I Did Not Turn Off the Fuel’: Cockpit Dispute Surfaces in Air India Crash Investigation

National New: The preliminary investigation report of the Air India Boeing 787 aircraft that crashed soon after taking off from Ahmedabad airport on June 12 has been released. 260 people died in this accident. The 15-page report of India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) mentions technical glitches and the conversation in the cockpit, which was recorded just before the plane crashed.

The most surprising part of this report is a short but very important conversation between the pilots. One pilot asked the other, "Why did you cut off the fuel?" To which the other pilot replied, 'I did not do that.' This conversation has raised many new questions about this accident.

Within a second the fuel supply of both engines stopped

According to the AAIB report, just after takeoff, the fuel cutoff switch of both engines was changed from 'RUN' to 'CUTOFF,' which stopped fuel supply to both engines. This process happened in just one second, due to which the aircraft lost thrust in the air.

The conversation between the pilots raised concerns

According to information from the cockpit voice recorder, as soon as both engines shut down, one pilot asked the other, "Why did you cut them off?" The answer was, "I didn't." This conversation indicates that either there was a technical fault or some misunderstanding in the cockpit.

Plane crashes on college hostel, 260 killed

A few seconds after takeoff, the plane crashed into the hostel of BJ Medical College in Ahmedabad. 241 passengers and crew members, along with 19 people on the ground, were killed in this accident. The report said that the plane had reached a speed of 180 knots when both engines stopped working simultaneously. Due to this, the plane rapidly lost both altitude and speed.

The Ram Air Turbine activated right after takeoff

CCTV footage showed that as soon as the plane took off, the Ram Air Turbine (RAT) was activated. This system is activated when the power supply to the aircraft is cut off, which confirms that the engines were shut down during takeoff. When the fuel switch was put back on 'RUN,' Engine-2 tried to recover for a while, but Engine-1 could not restart. This caused the aircraft to not get thrust again.

Possibility of bird hit ruled out

The investigation also revealed that no bird activity was found anywhere on the flight path, which confirmed that the accident was not caused by a bird strike. The throttle was in the takeoff position but was found in the idle position after the accident. The AAIB report said that both throttles were in the takeoff position at the time of takeoff but were found in the idle position after the crash. The reason for this is believed to be the thermal damage caused by the engine burning.

Important information obtained from the data recorder

The aircraft's front EAFR (Extended Airframe Flight Recorder) has been safely recovered and downloaded. However, the rear recorder was badly damaged, so it could not be decoded using conventional methods. At present, the investigating agency AAIB has not issued any warning to Boeing and GE engine manufacturers, as the final cause of the crash is not yet clear. The related technical parts have been quarantined, and a detailed investigation is underway.