Air India victims' families slam ‘cover-up' probe as questions remain over possible engine switch confusion

Scottish Sun

3 days ago

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FAMILIES of the victims who tragically died in the Air India crash have slammed the preliminary report as a cover-up.
Mystery has deepened over the actual cause of the crash after an initial investigation found the plane's fuel switches were cut off, which led to a catastrophic loss of thrust during the initial take-off.
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Officials inspect the remains of the Air India passenger plane at the crash site near Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in Ahmedabad
Credit: EPA
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Indian firefighters and rescue personnel work on the site of an Air India plane
Credit: AP
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Rear end of the aircraft after it crashed into a medical hostel
Credit: Getty
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The plane seconds before disaster
Credit: X/nchorAnandN
Initial findings in the 15-page report released by the Indian Authorities indicate switches to the engines' fuel supplies were moved from the "RUN" position to "CUTOFF".
"The Engine N1 and N2 began to decrease from their take-off values as the fuel supply to the engines was cut off," the report said.
Analysis of the cockpit voice recording revealed that one of the pilots asked: 'Why did you cut off?"
To which the other pilot replied: 'I didn't."
Though the report does not identify which comments were made by the flight's captain and which were made by the first officer.
However, families of some of the 260 victims have slammed the report, saying "they dont accept it."
They have dubbed the report is "biased" and said it only appears to "blame the dead pilots".
Ameen Siddiqui, the brother-in-law of Akeel Nanabawa, died alongside his wife and their four-year-old daughter, told The Telegraph: "It's a cover-up to protect Air India and the government.
"They want to blame dead pilots who can't defend themselves.
"How can the fuel switches end up turning off at a critical moment, either through pilot error or a mechanical fault?"
Pilot of doomed India Air jet hailed a hero by locals who cheated death by a few feet
"And if these pilots were so careless, why did the government allow them to fly at all? Air India until recently was owned by the government."
Meanwhile, the cousin of sisters Dhir and Heer Baxi, who were flying home to London after surprising their grandmother for her birthday, said he was "not satisfied" by the report.
Ishan Baxi said: "We're still hoping for a more transparent and honest investigation that doesn't shy away from addressing possible mechanical flaws or lapses in protocol to avoid future potential accidents.
"I just hope the final report brings full clarity on what exactly failed and who's accountable. It shouldn't hide behind vague terms."
Civil aviation minister Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu told reporters that investigators probed in a "mature, transparent" way.
"This is a preliminary report. We want the final report to come in, so let us wait for it," he said.
Flipping the switches to cutoff almost immediately cuts the engines.
It is most often used to turn engines off once a plane has arrived at its airport gate and in certain emergency situations, such as an engine fire. The report does not indicate there was any emergency requiring an engine cutoff.
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A cockpit view of a Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft shows the fuel switch; Annotations by The Sun Graphics
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Captain Sumeet Sabharwal was the lead pilot
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Clive Kunder was the co-pilot on the doomed flight
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Debris at the site of a plane crash near Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport
Credit: EPA
But the inconclusive report, which came after 30 days of the crash, does not indicate that the flight encountered any such emergency situation.
It is almost impossible to turn the switches off accidentally - they must be pulled up and locked before flipping - a safety design feature that was introduced decades ago.
Protective guards are further installed to minimise the risks - raising further questions as to why the fuel switches in the Air India flight were turned off.
Sources say the black box analysis has so far been unable to rule out 'improper, inadvertent or intentional' action that caused them to be flipped.
Interestingly, the report points out that the US Federal Aviation Administration in 2018 issued a Special Airworthiness Information Bulletin (SAIB) - highlighting that a few Boeing 737 fuel control switches were installed with the locking feature disengaged.
But it was not deemed unsafe, and no Airworthiness Directive (AD) - a legally enforceable regulation to correct unsafe conditions in a product - was issued,
The same switch design is used in Boeing 787-8 aircraft, including Air India's VT-ANB Dreamliner in question.
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The report also found that pilots were able to restart one of the engines, but failed to stop the plane from decelerating.
The fuel switches then returned to the "RUN" position and the engines appeared to be gathering power, but "one of the pilots transmitted 'MAYDAY MAYDAY MAYDAY'", the report said.
Experts have said a pilot would not be able to accidentally move the fuel switches.
"If they were moved because of a pilot, why?" asked U.S. aviation safety expert Anthony Brickhouse.
No significant bird activity was observed in the vicinity of the plane's flight path, the report added.
Pilot Sumeet Sabharwal and co-pilot Clive Kunder had more than 14,000 hours of flying experience between them - including some 9,000 hours on the 787.
The Boeing 787 Dreamliner with 242 passengers on board - including 53 Brits - smashed into a doctors' hostel in Ahmedabad in the west of India.
The plane was headed to London Gatwick when it crashed just seconds after take-off, killing all but one passenger.
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Landing gear of the Air India plane crashed directly on the BJ Medical College UG hostel mess
Credit: x/mitrapredator
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Search and rescue teams respond to the scene of a plane crash in Ahmedabad, India
Credit: AP
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Vishwash Ramesh, the sole survivor of the Air India crash, poses for the first time since the disaster
Credit: Dan Charity