NEW DELHI (AWP/AFP) – Fuel switches in fuel from the engines of the Air India Boeing which crashed shortly after takeoff on June 12, killing 260 people, put themselves in the “stop” position just before the impact, according to a preliminary investigation report published on Saturday.
The report, published by the Indian Office of Investigation into Air Accidents (AAIB), does not draw any conclusion and does not attribute any responsibility, but indicates that a pilot asked the other why he had cut fuel, the second pilot responding that he had not done so.
A total of 241 people who were on board the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner of Air India were killed, and only one survived, when the plane crashed on dwellings just after takeoff in the city of Ahmedabad, in the west of the country. The authorities also identified 19 people killed on the ground.
The Boeing had reached a maximum speed of 180 knots (333 km/h) by taking off when the fuel power switches went from the “run” (open) position to the “cutoff” (stop) position for the first engine then the second a second later, depending on the report.
The two engines then began to lose power.
“In the recording of conversations in the cockpit, one of the pilots asks the other why he cut the fuel supply. The second pilot replies that he did not do it,” said the 15 -page report.
Less than a minute later, a pilot transmitted the distress signal “Mayday, Mayday, Mayday”, and the plane crashed on dwellings.
The air controllers asked the pilots what was going on and then saw the aircraft crash and called for help.
The plane began to lose altitude before even leaving the airport perimeter, according to the report.
Always under investigation
The specialized site The Air Current, citing this week several sources by the investigation this week, said that it was recently “focused on the movement of fuel switch switches from the engines, following an analysis of the integrated flight and vocal data recorders” of the device. Complete analysis should take “months, if not anymore”, and the privileged hypothesis could still evolve.
The report of the Indian office recalls that the Federal Aviation Administration of the United States had published a newsletter in 2018 concerning “the potential disengagement of the locking function of the fuel control switch”.
Air India informed the investigators that she had not carried out the suggested inspections because they were “advised and not compulsory”.
Air India respected all navigability guidelines and alert service ballots, the report indicates.
The investigation office said that there was “no recommended action for operators and engine manufacturers B787-8 and/or GE GENX-1B”, suggesting that there were no technical problems with the engines (GE) or the device.
Boeing did not comment on the Indian report. “Our thoughts remain with the relatives of passengers and the crew of the Air India 171 flight, and with all the people assigned to the ground in Ahmedabad. We continue to support the survey and our customers,” only the manufacturer wrote in a press release.
In a press release on X, Air India said it continued to “cooperate fully with AAIB and other authorities as their investigation progresses”.
The survey is still underway, added the Indian office, adding that additional elements and information was “requested from stakeholders”. The International Civil Aviation Organization (OACI) stipulates that the states directing the investigation must submit a preliminary report within 30 days of an accident.
Investigators from the United States and the United Kingdom participated in the investigations.
The plane carried 230 passengers – 169 Indians, 53 British, seven Portuguese and a Canadian – as well as 12 crew members.
Dozens of people on the ground were also injured in the crash.
A single passenger has survived, a British citizen out of the plane’s rubble, and who has since left the hospital.
AFP/Rp