logo
Should commercial airliners be equipped with cockpit video cameras in aftermath of deadly Air India crash?

Should commercial airliners be equipped with cockpit video cameras in aftermath of deadly Air India crash?

Independent7 days ago
The crash of Air India Flight 171 in Ahmedabad last month, which killed 241 of the 242 people on board and 19 on the ground, has reignited a long-standing debate in aviation circles: should commercial airliners be equipped with cockpit video cameras?
With questions swirling over whether one of the pilots cut off the fuel supply seconds after takeoff, some safety experts argue that video footage could have helped investigators reconstruct the final moments more definitively.
An initial analysis of the cockpit voice recorder recovered from the Air India flight that crashed last month seems to suggest that the younger co-pilot asked the captain why he had turned off the plane's fuel-supply switches, according to a US media report.
First officer Clive Kunder had the controls of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner for take-off and at the time of the crash moments later outside Ahmedabad airport, according to a new report from the Wall Street Journal citing sources in the investigation, and it was he who asked flight captain Sumeet Sabharwal why he had flipped the switches, starving the engines of fuel. The captain, according to the voice recorder, responded by saying that he did not.
It represents a potentially important new detail, emerging several days after a preliminary official report in the crash revealed only that the brief interaction had taken place, without naming who said what or quoting them directly.
Willie Walsh, head of the International Air Transport Association and a former pilot himself, said this week there is now a strong case for cockpit video cameras to be installed to complement existing flight data and voice recorders.
Aviation experts have said a preliminary report from India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) raised questions over whether one of the pilots of Air India flight 171 cut off fuel to the Boeing 787's engines seconds after takeoff, leading to an irrecoverable situation.
As of now, 'based on what little we know now, it's quite possible that a video recording, in addition to the voice recording, would significantly assist the investigators in conducting that investigation on the issue of mental health,' Walsh said.
Advocates for cockpit video cameras say the footage could fill in gaps left by the audio and data recorders, while opponents say concerns about privacy and misuse outweigh what they argue are marginal benefits for investigations.
Video footage was 'invaluable' to Australian crash investigators determining what led to the Robinson R66 helicopter breaking up in mid-air in 2023, killing the pilot, the only person aboard, according to the Australian Transport Safety Bureau 's final report, which was released 18 days after the Air India crash.
The video showed 'the pilot was occupied with non-flying related tasks for much of this time, specifically, mobile phone use and the consumption of food and beverages,' the report said.
The ATSB commended Robinson Helicopters for providing factory-installed cameras and said it encouraged other manufacturers and owners to consider the ongoing safety benefits of similar devices.
In 2000, US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Chairman Jim Hall urged the Federal Aviation Administration to require commercial airliners to be equipped with cockpit image recorders.
Hall's recommendation came in the wake of 1999's Egyptair Flight 990 crash, when the first officer intentionally crashed the Boeing 767, according to the NTSB, killing all 217 people on board.
'In the balance between privacy and safety, the scale tips toward safety, unequivocally,' air safety expert and former commercial airline pilot John Nance said. 'Protecting the flying public is a sacred obligation.'
Another aviation safety expert, Anthony Brickhouse, said that as an accident investigator, he is in favour of cockpit video, but acknowledged that commercial pilots have real concerns.
Video on Air India flight 171 'would have answered lots of questions', he said.
Air India declined to comment. India's AAIB, which is expected to release a final report within a year of the crash under international rules, did not reply to a request for comment.
Pilot objections:
US pilots' unions such as the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) and Allied Pilots Association (APA) say the voice and data recorders already provide enough information to determine the cause of a crash and that the cameras would be an invasion of privacy and could be misused.
Calls for cockpit cameras are an understandable reaction to 'the stress of not knowing what happened immediately after an accident,' said APA spokesperson Dennis Tajer, an American Airlines pilot.
'I can understand the initial reaction of the more information, the better,' but investigators already have enough data to adequately determine an accident's cause, leaving no need for cameras, he said.
To make flying safer, current safety systems should be enhanced to record higher-quality data, rather than adding video cameras, an ALPA spokesperson said.
There are also concerns that the footage could be used by airlines for disciplinary actions or that the video could be leaked to the public after a crash, said John Cox, an aviation safety expert, retired airline pilot and former ALPA executive air safety chairman.
A pilot's death being broadcast on 'the 6 o'clock news is not something that the pilot's family should ever have to go through', he said.
If confidentiality can be assured around the world, 'I can see an argument' for installing cameras, Cox said.
Cockpit voice recordings are typically kept confidential by investigators in favour of partial or full transcripts being released in final reports.
Despite that, the International Federation of Air Line Pilots Associations said it was sceptical that confidentiality could ever be assured for cockpit videos.
'Given the high demand for sensational pictures, IFALPA has absolutely no doubt that the protection of (airborne image recorder) data, which can include identifiable images of flight crewmembers, would not be ensured either,' the organisation said in a statement.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Wetin cause tension between Thailand and Cambodia
Wetin cause tension between Thailand and Cambodia

BBC News

time15 hours ago

  • BBC News

Wetin cause tension between Thailand and Cambodia

Clash between Thailand and Commbodia military for one border wey di two kontris dey drag, don kill at least 12 pipo, Thai authority tok. Dis fight don carry di border argument, wey don dey occur for more dan 100 years between di two South Asia neighbours enta anoda level. Most of di people wey die na civilians from three of Thailand provinces according to Thai army. Di army also report say many oda pipo wunjure. But Cambodia neva tok weda dem to get casualties. On Thursday, di two sides exchange gunfire wit each side claiming say na di oda first find trouble. Di gbas gbos quickly enta anoda level as Thailand accuse Cambodia say e fire rockets, and diafore, dem fire air strikes on Cambodia military targets. Now Thailand don close dia border wit Cambodia, while Cambodia reduce dia relationship wit Thailand, wey e accuse say dem use "excess force." Di two don ask dia kontri pipo wey dey live near di border make dem pack comot. Thailand evacuate 40,000 pipo comot go safe place. "E serious no be small. We dey middle of evacuation," Sutian Phiwchan, on area pesin for di Ban Dan district for Thailand Buriram province near Cambodia border, tell BBC. Thai authorities say na 11 civilians, including one pikin wey dey eight years and anoda one wey dey 15 year, plus one military pesin. Cambodia and Thailand dey tok dia own version of wetin happun. Thailand claim say Cambodia military na dem first send drone to spy dia troop for border. Cambodia for dia own tok say Thai sojas cause fight wen dem break one agreement wen dem carry dem sef go near Khmer-Hindu temple wey dey near di border. Wetin dey cause fight? Dis gbas gbos between Cambodia and Thailand begin more dan one hundred years, wen French colonial masters divide di border for di two kontris. Tins officially enta anoda level of kasala for 2008, wen Cambodia try to register one 11 century temple wey dey for di area wey dem dey drag land, as World Heritage Site. Dis move cause serious protest for Thailand. Di two side don dey clash for years and soldiers and civilians don die for both sides. Dis lates tension begin gada momentum for May afta dem kill one Cambodia soldier for one clash. For di past two months, di two kontris impose border restriction on di oda. Cambodia stop to import tins like fruits and vegetables, plus stop importing electricity and internet service. Both kontris don also increase di number of soldiers wey dem get for di border. Thailand acting premier Phumtham Wechayachai say di kasala wey dem get wit Cambodia dey "delicate", and dem must to address am wit care and according to international law. Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet im kontri want make dem solve dis mata peacefully - but add say im "no get choice" but to "respond wit armed force against armed aggression". Serious exchange of fire between di two kontris bin reduce sharply. But while e dey be like say di current fight fight fit no blow up turn to fill war, di two side currently lack leaders wey get enough strength and confidence to pull back from dis confrontation.

Six university students drown in China mine accident
Six university students drown in China mine accident

Reuters

time17 hours ago

  • Reuters

Six university students drown in China mine accident

BEIJING, July 24 (Reuters) - Six university students drowned on Wednesday while on a field visit to a copper molybdenum mine in northern China owned by Shanghai-listed Zhongjin Gold Corp ( opens new tab , according to a stock exchange filing on Thursday. The students from Northeastern University in Shenyang fell into a flotation cell - a piece of mining equipment that uses a liquid solution to extract copper from crushed ore - after protective grates collapsed. A teacher was also hurt in the accident at the mine located in China's Inner Mongolia region, according to the filing from Zhongjin Gold, a subsidiary of state-owned China National Gold Group Co. The company said it activated an emergency plan and reported the incident to the relevant departments of the local government. The operator of the mine, a subsidiary of Zhongjin Gold, halted production, the company said in another stock exchange filing later on Thursday. Shares of Zhongjin Gold closed down 4.4% on Thursday. Such field visits have been organised for years and the incident was unexpected, said a teacher from Northeastern University, according to a social media account belonging to Henan Radio and Television. The university sent staff to the site to manage the incident, the teacher said.

Trafigura letter to Prateek Gupta's company warned about nickel cargoes, court document says
Trafigura letter to Prateek Gupta's company warned about nickel cargoes, court document says

Reuters

time18 hours ago

  • Reuters

Trafigura letter to Prateek Gupta's company warned about nickel cargoes, court document says

LONDON, July 24 (Reuters) - A letter sent by Trafigura to Prateek Gupta's company warning it not to raise suspicions at financing bank Citi about nickel cargoes provides evidence that the commodity trader was aware of fraud, Gupta alleged in a court document. This is the latest twist in a long-running case in which Geneva-based Trafigura filed a lawsuit against Indian businessman Gupta in February 2023, alleging it had been the victim of a $600-million fraud involving nickel cargoes. Gupta has previously said in his defence that Trafigura staff devised the scheme at the centre of the case. The new letter appeared in an amended defence document, filed last week and released by the court, in which Gupta's lawyers sought to add weight to his case. Trafigura, a major industrial metals and oil trader, has consistently denied that its employees knew about the alleged fraud in which low-value materials such as scrap were substituted for high-grade nickel. Trafigura declined to comment on Thursday. Geneva-based Trafigura booked an impairment charge in 2023 of $590 million for losses it suffered in connection with the case, which is due to go to trial in November. Citi (C.N), opens new tab provided as much as $850 million for a complex "transit financing" operation in which cargoes of nickel would be purchased from Gupta by Trafigura, repurchased by Citi and eventually resold to Gupta's firms, the document says. The new defence document alleges that Trafigura's and Gupta's staff worked together to lengthen voyage times to extend the period of credit offered by Citi and lessen the possibility of inspections at port warehouses that would reveal the cargoes true contents. Citi declined to comment. The letter, dated January 2022, cited in the defence document, from a Trafigura employee based in Mumbai to a Gupta employee, allegedly warned that banks would not find it logical to see a transit time of 95 days for a voyage from Taiwan to mainland China that would usually take a couple of days. "Luckily Citi accepted this one, with little suspicion, but we might not get as lucky in the future," the letter said. In December 2023, Gupta failed in his attempt to get a London court to lift a global freezing order on his personal and business assets. Gupta's lawyers alleged Trafigura did not disclose important information, an argument a judge rejected. Currently, the two sides are going through a disclosure process for further documents and witness statements ahead of trial.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store