The fuel switches of both engines “went from Run position to Cutoff position” in one second space, interrupting fuel flow. But how?
An official report about answered him to a fundamental question – but raised others.
AI171 AI171 of Air India had barely left the track last month, when it lost strength and drew in a densely populated area of the Indian city of Ahmedabad, in the west of the country, killing all 242 people on board except one, and 19 others on land.
Now, from India’s aircraft accidents investigation (AAIB) revealed that fuel supply to both engines was cut in the crucial minutes the plane was rising.
The plane’s “black box”, the flight data recorder, showed that the plane had reached a speed of 180 knots when the fuel switches of both engines “went from Run position to Cutoff position”, refers to the report. The switches were triggered with a second difference from each other, interrupting the flow of fuel.
In an audio recording of the black box, mentioned in the report, one of the pilots is heard to ask the other why the switches called the switches. The other pilot replies that he did not. The report does not specify who the pilot was and who was the co -pilot in the dialogue.
Seconds later, the Boeing 787 Dreamliner switches were triggered in reverse to turn on fuel supply again. Both engines managed to rekindle and one of them began to “progress to recovery,” according to the report, but it was too late to wage the distressing descent of the plane.
The report reveals the fundamental reason why the jet drew it, but there are still many doubts to explain.
From Run to Cutoff – But how?
The conclusions of the report do not clarify how fuel switches were placed in the cutting position during the flight, if it was deliberate, accidental or if it was a technical failure.
In Boeing 787 Dreamliners, fuel switches are between the two pilots seats, immediately behind the aircraft acceleration levers. They are laterally protected by a metal bar.
Switches require an operator to physically lift the switch handle up and a holder – a closure – as they were deliberately designed so that they cannot be accidentally overthrown.
Geoffrey Dell, an air safety expert who has conducted various air accident investigations, finds it difficult to realize how both switches may have been triggered by mistake.
“It’s at least a two -action process for each of them,” he explains to CNN. “We need to pull the switch toward us and then push it down. It’s not the kind of thing that can be inadvertently.”
According to Geoffrey Dell, it would be “bizarre” that a pilot deliberately cut the fuel of both engines immediately after take -off.
There is no “no scenario on the planet where this is done immediately after take off,” he says.
Pointing to the fact that both engines switches have been triggered with a second difference, Dell notes: “It’s the kind of thing that is done when the plane is part of the flight … bind to the terminal and the engines turn off.”
A possibility that the report raises is related to an information report issued by the US Federal Aviation Administration in 2018 on “the potential unlocking fuel control switch blocking functionality”. But since it was not considered an insecure condition, Air India did not perform inspections.
Geoffrey Dell assumes that an airplane flight data recorder should help explain how fuel switches have been activated in each case. However, AAIB of India did not disclose the full transcription of the conversation between the two riders. Without her, the expert says it’s hard to understand what happened.
Rescue teams where the airplane from Air India fired. AMIT DAVE/REUTERS
Former pilot Ehsan Khalid also considers that the reports of the report raise questions about the position of the engine’s vital fuel switches, which, he said, must be clarified by the investigators.
Speaking to Reuters, Ehsan Khalid warns that he cannot blame the pilots. “The AAIB report, for me, is only conclusive to say that the accident happened because both engines lost power.”
The pilots knew that the engines on the plane had lost their power and also knew they had done nothing to cause the accident, “he adds.
The full report should only be presented within months and the Minister of Civil Aviation of India, Ram Mohan Naidu, appeals not to remove “hasty conclusions at this stage”.
The Air India plane took off from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, in western India, on June 12, bound for London Gatwick.
Air India reported that 242 passengers and crew members were on board. Among them, 169 Indian citizens, 53 British, seven Portuguese and one Canadian. All people on board died, except for a passenger.
The 19 people who were on land died when the plane crashed into the residence of BJ Medical College and Hospital.
Air India has, however, has confirmed that it has received the report and ensures that it will continue to cooperate with the authorities in the investigation.
