It was nearly a nightmare for the Air Arabia crew after their aircraft almost dived into the Mediterranean Sea moments after taking off from Sicily.
The Italian authorities termed it a “serious incident” after it triggered a Ground Proximity Warning System (GPWS) alert.
According to The Times of India, the incident took place on September 20 at 21:57 UTC, when an Air Arabia aircraft took off from Sicily’s Catania Airport for Queen Alia International Airport in Jordan.
After takeoff, it started descending close to the sea, triggering the GPWS to alert the crew to pull up the aircraft. The Italian aviation authority, Agenzia Nazionale per la Sicurezza del Volo (ANSV), confirmed that the warning was issued after the aircraft began approaching the sea surface.
As per reports, there were no passengers on board the aircraft, except for four crew members and two pilots. The Italian aviation authority has launched a probe into the incident. Officials are collecting data to analyse and determine the exact cause of the sudden descent.
Two Airbus A320 captains were interviewed by the media, where one of the captains speculated that the incident might have occurred due to a bird strike or a miscalculation in the takeoff weights.
