 "The wreckage of the Air India plane that crashed moments after taking off from the Ahmedabad airport, lies on a building, in Ahmedabad. Both switches feeding fuel to the two engines of Air India flight 171 were cut off followed before the plane crashed in Ahmedabad, seconds after taking off, the first investigation report into the crash has revealed. PTI")
The Federation of Indian Pilots (FIP) has raised concerns over the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau’s (AAIB) preliminary report on the crash of the Air India flight from Ahmedabad to London, saying that the probe into the mishap has excluded pilot representation.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, FIP said, “We register our dissatisfaction with the exclusion of pilot representatives from the investigation process. We also firmly object to how the preliminary report has been interpreted and presented publicly.”
It added that the report lacks comprehensive data and relies on cockpit recordings, “suggesting pilot error” and “questioning the professional competence” of the crew.
The AAIB report said that the cutoff of the fuel switches led to a dual-engine shutdown seconds after the AI171 took off. Recordings from the cockpit suggest that one pilot asked his co-pilot, “Why did you cut off?” to which the second pilot responds that he did not.
“Assigning blame before a thorough, transparent, and data-driven investigation is both premature and irresponsible. Such speculative commentary undermines the professionalism of highly trained crew members and causes undue distress to their families and colleagues,” the FIP statement added.
AI clears Boeing fuel switches
Meanwhile, Air India has completed an inspection of the locking mechanism on the fuel switch control switches on its Boeing 787 aircraft, concluding that there are no issues with the system.
DGCA on Monday directed airlines to inspect the fuel switch locking system in their Boeing 787 and 737 planes, two days after AAIB’s preliminary report said fuel switches were cut off before the Air India plane crashed last month.
An airline official said, “Over the weekend, our Engineering team initiated precautionary inspections on the locking mechanism of Fuel Control Switch (FCS) on all our Boeing 787 aircraft. The inspections have been completed and no issues were found.”
The official also highlighted that all Boeing 787-8 aircraft in the fleet are equipped with the Throttle Control Module (TCM), which was replaced under Boeing’s maintenance schedule, and the FCS was part of this module.