distraction."
The event occurred on an Air India Airbus flight to New Delhi from Bangkok last month carrying over 160 passengers and followed a series of other safety-related incidents involving the airline. (AFP)