Air India crash report addresses one question and identifies additional areas for investigation

Air India crash report addresses one question and identifies additional areas for investigation

An official report on the recent aviation accident involving Air India flight AI171 has provided information on one aspect of the incident, while leaving other questions unresolved.

Air India flight AI171 had departed from the runway last month when it lost momentum and crashed in a densely populated area of India’s western city of Ahmedabad, resulting in the deaths of all but one of the 242 people on board and 19 others on the ground.

Now, a preliminary report by India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) has stated that fuel supply to both engines was cut during the aircraft's ascent.

The plane’s flight data recorder, also known as the “black box,” indicated that the aircraft had reached an airspeed of 180 knots when both engines’ fuel switches were “transitioned from RUN to CUTOFF position one,” according to the report. The switches were moved within a second of each other, stopping the flow of fuel.

On an audio recording from the black box, referenced in the report, one of the pilots is heard asking the other about the action taken with the switches. The other pilot responds that he did not perform this action. The report does not specify the identities of the pilots in the dialogue.

Seconds later, the switches on the Boeing 787 Dreamliner were moved to restore the fuel supply. Both engines were able to relight, and one began to “progress to recovery,” the report stated, but the aircraft continued to descend.

The report identifies the immediate cause of the jet’s loss of power, but other aspects remain under investigation.

[Removed emotional photo captions and descriptions.]

From RUN to CUTOFF - but how?

The findings do not clarify how the fuel switches were moved to the cutoff position during the flight, whether the action was deliberate, accidental, or the result of a technical fault.

On Boeing’s 787 Dreamliners, the fuel switches are located between the two pilots’ seats, immediately behind the plane’s throttle levers. They are protected on the sides by a metal bar.

The switches require an operator to physically lift the switch handle up and over a detent—a catch—as they are designed to prevent accidental activation.

Geoffrey Dell, an air safety specialist who has conducted aircraft accident investigations, stated that it is unlikely both switches could have been moved in error.

“It’s at least a two-action process for each one,” he told CNN. “You’ve got to pull the switch out towards you and then push it down. It’s not the sort of thing you can do inadvertently.”

According to Dell, it would be unusual for a pilot to intentionally cut fuel to both engines immediately after take-off.

There is “no scenario on the planet where you’d do that immediately after lift-off,” he said.

Dell also noted that both engine switches were moved within a second of each other, which is typically done when shutting down the engines at the end of a flight.

“That’s the sort of thing you do when you park the airplane at the end of the flight… You plug into the terminal and shut the engines down.”

One possibility the report raises relates to an information bulletin issued by the US Federal Aviation Administration in 2018 about “the potential disengagement of the fuel control switch locking feature.” However, since this was not considered an unsafe condition, Air India did not conduct inspections.

Dell stated that an aircraft’s flight data recorder should help explain how the fuel switches were moved in each case. However, India’s AAIB has not released a full transcript of the conversation between the two pilots. Without it, Dell says it is difficult to determine what happened.

[Removed emotional photo captions and descriptions.]

Former pilot Ehsan Khalid also stated that the report’s findings raise questions over the position of the engine fuel switches, which should be clarified by the investigators.

Speaking to Reuters, Khalid advised against assigning responsibility to the pilots at this stage. “The AAIB report to me is only conclusive to say that the accident happened because both engines lost power.”

He added: “The pilots were aware that the aircraft engine power has been lost, and pilots also were aware that they did not do any action to cause this.”

A full report is not expected for several months. India’s Civil Aviation Minister, Ram Mohan Naidu, stated: “Let’s not jump to any conclusions at this stage.”

The Air India jet departed from Ahmedabad’s Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in India’s western state of Gujarat on June 12, bound for London Gatwick.

Air India stated that 242 passengers and crew members were on board, including 169 Indian nationals, 53 Britons, seven Portuguese, and one Canadian. All but one passenger on board were killed.

Nineteen people on the ground were killed when the plane crashed into the BJ Medical College and Hospital hostel.

Air India has acknowledged receipt of the report and stated it will continue cooperating with authorities in the investigation.