Avoid speculation on Air India crash, says global pilots' body
This comes days after the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) submitted its preliminary findings into the Boeing 787 crash in Ahmedabad in which 260 people died.
'Whilst this preliminary report by its very nature raises many questions, it does not provide answers, and any extrapolation of its content can only be regarded as guesswork, which is not helpful to the good conduct of the investigation,' said Montreal-based non-profit International Federation of Air Line Pilots' Associations in a press statement. It called reports on media and commentary on social media as 'hasty'.
'A preliminary report is merely the means of communication used for the prompt dissemination of data obtained during the early stages of the investigation and only contains factual information and an indication of the progress of the investigation,' the statement added.
Amid demands from pilot bodies for allowing them observer status during the ongoing probe, IFALPA said it was 'committed' to supporting the AAIB.

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AI 171 Crash: Fuel Cutoff and a Fatal Plunge
On a June morning, Air India flight AI171 lifted off from Ahmedabad, bound for London. The aircraft was a Boeing 787 Dreamliner — among the most advanced long-haul jets in service. But less than a minute after takeoff, the plane crashed. Two hundred and sixty people were killed. Only one survived. It was India's deadliest air disaster in nearly three decades. Now, a preliminary investigation points to a chilling cause: fuel to both engines was cut off just after takeoff. The engines lost thrust. The plane had neither the altitude nor the time to recover. What happened in those final seconds? Was it a technical failure or human error? Guest: Jagriti Chandra, Special Correspondent at The Hindu covering aviation Host: Anupama Chandrasekaran Produced and edited by Jude Francis Weston


NDTV
2 hours ago
- NDTV
"Nowhere Mentioned...": Pilots' Body Slams WSJ Article On Air India Crash
Mumbai: The Federation of Indian Pilots (FIP) president CS Randhawa on Thursday condemned a media report that claimed that the captain of the Air India flight that crashed in Ahmedabad last month deliberately cut off fuel to the engines. Captain Randhawa dismissed the claims as baseless and vowed to take action against the publication. Captain CS Randhawa emphasised that the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau's (AAIB) preliminary report makes no mention of the pilots turning off the switches controlling fuel flow to the engines. "...Nowhere in the report has it been mentioned that the fuel control switch was turned off due to the pilot's mistake. I condemn the article. They said it was the pilot's mistake. They have not read the report properly, and we will take action against them through FIP," Captain CS Randhawa told ANI. He further urged people not to comment on the AAIB's preliminary report, as this may create fear among commuters about air travel. "We had issued a press statement yesterday that no channel, commentator or president of any agency should give such an opinion that has no basis. The detailed report will take time; till then, people are giving their own opinions without any basis, which is not right," Captain Randhawa added. "Neither the report nor the Civil Aviation Minister has said that it was pilot must relate this to the incident of ANA NH985, which occurred on January 17, 2019. At the time of landing, when the pilot selected thrust reversers, both engines shut down without the pilot moving the fuel control switch. I am quite clear that this is a repetition of the TCMA (Throttle Control Malfunction Accommodation) malfunction, and this needs a thorough investigation of the TCMA. Boeing has not taken any action yet and has not even tried to issue a directive that all these aircraft should be checked for TCMA functions. Secondly, there is not a single pilot in the investigation committee," he said. Captain Randhawa said that his federation is requesting the Civil Aviation Minister to reconstitute the board and include type-rated experts in this investigation board, who are pilots, engineers and air safety experts. The FIP President said that Indian Pilots are among the best in the world. "Indian pilots are among the best in the world. I did not give my opinion to the Wall Street Journal, which had approached me as well, because I am against this American media. They are deliberately giving their own opinion, their own views from this report, while there is nothing like this in the report. So I very strongly condemn this report of the Wall Street Journal and we will take action on it," he added. Earlier on Wednesday, the Federation of Indian Pilots (FIP) expressed "serious" concern regarding the preliminary findings and public discourse surrounding the crash of Air India flight AI-171 in Ahmedabad. FIP, in an official statement, expressed their dissatisfaction with the exclusion of pilot representatives from the investigation process, objecting to the way in which the preliminary report has been interpreted and presented publicly. "At the outset, we would like to register our dissatisfaction with the exclusion of pilot representatives from the investigation process. We also firmly object to the way in which the preliminary report has been interpreted and presented publicly," FIP said in an official statement. This statement followed a Reuters report, which cited the Wall Street Journal, claiming that a cockpit recording of dialogue between the two pilots of the Air India flight that crashed last month indicated that the captain turned off the switches that controlled fuel flowing to the plane's engines. As per Reuters, The Wall Street Journal report cited people familiar with US officials' early assessment of evidence uncovered in the investigation into the crash, which killed 260 people. The recording suggested that the first officer, who was flying the Boeing aircraft, opened the new tab 787 Dreamliner, and asked the other captain, who was more experienced, why he moved the switches to the "cutoff" position after it climbed off the runway, the report said. The first officer expressed surprise and then panicked, while the captain seemed to remain calm, Reuters reported, citing WSJ. India's Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), Boeing and Air India have not yet responded to the report. The two pilots involved were Captain Sumeet Sabharwal and First Officer Clive Kunder, who had a total flying experience of 15,638 hours and 3,403 hours, respectively. A preliminary report released last week by India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau depicted confusion in the cockpit shortly before the June 12 crash and raised fresh questions over the position of the critical engine fuel cutoff switches, the report said. The AI 171 crash of the Boeing Dreamliner 787-8 aircraft in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, killed 260 people, including 229 passengers, 12 crew members, and 19 people on the ground.

The Hindu
3 hours ago
- The Hindu
Air India crash probe focuses on actions of plane's captain: reports
A cockpit recording of dialogue between the two pilots of the Air India flight that crashed last month indicates the captain cut the flow of fuel to the plane's engines, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday (July 17, 2025). Also Read | Air India finds no issues with locking mechanism of fuel control switch in B787 planes: Official The newspaper cited people familiar with U.S. officials' early assessment of evidence uncovered in the investigation into the June 12 crash that killed 260 people. The First Officer, who was flying the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, asked the more experienced captain why he moved the fuel switches to the "cutoff" position seconds after lifting off the runway, the report said. The two pilots involved were Captain Sumeet Sabharwal and First Officer Clive Kunder, who had total flying experience of 15,638 hours and 3,403 hours, respectively. AAIB, Directorate General of Civil Aviation, Ministry of Civil Aviation, Air India and two unions representing Indian pilots did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment on the Wall Street Journal report. Boeing declined to comment. A preliminary report into the crash released by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) on Saturday said the fuel switches had switched from run to cutoff a second apart just after takeoff, but it did not say how they were flipped. Almost immediately after the plane lifted off the ground, closed-circuit TV footage showed a backup energy source called a ram air turbine had deployed, indicating a loss of power from the engines. One pilot was then heard on the cockpit voice recorder asking the other why he cut off the fuel. "The other pilot responded that he did not do so," the report said. Without fuel flowing to the engines, the London-bound plane began to lose thrust. After reaching a height of 650 feet, the plane began to sink. The fuel switches for both engines were turned back to run, and the airplane automatically tried restarting the engines, the report said. Also Read | Families of 47 victims of Air India 171 crash victims receive interim payout; lawyers warn against forgoing rights for full compensation But the plane was too low and too slow to be able to recover, aviation safety expert John Nance told Reuters. The plane clipped some trees and a chimney before crashing in a fireball into a building on a nearby medical college campus, the report said, killing 19 people on the ground and 241 of the 242 on board the 787. No safety recommendations In an internal memo on Monday (July 14, 2025), Air India CEO Campbell Wilson said the preliminary report found no mechanical or maintenance faults and that all required maintenance had been carried out. The AAIB's preliminary report had no safety recommendations for Boeing or engine manufacturer GE. After the report was released, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration and Boeing privately issued notifications that the fuel switch locks on Boeing planes are safe, a document seen by Reuters showed and four sources with knowledge of the matter said. The circumstantial evidence increasingly indicates that a crew member flipped the engine fuel switches, Mr. Nance said, given there was "no other rationale explanation" that was consistent with the information released to date. Nonetheless, investigators "still have to dig into all the factors" and rule out other possible contributing factors which would take time, he said. Most air crashes are caused by multiple factors, and under international rules, a final report is expected within a year of an accident. The Air India crash has rekindled debate over adding flight deck cameras, known as cockpit image recorders, on airliners. Mr. Nance said investigators likely would have benefited greatly from having video footage of the cockpit during the Air India flight. Air India has faced additional scrutiny on other fronts after the crash. The European Union Aviation Safety Agency said this month it plans to investigate its budget airline, Air India Express, after Reuters reported the carrier did not follow a directive to change engine parts of an Airbus A320 in a timely manner and falsified records to show compliance.