Air India Downplayed Phuket Plane Failures With 'Turbulence'? What Documents Say

In Air India's first statement, it attributed the plane dropping 300 feet to "brief in-flight turbulence". Five hours later, in another statement it dropped the word turbulence, while downplaying the incident.

Air India's departing CEO recently conferred with government representatives about a serious turbulence event that led to injuries and hospitalizations of those on board. The investigation is focused on potential mechanical failures and pilot behavior. Interestingly, the pilot's initial test for psychoactive substances

Nine technical snags in a minute, including an autopilot disconnect, hydraulic failures and faults affecting the systems that control the aircraft’s nose-up and nose-down movement; Air India writes to Airbus

The Airbus A320, carrying 137 passengers and eight crew, lost around 300 feet (91 metres) on August 4 while flying from Phuket in Thailand to New Delhi, before stabilizing and landing safely, the civil aviation ministry said.