Latest news with #BoeingBA.N787Dreamliner
Yomiuri Shimbun
12-07-2025
- General
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Air India Crash Report Shows Pilot Confusion over Engine Switch Movement
NEW DELHI, July 12 (Reuters) – A preliminary report depicted confusion in the cockpit shortly before an Air India jetliner crashed, killing 260 people last month, after the plane's engine fuel cutoff switches almost simultaneously flipped, starving the engines of fuel. The Boeing BA.N 787 Dreamliner bound for London from the Indian city of Ahmedabad immediately began to lose thrust and sink down, according to the report on the world's deadliest aviation accident in a decade released on Saturday by Indian accident investigators. The report by India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) about the June 12 crash shortly after takeoff raises fresh questions over the position of the critical engine fuel cutoff switches, while suggesting that Boeing and engine maker GE GE.N had no apparent responsibility for the accident. The crash is a challenge for Tata Group's ambitious campaign to restore Air India's reputation and revamp its fleet, after taking the carrier over from the government in 2022. Almost immediately after the plane lifted off the ground, CCTV footage shows a backup energy source called a ram air turbine had deployed, indicating a loss of power from the engines. 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. It did not identify which remarks were made by the flight's captain and which by the first officer, nor which pilot transmitted 'Mayday, Mayday, Mayday' just before the crash. The commanding pilot of the Air India plane was Sumeet Sabharwal, 56, who had a total flying experience of 15,638 hours and, according to the Indian government, was also an Air India instructor. His co-pilot was Clive Kunder, 32, who had 3,403 hours of total experience. The fuel switches had almost simultaneously flipped from run to cutoff just after takeoff. The preliminary report did not say how the switches could have flipped to the cutoff position during the flight. 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. The switches flipped a second apart, the report said, roughly the time it would take to shift one and then the other, according to U.S. aviation expert John Nance. He added that a pilot would normally never turn the switches off in flight, especially as the plane is starting to climb. Flipping 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. At the crash site, both fuel switches were found in the run position and there had been indications of both engines relighting before the low-altitude crash, said the report, which was released around 1:30 a.m. IST on Saturday (2000 GMT on Friday). Air India acknowledged the report in a statement. The carrier said it was cooperating with Indian authorities but declined further comment. The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board thanked Indian officials for their cooperation in a statement and noted that there were no recommended actions in the report aimed at operators of Boeing 787 jets or the GE engines. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration said its priority was to follow the facts where they lead and it was committed to promptly addressing any risks identified throughout the process. Boeing said it continued to support the investigation and its customer, Air India. GE Aerospace did not respond immediately to a request for comment. Crash probe The AAIB, an office under India's civil aviation ministry, is leading the probe into the crash, which killed all but one of the 242 people on board and 19 others on the ground. Most air crashes are caused by multiple factors, with a preliminary report due 30 days after the accident according to international rules, and a final report expected within a year. 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. Black boxes provide crucial data such as altitude, airspeed and final pilot conversations which help in narrowing down possible causes of the crash. Air India has been under intense scrutiny since the crash. The European Union Aviation Safety Agency said it plans to investigate its budget airline, Air India Express, after Reuters reported the carrier did not follow a directive to change engine parts of an Airbus A320 in a timely manner and falsified records to show compliance. India's aviation watchdog has also warned Air India for breaching rules for flying three Airbus planes with overdue checks on escape slides and in June warned it about 'serious violations' of pilot duty timings. India is banking on a boom in aviation to support wider development goals, with New Delhi saying it wants India to be a job-creating global aviation hub along the lines of Dubai, which currently handles much of the country's international traffic.
Nikkei Asia
11-07-2025
- General
- Nikkei Asia
Air India crash report shows pilot confusion over engine switch movement
Tail of an Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner plane that crashed is seen stuck on a building after the incident in Ahmedabad, India on June 12. © Reuters (Reuters) -- A preliminary report depicted confusion in the cockpit shortly before an Air India jetliner crashed, killing 260 people last month, after the plane's engine fuel cutoff switches almost simultaneously flipped, starving the engines of fuel. The Boeing BA.N 787 Dreamliner bound for London from the Indian city of Ahmedabad immediately began to lose thrust and sink down, according to the report on the world's deadliest aviation accident in a decade released on Saturday by Indian accident investigators.
GMA Network
26-06-2025
- General
- GMA Network
Indian investigators download black box data from fatal Air India crash
Rescue team members work as smoke rises at the site where an Air India plane crashed in Ahmedabad, India, June 12, 2025. REUTERS/ Amit Dave/File photo NEW DELHI/WASHINGTON - Investigators have downloaded flight recorder data from an Air India crash this month that killed 260 people, India's civil aviation ministry said on Thursday, a long-awaited step towards understanding the world's worst aviation disaster in a decade. The London-bound Boeing BA.N 787 Dreamliner crashed moments after takeoff from India's Ahmedabad city on June 12, killing 241 of the 242 people on board and the rest on the ground. The black boxes of the plane - the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) and flight data recorder (FDR) - were recovered in the days that followed, one from the rooftop of a building at the crash site on June 13, and the other from the debris on June 16. The ministry said data from the front recorder was accessed on Wednesday by a team led by India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), with the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board. "These efforts aim to reconstruct the sequence of events leading to the accident and identify contributing factors to enhance aviation safety and prevent future occurrences," the ministry said in a statement. U.S. National Transportation Safety Board chair Jennifer Homendy told Reuters said Thursday she hopes the Indian government will be able to share details from the investigation into the crash in short order. "For aviation safety and for public safety and public awareness we hope that they will make their findings public swiftly," Homendy said on the sidelines of an aviation event. She said the NTSB team has been working diligently to provide assistance to India and "we have had excellent cooperation from the Indian government and the AAIB." The probe into the crash of the Air India plane, which started losing height after reaching an altitude of 650 feet, includes a focus on engine thrust, according to a source with knowledge of the matter. The Wall Street Journal has reported that investigators believe the Dreamliner had its emergency-power generator operating when it crashed. Most air crashes are caused by multiple factors, with a preliminary report expected about 30 days after the accident. Two GE GE.N recorders, one in the jet's front and another at the rear, are installed on Boeing's 787 jets and record the same set of flight data. GE, which sent experts to India, manufactured the engines on the Air India 787 and also produced the combined flight data and cockpit voice recorder, called an "enhanced airborne flight recorder". The forward recorder is equipped with an independent power supply that provides backup power to the device for about 10 minutes if the plane's power source is lost, the NTSB said in a 2014 report. The decision to begin downloading recorder data around two weeks after the crash was unusually late, three experts told Reuters, and followed speculation that the so-called black boxes could be sent to the United States for analysis. U.S. aviation safety expert Anthony Brickhouse said accident investigators would typically have already given some update on the recorders' status, and have begun downloading data in such a high profile crash. "Normally countries know that the world is watching," he said. India said last week that it was yet to decide where the black boxes would be analyzed. The data retrieved from them could provide critical clues into the aircraft's performance and any conversations between the pilots preceding the crash. India has said its actions have been taken in full compliance with domestic laws and international obligations in a time bound manner. — Reuters
