Air India pilots come to blows inside cockpit, de-rostered

New Delhi: Amid growing concern across the world over aviation safety, it has come to light that two pilots of an Air India flight were allegedly involved in a fight inside the cockpit just before the plane took off.

As per reports, the incident happened inside the AI 611 flight which was preparing to fly for Delhi from Jaipur on Sunday evening.

As per reports, the co-pilot of the Airbus A-320 took offence and beat up the captain after the latter asked him to write down critical figures that are noted before the take-off.

The flight, however, departed for Delhi after the captain decided to operate the same “in the interest of the airline", sources said, as per a leading English daily.

The airline, however, brushed aside the incident as a minor argument. An AI spokesperson said that the captain and his deputy had an argument and that they have settled the issue.

"There were only heated exchanges between the commander and co-pilot over some issue. We have already de-rostered the two pilots pending an inquiry," the spokesperson said.

The incident raises serious questions about flight safety, especially in the wake of the Germanwings air disaster in which the 'suicidal' co-pilot allegedly crashed the plane deliberately.