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First Post
12 hours ago
- First Post
Why the last conversation of Air India pilots deepens crash mystery
The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) of India has released its findings on the Air India plane crash, bringing fresh focus to engine fuel cutoff switches. The cockpit voice recorder also raises confusion. One pilot asked, 'Why did you cut off fuel?' while the other denied doing it. So, what could have gone wrong? The question remains unanswered read more The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) of India has released its findings on the June 12 crash. PTI/File Photo The preliminary report on the Air India Flight 171 crash, which killed 260 people in June, has been made public. The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) of India has released its findings on the June 12 crash, raising new concerns about the placement of the engine fuel cutoff switches. ALSO READ | Inside the cockpit during final 98 seconds of doomed Air India flight According to the report, fuel control switches on the Boeing 787's engines were briefly turned off just moments after takeoff, which stopped the fuel flow. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The cockpit voice recorder also added to the confusion in the investigation. So, how does the cockpit voice recording add to the unanswered questions surrounding the Air India crash? Let's take a look: How cockpit audio adds to the mystery of plane crash Seconds after take-off, both fuel-control switches on the Boeing 787 Dreamliner suddenly shifted to the 'cut-off' setting. This action cut off fuel to the engines and led to a complete loss of power. Normally, the switches are moved to 'cut-off' only after a plane has landed. Thrust Lever Quadrant & Fuel Control Switch of the doomed Air India plane The cockpit voice recorder picked up one pilot asking the other why he 'did the cut-off', while the other denied doing so. The report does not say whether it was the captain or the first officer who spoke, or which of them made the 'Mayday, Mayday, Mayday' distress call before the crash. At the time, the co-pilot was flying the aircraft, and the captain was monitoring. The switches were later moved back to their correct position for flight, which started the automatic engine relight system. When the aircraft hit the ground, one engine had started to regain thrust while the other had restarted but had not yet recovered full power. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The switches are designed to prevent unintentional use. They need to be lifted before being flipped, a safety design used since the 1950s, BBC reported. They are built to strict standards and are known for being very reliable. A Canada-based air crash expert told BBC, 'It would be almost impossible to pull both switches with a single movement of one hand, and this makes accidental deployment unlikely.' Some experts told Reuters that it is unlikely the switches could have been moved by mistake. 'If they were moved because of a pilot, why?' asked Anthony Brickhouse, a US aviation safety expert. The AAIB report said that the switches were flipped a second apart. US aviation expert John Nance told Reuters that's about how long it would take to move one switch, then the other. He added that switching them off mid-flight is highly unusual, especially just after take-off. Doing so causes the engines to shut down almost immediately. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD In normal operations, the switches are used to shut off engines at the airport gate or during certain emergencies, such as a fire. The report found no sign of any such emergency on board. At the crash site, both switches were found in the 'run' position, and evidence showed the engines had begun to restart before the low-altitude crash, the report said. It added that all maintenance directives and technical bulletins had been followed for the aircraft and its engines. As the Dreamliner lost height, it hit several trees and an incinerator chimney before crashing into a building. The accident killed at least 260 people, including 19 people on the ground. PTI/File Photo Meanwhile, Union Civil Aviation Minister Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu has urged people not to jump to conclusions based on the report. He said, 'The AAIB has brought out a preliminary report. This is not the final report. Until the final report comes out, we should not arrive at any conclusion. AAIB is an autonomous authority, and the ministry does not interfere in their work.' STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD '…It is not ideal to comment on its report just yet, as the investigation into the crash is ongoing. The black box is still being probed,' he added. 'Presumes guilt': What Pilots association said on the crash report Soon after the release of the preliminary findings, the Airline Pilots' Association of India (ALPA) said on Saturday that the investigation appeared to be proceeding with the assumption that the pilots were at fault. ALPA chief Sam Thomas said in a statement on Saturday, July 12, 'The tone and direction of the investigation suggest a bias toward pilot error. We categorically reject this presumption and insist on a fair, fact-based inquiry.' The association also pointed out that 'suitably qualified personnel are not taken on board for these crucial investigations,' Hindustan Times reported. The association reiterated its request to be allowed to take part in the investigation 'even in the capacity of observers so as to provide the requisite transparency.' The Air India crash report The initial report has found that fuel to both engines of Air India flight AI171 was cut off nearly at the same time, causing the aircraft to crash shortly after take-off. The 15-page report said that in the cockpit voice recording, one pilot asked the other why the fuel had been cut. The second pilot denied doing so. Investigators are now working to determine whether this was caused by human error, a technical fault, or some other malfunction. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD With inputs from agencies
Hindustan Times
14 hours ago
- Hindustan Times
Air India crash: Fuel switches abruptly moving to 'cut-off' may have triggered calamity, reveals AAIB preliminary report
A month since India's worst aviation accident in decades, answers of a vague nature have finally began trickling in to explain Air India flight 171's crash on June 12 this year. The London-bound Boeing 787 Dreamliner was airborne for less than 40 seconds after taking off from Ahmedabad's Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport, before it nosedived into the hostel block of the city's B. J. Medical College. The catastrophe saw only 1 survivor, Vishwas Kumar Ramesh, with the remaining 229 passengers on board, 12 crew members perishing. The on-ground casualties for the crash was estimated to be 19, bringing the total death toll to 260. AAIB preliminary report finds fuel being 'cut-off' to Air India flight 171, seconds before crash In the early hours of July 12, the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau released its 15-page preliminary report, which reveals the trigger behind the crash to be quite ominous and inexplicable. As per cockpit voice recordings retrieved, one pilot realised that the fuel switches, set to 'run' when a plane takes off and is airborne, had been switched to 'cut-off'. This prompted him to ask the other pilot, "Why did you cut off?", to which the latter replied, "I did not do so". For clarity, the fuel switches of a plane are set to 'cut-off' following the plane's landing and at no point in-between. Aviation expert John Cox has weighed in on the situation via Reuters, clarifying that a pilot could not accidentally move the fuel switches. The seemingly foolproof mechanism is actually much more nuanced. A BBC report outlines that the fuel switches are actually safeguarded with a lever-lock mechanism, specifically designed to prevent accidental activation. Speaking to them, a Canada-based air accidents investigator further affirmed, "It would be almost impossible to pull both switches with a single movement of one hand, and this makes accidental deployment unlikely". Following the crash, Boeing, owing to its growing history of faulty aircraft, came under severe backlash. Their official statement on the matter so far reads, "We will defer to the AAIB to provide information about AI171, in adherence with the United Nations International Civil Aviation Organization protocol known as Annex 13".
Indian Express
16 hours ago
- Indian Express
Was pilot action to blame for Air India Ahmedabad crash? Here's what we know so far
The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau's (AAIB's) preliminary report into the Air India flight AI 171 crash in Ahmedabad on June 12 all but points to pilot action as having caused India's worst aviation disaster in four decades. The report says that the ill-fated Boeing 787-8's fuel control switches transitioned from 'RUN' to 'CUTOFF' position moments after lift-off, causing the aircraft to lose thrust during the critical phase of the flight. Experts suggest that it is next to impossible for these switches to have moved on their own or by accident. Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation and Cooperation Murlidhar Mohol has said that the report is not yet final, and the information is 'still under the purview of investigation'. Here's a breakdown of what might have happened, and how. Both engines 'failed' Experts have long believed that the crash was caused due to both engines 'failing' during the critical take-off phase. This conclusion is borne out of three key facts. Behind double-engine 'failure' The question then is what led to both engines losing power at the same time. Modern aircraft engines are extremely reliable, meaning a double-engine failure is not just rare but also very difficult to explain. An inexplicable action As such, these switches are put in the 'cutoff' position only while the aircraft is on the ground, or in emergency situations such as an engine fire while at a high altitude. There is no official protocol for this action during takeoff, even in case of an engine fire. The aircraft must be at a pre-determined safe altitude before such an action is taken. Moreover, it is next to impossible to accidentally move the switches to the cutoff position. Not only are there brackets — basically, raised surfaces — to prevent accident handling, since the 1950s, fuel control switches have come with a standard stop-lock mechanism: they must be pulled up to unlock before being flipped. 'It would be almost impossible to pull both switches with a single movement of one hand, and this makes accidental deployment unlikely,' a Canada-based air accidents investigator told the BBC. There also seems to have been some confusion about these switches being flipped in the cockpit. The preliminary report states: 'In the cockpit voice recording, one of the pilots is heard asking the other why did he cutoff. The other pilot responded that he did not do so.' Note that both fuel control switches were found in the 'run' position in the wreckage, and the AAIB report indicates both engines were relit in-flight but could not help the aircraft recover at a low altitude. More questions than answers The preliminary report provides seemingly definitive answers for the 'what' and 'how' questions around the crash that killed 260 people (241 on board and 19 on the ground). But it does not answer the 'why' of the question: why would a pilot cut fuel off to both engines, especially at such a low altitude? Both pilots were experienced operators, with a flying experience of more than 9,500 hours on the specific aircraft. They also passed breathalyzer tests in the morning, and were deemed fit to fly. Peter Goelz, a former managing director of the US's NTSB, told the BBC: 'The finding is very disturbing — that a pilot has shut off the fuel switch within seconds of flying.' According to him, 'There's likely much more on the cockpit voice recorder than what's been shared. A lone remark like 'why did you cut off the switches' isn't enough.' The transcript of the conversation has not been released yet. The preliminary AAIB report states that the United States' Federal Aviation Authority in 2018 had flagged the potential issue with the 'disengagement of the fuel control switch locking feature' in Boeing-737s, adding that this 'was not considered an unsafe condition'. As such, experts say that this is unlikely to have been a major problem. The AAIB report says that the throttle control module, which contained the fuel switches, were replaced in 2019 and 2023. Which once again brings the spotlight on pilot action. Some have speculated that the aircraft might have lost one engine, which the pilots misidentified, and ended up shutting the wrong engine. Even if this were to be the case, however, it would not explain pilots not following the standard, methodical procedure for cutting an engine off.
