The pilots shut down the wrong engine of a GoAir flight going from Delhi to Mumbai, a bird-strike incident on June 21, 2017, the aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said in a report.
The bird-strike affected the engine number 2 of the flight but the pilots of the GoAir plane decided to shut down engine number 1, the report said.
The pilots realised their mistake when the aircraft stopped climbing at an altitude of 3,330 feet and consequently started engine 1 and brought back the plane to Delhi airport, said the report dated November 5, 2018.
"The incident was caused by incorrect identification of engine affected with high vibration followed by non-adherence to recommended procedures, lack of situational awareness, poor cockpit resource management and poor handling of aircraft during emergency subsequent to bird strike," it said.
The incident happened on an A320 aircraft, which had a total 156 passengers, at 5:58 am on June 21, 2017.
The investigation found that during take-off, the aircraft encountered bird strike on engine 2.
"Both crew noticed abnormal sound and vibrations but PIC (pilot in-charge) decided to continue for take-off probably wanting to investigate the problem after getting airborne," the probe report stated.
According to the probe report, after it landed back at Delhi airport, blood stains were there on the acoustic panel of engine 2, damage was also observed on two fan blades of engine 2.