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Straits Times
6 days ago
- General
- Straits Times
Fuel was cut off during take-off: Preliminary report of Air India crash
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox In the cockpit voice recording, the report says, 'one of the pilots is heard asking the other why did he cut off. The other pilot responded that he did not do so'. – The fuel control switch went off within three seconds of take-off, leading both engines to shut down moments before the Air India Boeing 787 London-bound flight crashed in Ahmedabad, said a preliminary report by the Indian government. The 15-page report was released by India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) late on July 11, detailing findings from its probe into the plane crash on June 12 that killed 260 people – 229 passengers, 12 crew members, and 19 individuals on the ground. Only one passenger miraculously survived. The crux of the preliminary report is its revelation that 'the Engine 1 and Engine 2 fuel cut-off switches transitioned from RUN to CUTOFF position one after another with a time gap of 01 second'. In the cockpit voice recording, the report says, 'one of the pilots is heard asking the other why did he cut off. The other pilot responded that he did not do so'. Within 32 seconds of taking off, the plane had crashed into buildings just outside the Sardar Vallabhai Patel airport, including a medical college hostel. These details were retrieved from an Enhanced Airborne Flight Recorder (EAFR), commonly known as the black box, in the forward section of the plane. The rear black box was substantially damaged, and no data could be downloaded. The report lists damage to the aircraft parts and data from flight recorders. It does not ascertain reasons for the crash, or who is responsible for it. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. World US slaps 30% tariffs on EU and Mexico; EU warns of countermeasures Singapore S'pore shows what's possible when digital innovation is matched with purpose: UK foreign secretary Singapore Casual racism should be tackled by getting more people to understand it is not acceptable: David Neo Singapore Pulling back the curtain: A backstage look at the 2025 NDP show segment Singapore $3 cashback for hawker centre meals and shopping at heartland stores with DBS PayLah initiative Singapore Body of 62-year-old man recovered from waters off East Coast Park Asia Aerobridge hits Qantas plane at Sydney Airport, damaging engine, delaying flight The possibility of one of the pilots inadvertently hitting the switch off is remote, said Mr Hemanth DP, chief executive of the Hyderabad-based Asia Pacific Flight Training Academy. The lock safety mechanism of 'lift and twist' is built into the Boeing's fuel controls so that pilots cannot just switch off the fuel to the engine by mistake, he explained. 'The fuel control switch cannot be turned off by mistake if the lock system was there. Even if there was an engine problem, like a fire or debris, the pilot would not switch both engines off while airborne,' he said, adding that it sounded like the pilots were surprised when they realised that the fuel switch had turned off and they switched it on again to try and prevent the crash. 'Unfortunately, they couldn't do much in 30 seconds,' Mr Hemanth said. Possible design flaw? Based on the preliminary report, experts are divided on whether to attribute the crash to an aircraft design flaw or human error. The government report says the particular Boeing 787-8 aircraft had a valid airworthiness certificate from 2025. However, it notes that the United States' Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued a Special Airworthiness Information Bulletin (SAIB) on Dec 17, 2018, regarding 'the potential disengagement of the fuel control switch locking feature'. This was based on reports of operators of Boeing 737 planes in which the fuel control switches were installed with the lock disengaged. Similar fuel switch and lock systems manufactured by Honeywell are installed in various Boeing models, including the Boeing 787-8, the type of plane that crashed in Ahmedabad. The SAIB from 2018 warned that should the locking mechanism of the fuel switch be disengaged, it 'could result in inadvertent operation that could result in unintended switch movement between the fuel supply and fuel cut-off positions'. Usually, to move the fuel switch when the lock is engaged, 'it is necessary for the pilot to lift the switch up while transitioning the switch position', the bulletin noted. If the locking feature is disengaged, as it was in the 737s the FAA had examined in 2018, the fuel switch could be moved from Run to Cutoff without lifting the switch, running the risk of 'potential of inadvertent operation' of the switch. 'Inadvertent operation of the switch could result in an unintended consequence, such as an in-flight engine shutdown,' the SAIB said. The FAA did not deem the issue an 'unsafe condition' mandating corrective action, but recommended that all owners and operators of the affected planes check that the locking feature of the fuel control switch was engaged, and replace the switch if the lock was found to be disengaged. ST has reached out to the FAA with queries. The crash in Ahmedabad has renewed the long-standing concerns about Boeing's safety lapses in manufacturing, which whistleblowers like Mr John Barnett, a former Boeing quality manager, flagged before his mysterious death in 2024 . Denying his accusations, Boeing said that all its aircraft were built to the highest levels of safety and quality. The company insisted that 'safety, quality and integrity are at the core of Boeing's values'. Safety lapse or human error? India's preliminary report says that Air India did not carry out the recommended inspections as 'the SAIB was advisory and not mandatory'. Maintenance records of the crashed aircraft show that the throttle control module was replaced in 2019 and 2023 for reasons not linked to the fuel control switch, but the report also says there was no defect reported on the fuel control switch since 2023. Both fuel control switches going off 'is highly mysterious and needs detailed investigation, especially in light of the December 2018 FAA directive on the fuel control switches', said Mr Sanjay Lazar, chief executive of Pune-based aviation consultation firm Avaialaz Consultants. To know if 'it could have happened mechanically or technically on its own', the complete transcript of the cockpit voice recorder and a probe into the fuel switches are necessary, he added. Retired airline pilot and aircraft safety advisor Captain Mohan Ranganathan told ST that if there was a serious issue in the fuel switch's locking mechanism, the FAA would have insisted on a mandatory fix. 'That it is an advisory means they didn't consider that it can happen,' he said. 'It can only be a deliberate human intervention that moved the fuel switch,' said Capt Ranganathan, given that both fuel switches did not have simultaneous failure, but were cut off one second apart. 'The report has not clearly identified which pilot handled the fuel selector,' he added. Although the report refers to them as 'one pilot' and 'the other pilot', Capt Ranganathan highlighted that it does say that the co-pilot was flying the aircraft, which means the senior pilot in command was monitoring the take-off check-list items, which includes the fuel selector. A full cockpit voice recording will help identify who said what, because the pilots' headphone mics will have been recorded on different sides, he said. Final report expected within a year Most of the experts ST spoke with dismissed speculations of 'pilot suicide' making the rounds on television channels and social media in India, saying there was no evidence behind such a conspiracy theory. 'The reported statements itself show that both pilots were unaware as to how the fuel switch had turned from ON to OFF,' Mr Lazar noted. The preliminary report also says that 'both pilots had adequate rest prior to operating this flight', and that there was no significant bird activity to suggest a bird strike, putting paid to theories floated by experts and aviation enthusiasts soon after the fatal crash. The flight had adequate fuel of 54,200kg enough for its journey to London Gatwick, and the take-off weight of 213,401kg was within allowable limits of 218,183kg. There were no dangerous goods on the plane. Investigations are ongoing, and a final report is expected within a year.
The Star
13-06-2025
- General
- The Star
Air India crash: Bird strike a possible cause as mayday call being probed
Air India Flight AI171, carrying 242 passengers and crew members, was heading to London Gatwick Airport when it crashed shortly after take-off. - Reuters BENGALURU/SINGAPORE: Investigators will need to understand the nature of a mayday transmission from an Air India flight that crashed in Ahmedabad on June 12, but a possible cause could be a bird strike, preventing the plane from achieving the optimum speed for take-off, aviation experts said. Aviation professional Hemanth DP told The Straits Times that the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner had a spotless record. 'If a plane of this calibre and size has to crash at such a low height of about 600 feet (183m) minutes after take-off, it must have been a catastrophic failure,' said Hemanth, chief executive officer of Asia Pacific Flight Training Academy in Hyderabad. Air India Flight AI171, carrying 242 passengers and crew members, was heading to London Gatwick Airport when it crashed shortly after take-off. More than 290 people are known to have died, including those on the ground. There is at least one survivor from the plane. Hemanth said it was too early to tell with certainty what had happened, based on amateur videos of the crash taken from the ground. He said it would take a very large flock of birds, and both engines ingesting the birds simultaneously, to bring the plane down so quickly after take-off. A bird strike is considered one of the most common wildlife hazards in aviation. It tends to happen during take-off, landing, or low-altitude flight, when planes are most likely to encounter birds. Bird strikes can be dangerous, especially if birds are ingested into aircraft's engines or hit critical components such as the windscreen or wings. Over 90 per cent of bird strikes occur at low altitudes during take-off and landing. When a bird strike occurs, pilots may declare a mayday emergency. The Air India pilot made a mayday call before the aircraft lost contact with air traffic control, the Directorate-General of Civil Aviation said. A bird strike was believed to be a factor in the crash of a Jeju Air plane in South Korea in late December 2024, which killed 179 people. Feathers and blood were found in both engines. The Boeing 737-800 plane, which departed from Bangkok for Muan county in south-western South Korea, belly-landed and overshot the regional airport's runway, bursting into flames after hitting an embankment. One of the pilots reported a bird strike and declared an emergency shortly before trying to land. In January 2009, US Airways Flight 1549 made an emergency landing in the Hudson River shortly after taking off from LaGuardia Airport in New York City. The plane, an Airbus A320, had flown into a flock of geese, severely damaging both engines. Michael Daniel, managing director of consultancy Aviation Insight, said the nature of the mayday emergency transmission will be crucial information for investigators. Video footage shows the plane's landing gear was down and the flaps retracted, he told ST. 'This would be counter to normal take-off procedures unless the 'declared' mayday affected the take-off,' said Daniel, who is also a member of the International Society of Air Safety Investigators. 'Normally, (raising) the gear up is one of the first items to do soon after rotation, in order to gain airspeed.' Rotation refers to the point when the pilot takes off from the surface of the runway, raising the nose of the airplane to fly. While it would be presumptuous at this point to draw any conclusions, he added that the video footage will give some indication of the data to be used in investigations. 'Setting aside the search and rescue efforts, the investigators will need to locate and interpret (what is on) the data recorder and the cockpit voice recorder,' he said. - The Straits Times/ANN
Straits Times
12-06-2025
- General
- Straits Times
Bird strike could be possible cause of Air India crash as investigators probe Mayday call
Air India Flight AI171 was heading to London Gatwick Airport when it crashed shortly after take-off. PHOTO: REUTERS Bird strike could be possible cause of Air India crash as investigators probe Mayday call Follow our live coverage here. – Investigators will need to understand the nature of a 'Mayday' transmission from an Air India flight that crashed in Ahmedabad on June 12, but a possible cause could be a bird strike, preventing the plane from achieving the optimum speed for take-off, aviation experts said. Aviation professional Hemanth DP told The Straits Times the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner had a spotless record. 'If a plane of this calibre and size has to crash at such a low height of about 600 feet minutes after take-off, it must have been a catastrophic failure,' said Mr Hemanth, chief executive officer of Asia Pacific Flight Training Academy in Hyderabad. Air India Flight AI171, carrying 242 passengers and crew members, was heading to London Gatwick Airport when it crashed shortly after take-off. More than 200 people are known to have died, including those on the ground. There is at least one survivor from the plane. Mr Hemanth said it was too early to tell with certainty what happened, based on amateur videos of the crash taken from the ground. He said it would take a very large flock of birds, and both engines ingesting the birds simultaneously, to bring the plane down so quickly after take-off. A bird strike is considered one of the most common wildlife hazards in aviation. It tends to happen during take-off, landing, or low-altitude flight, when planes are most likely to encounter birds. Bird strikes can be dangerous, especially if birds are ingested into aircraft's engines or hit critical components such as the windscreen or wings. Over 90 per cent of bird strikes occur at low altitudes during takeoff and landing. When a bird strike occurs, pilots may declare a Mayday emergency. The Air India pilot made a Mayday call before the aircraft lost contact with air traffic control, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation said. A bird strike was believed to be a factor in the crash of a Jeju Air plane in South Korea in late December 2024, which killed 179 people. Feathers and blood were found in both engines. The Boeing 737-800 plane, which departed from Bangkok for Muan county in south-western South Korea, belly-landed and overshot the regional airport's runway, bursting into flames after hitting an embankment. One of the pilots reported a bird strike and declared an emergency shortly before trying to land. In January 2009, US Airways flight 1549 made an emergency landing in the Hudson River shortly after taking off from LaGuardia Airport in New York City. The plane, an Airbus A320, flew into a flock of geese, severely damaging both engines. Mr Michael Daniel, managing director of consultancy Aviation Insight, said the nature of the M ayday emergency transmission will be crucial information for investigators. Video footage shows the plane's landing gear was down and flaps retracted, he told ST. 'This would be counter to normal takeoff procedures unless the 'declared' Mayday affected the takeoff , ' said Mr Daniel, who is also a member of the International Society of Air Safety Investigators. 'Normally the gear up is one of the first items to do soon after rotation, in order to gain airspeed.' Rotation refers to the point when the pilot takes off from the surface of the runway, raising the nose of the airplane to fly. While it would be presumptuous at this point to draw any conclusions, he added that the video footage will give some indication of the data to be used in investigations. 'Setting aside the search and rescue efforts, the investigators will need to locate and interpret the data recorder and the cockpit voice recorder,' he said. Rohini Mohan is The Straits Times' India Correspondent based in Bengaluru. She covers politics, business and human rights in the South Asian region. Kok Yufeng is a transport correspondent at The Straits Times. Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
