A Japanese passenger jet has nose dived and rolled after the co-pilot hit the wrong controls while trying to open the cockpit door so the captain could return from a toilet break.
The All Nippon Airways (ANA) Boeing 737-700 was carrying 117 passengers and crew, when it almost flipped over entirely as it dived 6,234 feet in 30 seconds. But nobody was seriously hurt.
Two flight attendants were slightly hurt and four passengers suffered airsickness after the plane rolled more than 130 degrees whilst over the Pacific on a night flight from the southern Japanese island of Okinawa to Tokyo.
ANA said that the co-pilot is believed to have mistakenly hit the rudder controls instead of the door lock to allow the pilot back in the cockpit.
“We are deeply sorry for causing anxiety to our passengers,” said a senior ANA official.
The crew managed to stabilise the plane after the co-pilot’s error and the flight landed safely.
Japan’s Transport Safety Board is investigating the incident which happened on 6 September, although the details of the mid-air drama have only recently emerged.
Four senior officials at ANA have been reprimanded by the airline with stern warnings.
In a separate development, there was also an announcement that its pilots’ unions were threatening to go on strike this weekend, with negotiations continuing in order to avoid disruption to services.