Ahmedabad plane crash: UK air investigators 'reviewing' preliminary safety report
The report by the Indian Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) is based on the initial findings of their probe into the crash, whcih claimed the lives of all but one of the 242 passengers and crew. The UK AAIB is also part of the investigatory process as it involved the death of 52 British nationals on board.
"The UK AAIB welcomes the publication of this preliminary report, which is a summary of factual information uncovered so far by the AAIB India investigation," UK AAIB said in a statement.
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"The UK AAIB are in process of reviewing this preliminary report in detail and remains in communication with AAIB India. The UK AAIB has 'expert' status in the Indian safety investigation. In accordance with international protocols, release of information on the investigation rests solely with the Indian authorities," it said.
A 15-page preliminary investigation report into the disaster revealed fuel-control switches of the two engines moved from the "run" to the "cutoff" position, within the space of one second, leading to immediate loss of altitude. In the cockpit voice recording, one pilot is heard asking the other why he cut off the fuel. The other denied having done so.
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The UK-based families who lost loved ones in the June 12 crash have called for a mechanism of expert representation in the investigatory process. Keystone Law, which is advising over 20 of these families, welcomed the more "defined area of investigation" around the fuel control switches but stressed that "antiquated laws" excluded those impacted from participating.
"The families now understand there is a more defined area of investigation, but one of their bigger concerns is that they are excluded from this safety investigation," said James Healy-Pratt, Aviation Partner at Keystone.
"Ideally, there should be some mechanism for which there can be expert representation for those families that can feed into the combined safety work that's going on. And don't forget, it's an international product. It's not only the Indian AAIB, the British AAIB have been helping, as have the Americans. So ideally, the families should have some form of input into that," he said.
Earlier this month, the firm was formally retained by the victims' families to work with Air India's lawyers and insurers through the claims process in London, described as "constructive ongoing discussions" by Healy-Pratt.
He highlighted that the families also want to get access to the information about the history of the fuel controls and problems that were made known about them, as per the AAIB preliminary report. They fear a "potentially inadequate safety regulation response" from the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which is said to have provided a Special Airworthiness Information Bulletin (SAIB) that led to Air India not carrying out inspections as it was "advisory and not mandatory".
"We want to do a deep dive into the US courts to get evidence so that the families get some answers, because that may well be a quicker way of getting answers than sitting around waiting for the safety report to come out in two years' time," said Healy-Pratt.
"I suppose the positive thing is that 90 per cent of the theories and the speculation can actually now fall away," he added.
Of the 53 British nationals on board only one passenger named Vishwas Kumar Prakash on seat 11A miraculously survived from the wreckage of the smashed Boeing 787 Dreamliner last month.
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