Air India crash: Too early to draw conclusions on pilots' role from initial report, says former AAIB chief
A day after the
Aircraft Accident Investigation
Bureau (AAIB) released its preliminary report into the crash that killed 260 people, he said, "We should allow AAIB to complete the investigation in a fair, unbiased and transparent manner."
Handa has investigated more than 100 aircraft accidents, including the Air India Express plane crash in Kozhikode in 2020.
"AAIB has done a good job. Going forward, they will now focus to find out as to why and how these fuel switches moved and whether there could have been any mechanical and/or electrical failures/malfunction," he told PTI.
The report, released on Saturday, said the fuel switches of the crashed Boeing 787-8 plane's engines were cut off within a gap of one second, and later switched on.
Live Events
From the cockpit voice recording, one of the pilots is heard asking the other why he did cut off the switch and the other pilot saying he did not do so.
The report did not mention which pilot asked the question and which pilot responded.
The co-pilot was Pilot Flying (PF), and the Pilot In Command (PIC) was Pilot Monitoring (PM) for the flight.
"It will be too premature to draw any conclusions, including the role of one of the pilots from the AAIB's preliminary investigation report on Air India flight 171... we should allow AAIB to complete the investigation in a fair, unbiased and transparent manner," Handa said.
The Pilot In Command (PIC) was 56-year-old Captain Sumeet Sabharwal and the First Officer was 32-year-old Clive Kundar. Sabharwal's flying experience with 787 was more than 8,596 hours, including 8,260 hours as PIC, while Kundar's flying experience with this type of aircraft was 1,128 hours.
Kundar was pilot flying while Sabharwal was pilot monitoring for the AI 171 flight operated with the nearly 12-year-old Boeing 787-8 aircraft.
According to the preliminary report, both pilots had adequate rest period prior to operating the flight.
"In some quarters, especially in foreign media, there are endeavours to indicate that one of the pilots could have been at fault. Yet again, I would like to request our veteran aviators to refrain from any sort of speculation," Handa said.
The AI 171, operated with a nearly 12-year-old Boeing 787-8 aircraft, flying from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick crashed into a building soon after takeoff and 260 people died. Out of the 242 people onboard the plane, only one survived.
On Saturday, Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu said one should not jump into any conclusions on the role of pilots in the Air India plane crash and there are multiple things that need to be looked into before preparing the final investigation report.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Print
30 minutes ago
- The Print
‘No mechanical, maintenance issues with aircraft'—Air India CEO tells employees post prelim crash probe
'The Preliminary Report identified no cause nor made any recommendations, so I urge everyone to avoid drawing premature conclusions as the investigation is far from over. We will continue to co-operate with the investigators to ensure they have everything they need to conduct a thorough and comprehensive enquiry,' he said, warning that there would be sensationalism till the final report is out. 'Instead of focusing on interpretations, I suggest we note that the Preliminary Report found no mechanical or maintenance issues with the aircraft or engines, and that all mandatory maintenance tasks had been completed. There was no issue with the quality of fuel and no abnormality with the take-off roll. The pilots had passed their mandatory pre-flight breathalyser and there were no observations pertaining to their medical status,' the letter said. New Delhi: No 'mechanical or maintenance issues with the aircraft or engines', is what Air India CEO Campbell Wilson Monday told AI employees in an internal letter on the initial investigation into the 12 June crash. The Air India-171 flight, a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner was set to fly from Ahmedabad to London's Gatwick, but crashed within a minute of the scheduled take off time. The deadly crash left at least 275 people dead, including 241 out of the 242 on the plane, and others on the ground. The aircraft crashed into the BJ Medical College hostel mess building. On the intervening night of Friday and Saturday, the AAIB released its preliminary report on the crash noting that the fuel switches transitioned to 'cut-off' 1 second apart for both engines. The report notes that the fuel switches were also then moved to 'run'; while one engine ignited, the other failed. The report has ignited massive criticism from aviation experts, with many saying the pilots were being made scapegoats. Meanwhile, Campbell Monday also said, 'The release of the Preliminary Report marked the point at which we, along with the world, began receiving additional details about what took place. Unsurprisingly, it provided both greater clarity and opened additional questions. It also triggered a new round of speculation in the media. Indeed, over the past 30 days, we've seen an ongoing cycle of theories, allegations, rumours and sensational headlines, many of which have later been disproven.' 'I would also remind that, out of an abundance of caution and under the oversight of the DGCA, every Boeing 787 aircraft operating in our fleet was checked within days of the accident and all were found fit for service. We continue to perform all necessary checks, as we will any new ones that authorities may suggest,' the letter added. (Edited by Viny Mishra) Also read: Air India crash should push India to create independent board for transport safety oversight
Mint
an hour ago
- Mint
Air India crash investigation ‘far from over', says CEO Campbell Wilson on AAIB report: ‘No issue with fuel quality…'
Air India CEO and MD Campbell Wilson on Monday stated that the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau's (AAIB) preliminary report on last month's fatal crash in Ahmedabad found no mechanical or maintenance faults with the aircraft or its engines. Amid speculations in various quarters about the reasons for the fatal crash that killed 260 people on June 12, the Air India chief said the preliminary report identified no cause nor made any recommendations and urged everyone to avoid drawing premature conclusions as the investigation is 'far from over'. In a message to Air India staff, Wilson on Monday said the preliminary report found no mechanical or maintenance issues with the aircraft or engines, and that all mandatory maintenance tasks had been completed, PTI reported. "There was no issue with the quality of fuel and no abnormality with the takeoff roll. The pilots had passed their mandatory pre-flight breathalyser and there were no observations pertaining to their medical status," he said. Further, Wilson said out of an abundance of caution and under the oversight of regulator DGCA, every Boeing 787 aircraft operating in our fleet was checked within days of the accident and all were found fit for service. 'We continue to perform all necessary checks, as we will any new ones that authorities may suggest,' he added. The airline, he said, will continue to co-operate with the investigators to ensure they have everything they need to conduct a thorough and comprehensive enquiry. 'The release of the preliminary report marked the point at which we, along with the world, began receiving additional details about what took place. Unsurprisingly, it provided both greater clarity and opened additional questions,' Wilson said. Over the past 30 days, he said there has been an ongoing cycle of theories, allegations, rumours and sensational headlines, many of which have later been disproven. 'Until a final report or cause is tabled, there will no doubt be new rounds of speculation and more sensational headlines... Let us not be diverted from what are our top priorities: standing by the bereaved and those injured, working together as a team, and delivering a safe and reliable air travel experience to our customers around the world,' Wilson said. He also stressed that the airline must remain focused on its task and be true to the values of integrity, excellence, customer focus, innovation, and teamwork. The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) on Saturday released its preliminary report on the crash of Air India's Boeing 787-8 plane that killed 260 people, including 241 people onboard. The aircraft, which was operating the flight AI171 from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick, crashed into a building soon after takeoff. The AAIB report said the fuel supply to both engines of flight AI171 was cut off within a second of each other, causing confusion in the cockpit and the airplane plummeting back to the ground almost immediately after taking off. The 15-page report also said that in the cockpit voice recording, one unidentified pilot asked the other why he had cut off the fuel, which the other denied.
Hindustan Times
an hour ago
- Hindustan Times
'No mechanical, maintenance issues': Air India CEO Campbell Wilson reacts to AAIB preliminary report on crash
Air India chief executive officer (CEO) Campbell Wison on Monday said that the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau's (AAIB) initial report identified no cause nor made any recommendations and urged everyone to avoid drawing premature conclusions. Campbell Wilson, chief executive officer of Air India said that the AAIB's Preliminary Report found no mechanical or maintenance issues with the aircraft or engines.(Bloomberg) In a letter addressed to its employees, he defined the crash as 'a period in which not a moment has gone by without thinking of the passengers, friends, colleagues and wider community who were lost or injured.' 'The release of the Preliminary Report marked the point at which we, along with the world, began receiving additional details about what took place. Unsurprisingly, it provided both greater clarity and opened additional questions,' Wilson's mail, seen by HT, read. The CEO said that the report 'also triggered a new round of speculation in the media.' 'Instead of focusing on such interpretations, I suggest we note that the Preliminary Report found no mechanical or maintenance issues with the aircraft or engines, and that all mandatory maintenance tasks had been completed. There was no issue with the quality of fuel and no abnormality with the take-off roll. The pilots had passed their mandatory pre-flight breathalyser and there were no observations pertaining to their medical status,' Wilson stated. He said that 'out of abundance caution' every Boeing 787 aircraft operating in Air India's fleet was checked within days of the accident and all were found fit for service. 'We continue to perform all necessary checks, as we will any new ones that authorities may suggest,' the airline chief stated. Noting that the preliminary report identified no cause nor made any recommendations, Wilson said, 'I urge everyone to avoid drawing premature conclusions as the investigation is far from over. We will continue to cooperate with the investigators to ensure they have everything they need to conduct a thorough and comprehensive enquiry.' 'Until a final report or cause is tabled there will no doubt be new rounds of speculation and more sensational headlines. We must nevertheless remain focused on our task and be true to the values that have powered Air India's transformation journey over the past three years – integrity, excellence, customer focus, innovation and teamwork. Let us not be diverted from what are our top priorities: standing by the bereaved and those injured, working together as a team, and delivering a safe and reliable air travel experience to our customers around the world,' his email concluded.
