The India Air Accident Investigation Office released a preliminary report on the. The document reveals that the fuel supply to the engines has been cut.
The plane, bound for London, crashed a few seconds after taking off from Ahmedabad airport. All occupants died except a passenger.
According to the report, to which CNN had access, the fuel control switches in the Boeing 787 Dreamliner cockpit were fired, which turned off the engines.
The investigators were able to recover data from the aircraft’s black boxes, including 49 hours of flight data and two hours of audio from the cockpit, which recorded the time of the accident.
The aircraft reached a speed of 180 knots (about 333 km/h) when the fuel cutting switches of both engines “moved from the Run position to the cutoff position after another with one second interval,” the report says.
“In the cockpit voice record, one of the pilots is heard to ask the other because he did that. The other pilot replied that he did nothing,” reads the report. The fuel was cut to the engines, according to the document.
The airport images show that the RAM Air turbine, the emergency power source of an aircraft, was activated during the initial climb after take -off, the report advances. The plane began to lose altitude before surpassing the perimeter wall of the airport.
Shortly thereafter, the switches were again placed in the correct position to try to recover the engines.
The investigators also noted that the fuel of the plane was tested and proved to satisfactory. Nor was there a significant bird activity in the proximity of the flight route.
“When fuel control switches are moved from Cutoff to RUN position while the aircraft is on flight, each total motor control system automatically generates a reactivation and impulse recovery sequence through ignition and fuel introduction,” the report indicates.
Seconds after the attempt to recover the engines, one of the pilots stated: “Mayday Mayday Mayday.” The air traffic controller called the aircraft code, but got no response and saw the aircraft crashed in the distance.
The flight commander was a 56 -year -old man with over 15,000 career flight hours. The co-pilot was a 32-year-old man who had over 3,400 hours of flight.
The plane’s takeoff weight was within the allowed limits and there were no “dangerous goods” on board. The investigators found that the wings flaps were adjusted in the 5 degree position, suitable for takeoff, and the landing train lever was in the correct position – descent.
The left engine was installed on the aircraft on March 26 and the right engine on May 1, the report also states.
When the plane fired against the Hostel of BJ Medical College and Hospital.
AI171 AI171 from Air India took off Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in Ahmedabad, Western India, on June 12. The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner was destined for London Gatwick airport, where it should land at 6:25 pm (1:25 pm et).
Air India indicated that 242 passengers and crew were aboard the plane. Among them, 169 were Indian citizens, 53 British, seven Portuguese and one Canadian.
