Air India Plane Crash: Pilots have raised serious questions about AAIB’s preliminary report on the AI-171 accident. Captain Amit Singh, Sam Thomas and other experts have expressed doubts over the transparency of the report.
Air India Plane Crash: There is deep concern in the pilot community about the preliminary investigation report of the AI-171 plane crash. Air safety expert Captain Amit Singh questioned the credibility of the report and said that it is not clear at what time the engine actually stopped working.
According to the report, the fuel control switch was ‘cut off’ after 08:08:42 UTC. But the same report mentions the Ram Air Turbine (RAT) being activated immediately after takeoff. He said that a simple, fact-based preliminary report would have been sufficient, but this report is creating doubt and confusion.
“Who turned off the fuel control switch?” – ALPA-I President
Captain Sam Thomas, President of the Airline Pilots Association of India (ALPA-I), said that it was very shocking that there was a discussion among the pilots in the cockpit on ‘who turned off the fuel control switch’. He also questioned why the Emergency Locator Transmitter (ELT) did not work after the accident. Sam Thomas expressed concern over the absence of any authorized signature on the report and the confidentiality of the investigation process. He reiterated that qualified and experienced pilots should be involved in the investigation at least as observers, so that transparency and accountability is maintained.
“The pilot deliberately turned off the fuel” – Captain Ranganathan
Former Boeing 737 commander and instructor Captain Mohan Ranganathan claimed that the pilot deliberately turned off the fuel control switch. He said that first the right and then a few seconds later the left engine failed, which clearly shows that the switches were turned off one after the other. He called the report ‘vague’ and its interpretation questionable.
“Boeing’s silence means the system is not safe” – Senior Commander
A senior Boeing commander, on the condition of anonymity, said that arguing that the pilot cut off the fuel because Boeing did not issue any warning is wrong. He said that the lack of warning by a company is not proof of the safety of the system. Many times serious design flaws have been acknowledged only after several accidents have occurred. He gave the example of the Lion Air accident of Boeing 737 Max in 2018 and said that at that time too the pilots were blamed first.
