India air disaster: fuel supply cut just before crushing

The fuel supply switches from the engines of an India air boeing which crashed shortly after takeoff on June 12, killing 260 people, put themselves in a “stop” position just before the impact, according to a preliminary investigation report published early 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.

In total, 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.

According to the report, the Boeing had reached a maximum speed of 180 knots (333 km/h) by taking off when the fuel switches in position have passed from the position run (open) to the position cutoff (stop) for the first engine, then the second a second later.

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 replied that he did not do itindicates the 15 -page report.

Less than a minute later, a pilot transmitted the distress signal Mayday, Mayday, Maydayand the plane crashed on homes.

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.

A complete analysis that will take months

The specialized site The Air Currentciting several sources to the investigation, said that it has recently been Concentrated on the movement of fuel fuel switches from the engines, following an analysis of the integrated flight and vocal data data recorders of the Boeing 787.

Full analysis should take months, if not anymoreand the privileged hypothesis could still evolve, he specifies in his publication this week.

The Indian office report recalls that the United States Federal Aviation Administration had published a 2018 newsletter concerning the potential disengagement of the locking function of the fuel control switch.

Although this concern is not considered a dangerous condition Requiring a more serious directive, 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 there was No action recommended for operators and manufacturers of engines B787-8 and/or GE GENX-1Bsuggesting that there were no technical problems with the engines (GE) or the device (Boeing).

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 customersonly wrote the manufacturer in a press release.

The survey is still underway, added the Indian office, adding that additional elements and information has been requested from stakeholders.

The Organization of International Civil Aviation (OACI) of theHim stipulates that 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, 7 Portuguese and 1 Canadian – as well as 12 crew members.

Dozens of people on the ground were also injured in the crushing.

A single passenger has survived, a British citizen out of the plane’s rubble, and who has since left the hospital.

The health authorities of the Indian State of Gujarat had initially announced that at least 279 people had been killed, but medical doctors reduced the balance sheet to 260 dead after identifying all the remains of the victims.