Ill-fated Air India Boeing may have had emergency power systems activated when it crashed: report
Preliminary findings revealed the London-bound 787 Dreamliner's emergency power generator was likely running when it plunged in Ahmedabad last Thursday — casting new doubt on whether the plane's engines were functional during takeoff, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people close to the probe.
The doomed aircraft went down only 30 seconds after taking off for London Gatwick Airport.
4 Firefighters extinguish a fire at the site of an Air India plane crash.
REUTERS
The emergency power source, called the ram air turbine, automatically generates electricity and hydraulic pressure to keep critical flight systems running when the engines fail or hydraulic pressure drops, according to the report.
Pilots can also manually deploy the backup generator, if needed.
'In commercial aviation, a dual engine failure is extremely rare,' Anthony Brickhouse, a US-based aerospace safety consultant, told the outlet.
4 Debris from the Air India plane that crashed into a residential building.
CENTRAL INDUSTRIAL SECURITY FORCE (CISF)/AFP via Getty Images
'Our engines today are more efficient and more reliable than ever.'
Boeing and engine maker GE Aerospace did not immediately respond to The Post's request for comment.
The 12-year-old plane was carrying 242 passengers and crew when it reached an altitude of 650 feet before crashing into a residential building, killing 30 people on the ground ithe Indian city.
4 British national Vishwash Kumar Ramesh was the sole survivor.
NEWS18 GUJARATI
Only one passenger miraculously survived the horrifying ordeal — the world's worst aviation disaster in a decade.
British national Vishwash Kumar Ramesh was sitting in seat 11A when he escaped through the plane's emergency door and calmly limped his way to safety amid the devastating wreckage.
His brother, Ajaykumar, 35, was seated in 11J when the plane went down.
4 Injured Air India crash survivor carrying his brother's coffin at a funeral.
ViralPress
Ramesh — bandaged, limping, and visibility distraught — joined other pallbearers Wednesday to carry his late sibling's coffin through the streets during a funeral service in Gujarat in western India.
The siblings were returning to the UK after spending the past year visiting relatives in India.
The married father said that the plane seemed to stall midair for a few seconds after takeoff, with green and white lights coming on as the aircraft struggled to gain height and quickly came crashing down.
Investigators are still probing the cause of the tragedy.
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an hour ago
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Skift
an hour ago
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Air India Crash: Engines Shut Down Seconds After Takeoff, Report Finds
Even as the investigation is ongoing, the preliminary report brings some short-term relief for Boeing, which continues to navigate global scrutiny on multiple fronts. Skift's coverage of the Air India crash is offered free to all readers. An unexplained fuel supply cutoff caused both engines of Air India Flight AI117 to shut down seconds after takeoff, according to a preliminary report released Saturday by India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB). The 15-page document reveals that just 32 seconds into the June 12 flight, the Boeing 787 Dreamliner lost all engine power. The aircraft, en route from Ahmedabad to London, crashed less than a nautical mile from the runway, killing 241 of the 242 people on board. 'At about 08:08:42 UTC and immediately thereafter, the Engine 1 and Engine 2 fuel cutoff switches transitioned from RUN to CUTOFF position one after another with a time gap of 01 sec. 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The Hill
an hour ago
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Fuel to Air India plane was cut off moments before crash, investigation report says
NEW DELHI (AP) — Fuel control switches for the engines of an Air India flight that crashed last month were moved from the 'run' to the 'cutoff' position moments before impact, starving both engines of fuel, a preliminary investigation report said early Saturday. The report, issued by India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau, also indicated that both pilots were confused over the change to the switch setting, which caused a loss of engine thrust shortly after takeoff. The Air India flight — a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner — crashed on June 12 and killed at least 260 people, including 19 on the ground, in the northwestern city of Ahmedabad. Only one passenger survived the crash, which is one of India's worst aviation disasters. The plane was carrying 230 passengers — 169 Indians, 53 British, seven Portuguese and a Canadian — along with 12 crew members. According to the report, the flight lasted around 30 seconds between takeoff and crash. It said that once the aircraft achieved its top recorded speed, 'the Engine 1 and Engine 2 fuel cutoff switches transitioned from RUN to CUTOFF position one after another' within a second. The report did not say how the switches could have flipped to the cutoff position during the flight. The movement of the fuel control switches allow and cut fuel flow to the plane's engines. The switches were flipped back into the run position, the report said, but the plane could not gain power quickly enough to stop its descent after the aircraft had begun to lose altitude. 'One of the pilots transmitted ''MAYDAY MAYDAY MAYDAY',' the report said. It also indicated confusion in the cockpit moments before the crash. In the flight's final moment, one pilot was heard on the cockpit voice recorder asking the other why he cut off the fuel. 'The other pilot responded that he did not do so,' the report said. The preliminary report did not recommend any actions to the Boeing. Air India in a statement said it is fully cooperating with authorities investigating the crash. 'Air India is working closely with stakeholders, including regulators. We continue to fully cooperate with the AAIB and other authorities as their investigation progresses,' it said. The plane's black boxes — combined cockpit voice recorders and flight data recorders — were recovered in the days following the crash and later downloaded in India. Indian authorities had also ordered deeper checks of Air India's entire fleet of Boeing 787 Dreamliner to prevent future incidents. Air India has 33 Dreamliners in its fleet.
