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An Air India flight bound for London, carrying 230 passengers and 12 crew members, crashed shortly after takeoff from Ahmedabad airport. Designated AI171, the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner took off at 1:38 PM IST and crashed near the Medani area just five minutes later. Massive plumes of black smoke were seen as fire engines and emergency teams rushed to the scene. The flight crew included Captain Sumit Sabharwal, an experienced pilot with over 8,200 flying hours, and Co-Pilot Clive Kunder with 1,100 hours. A 'MAYDAY' call was issued moments before communication was lost. The cause of the crash remains unknown and will only be confirmed after the black box is recovered and analyzed.
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Hindustan Times
29 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
Who is Sanjay Kumar Singh? Meet the top crash investigators probing Air India tragedy
A five-member team led by seasoned aircraft accident investigator Sanjay Kumar Singh has been appointed to investigate last month's fatal crash of the Air India plane in Gujarat's Ahmedabad, which claimed 260 lives. Forensic experts and DGCA officials searching for evidence at Air India Plane crash site in Ahmedabad on June 13. (HT File) The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) released its preliminary report on Friday evening. On June 12, an Air India Boeing 787-8 aircraft operating flight AI 171 to London Gatwick crashed shortly after takeoff from Ahmedabad, plummeting into a medical hostel complex. The crash killed 241 of the 242 people onboard and 19 on the ground. One passenger survived the tragedy. AAIB Director Sanjay Kumar Singh, 56, is serving as the Investigator-in-Charge, while Jasbir Singh Larhga is the chief investigator, as mentioned in the AAIB report. The probe team also includes three officials from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA): Deputy director Vipin Venu Varakoth, assistant director Veeraragavan K, and air safety officer Vaishnav Vijayakumar. Meet the investigation team Who is Sanjay Kumar Singh? Currently director at AAIB, Sanjay Kumar Singh brings 15 years of experience in aircraft accident investigation. He has overseen 15 major investigations and processed over 300 incident classifications, according to a PTI news agency report. With a background in Mechanical Engineering (Aeronautical Specialisation) and an MBA, Singh has over 25 years of operational and advisory experience in Air Force machinery assets, the report mentions. Jasbir Singh Larhga Jasbir Singh Larhga has been with AAIB for a decade and was involved in major air crash investigations, including the 2020 Air India Express Kozhikode crash, the 2016 Jet Airways skidding incident in Goa, and a 2019 taxiway mishap in Mangalore, the report said. A former DGCA official described him as 'an efficient and hardworking person.' Vipin Venu Varakoth Based in Mumbai, Vipin Venu Varakoth is an assistant director of air safety at DGCA with over 14 years of experience. His past roles include air safety officer. Veeraragavan K Currently assistant director of air safety at DGCA in Maharashtra's Mumbai, Veeraragavan K previously served in Delhi for nine years. Veeraragavan K also worked as an analysis engineer with Tata Consultancy Services in Chennai. Vaishnav Vijayakumar An air safety officer with DGCA, Vaishnav Vijayakumar has been part of several aircraft accident and incident investigations. The preliminary investigation report into the deadly Air India crash was released late Friday night, revealing details of the final moments of the ill-fated AI171 flight. The report by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) said that both engines on the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner lost thrust shortly after takeoff from Ahmedabad on June 12 — because the aircraft's fuel control switches had been turned off. The report also included a tense exchange between pilots extracted from the cockpit voice recordings recovered from the black box. In the first few, which were also the final, seconds of the flight one pilot asked the other, 'Why did you cut off the fuel?' The response came, 'I did not do so,' according to the AAIB report. The report based its finding on the data recovered from the Air India Boeing 787-7 plane's black boxes — combined cockpit voice recorders and flight data recorders.
Time of India
an hour ago
- Time of India
AI 171 Report Crashlands
AI 171 Report Crashlands Amit Singh Jul 13, 2025, 20:26 IST IST Inquiry is disservice to airlines flying Dreamliners. It's also slanted so that attention focuses not on possible technical problems but, minus any real evidence, on pilots On June 12, an Air India Boeing 787 took off from Ahmedabad and crashed moments later, killing all but one of its occupants. Exactly a month later, the official preliminary report was released. While it provides a basic sequence of events, it fails to answer the most critical question: When did the engines stop producing thrust? This isn't a technical debate. It's the key to understanding what went wrong, and who or what was responsible. Instead of offering clarity, the report quietly steers readers toward the idea of pilot error, without saying it outright. This subtle shift leaves many, especially those unfamiliar with aviation systems, assuming the pilots made a mistake. That assumption is both dangerous and unfounded.
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Business Standard
2 hours ago
- Business Standard
Air India plane crash: Understanding the role of fuel control switches
The Air India AI171 crash highlights the critical role of fuel control switches, which caused a dual-engine failure just after takeoff, leading to the tragic loss of 260 lives Deepak Patel New Delhi What Are Fuel Control Switches? Fuel control switches on the Boeing 787 are critical cockpit levers that control whether fuel flows to the aircraft's engines. Each engine has its own switch, located at the base of the throttle levers on the central control pedestal. These switches can be set to two positions: RUN, which allows fuel to flow to the engine, and CUTOFF, which stops fuel supply and shuts down the engine. To prevent accidental activation, the switches are spring-loaded and require a two-step action: the pilot must pull the switch outward and then rotate it. This deliberate motion ensures that the switches cannot be bumped or moved unintentionally. Pilots typically operate the fuel control switches during two key phases: at engine start-up on the ground and during engine shutdown after landing. Outside of these routine phases, the switches are used only in very specific in-flight emergency situations—such as an engine fire, severe engine damage, or other serious malfunctions—when the crew needs to quickly cut off fuel to prevent further hazard. According to the preliminary crash report made public by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) on Saturday, both fuel control switches on Air India flight AI171 moved from the RUN to the CUTOFF position three seconds after the aircraft became airborne from Ahmedabad on 12 June. This simultaneous transition led to the immediate loss of thrust in both engines. With no engine power and little altitude, the aircraft was unable to maintain lift and crashed within seconds into the BJ Medical College hostel compound, resulting in 260 fatalities. The report does not clarify whether the switches were physically moved by a pilot or changed state due to a mechanical or electrical issue. Regardless of the cause, the result was an uncommanded and complete engine failure at the most critical phase of flight—right after takeoff—when altitude and time were limited. What Pilots Are Trained to Do — and Why Time Ran Out In the event of an engine shutdown, pilots are trained to refer to the Quick Reference Handbook (QRH), a manual kept in the cockpit that outlines step-by-step procedures for handling emergencies. For dual engine failure, the QRH instructs the crew to stabilise the aircraft's glide path, confirm the failure, and attempt an engine restart. This includes checking switch positions, verifying fuel flow, and initiating relight procedures using both airspeed and electrical power. On the Boeing 787, the relight process also depends on minimum altitude and airspeed thresholds being met. In the case of AI171, the dual-engine power loss occurred just after takeoff—at extremely low altitude and within seconds of becoming airborne. According to the preliminary report, the pilots did attempt to restart the engines and were able to relight the left engine. However, by that time, the aircraft had already lost critical speed and altitude, leaving little margin for recovery. The plane did not gain enough thrust to climb or stabilise, and crashed into the BJ Medical College hostel compound seconds later. Although the crew followed emergency protocols under extreme time pressure, the conditions left no meaningful window to complete the full QRH checklist or regain control of the flight.
