Strong argument to be made for cockpit video recordings to assist with investigations, IATA says
"Based on what little we know now, it's quite possible that a video recording, in addition to the voice recording would significantly assist the investigators in conducting that investigation," he said of the Air India investigation at a media roundtable in Singapore on Wednesday. (Reporting by Jun Yuan Yong; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)
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Khaleej Times
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One killed as Bangladesh Air Force jet crashes in college campus
One person was killed as a Bangladesh air force training aircraft crashed in a college campus in the capital city of Dhaka on Monday, a fire services official said. The incident occurred in Dhaka's northern area of Uttara, the military's public relations department said in a statement. "Bangladesh Air Force's F-7 BGI training aircraft crashed in Uttara. The aircraft took off at 13:06 (0706 GMT)," it said. Videos of the aftermath of the crash showed a big fire near a lawn emitting a thick plume of smoke into the sky, as crowds watched from a distance. At least four people were injured and taken to a military hospital in the area, local newspaper Prothom Alo said, citing the duty officer at the fire service control room. The daily said that initial reports indicated the plane had crashed on the roof of the college canteen. Reuters could not independently verify this information. The incident comes a little over a month after an Air India plane crashed on top of a medical college hostel in neighbouring India's Ahmedabad city, killing 241 of the 242 people on board and 19 on the ground, marking the world's worst aviation disaster in a decade.
The National
3 days ago
- The National
Air India crash probe: What we know so far about the fatal Boeing 787 accident
A preliminary report on the investigation into the Air India flight that crashed last month has answered some questions about the fatal accident but raised many more and fuelled speculation about the cause. India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau released the report on July 12, shedding some light on the tragic crash of Air India Flight AI 171. But it has also led to debate about the role of the pilots, the flow of fuel to the plane's engines and the merits of installing cockpit cameras to help aviation safety authorities in their investigations. So what do we know so far about the accident and the shockwaves it has sent through the aviation industry? What happened? The Air India aircraft – a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner – crashed shortly after taking off from Ahmedabad Airport, in Gujarat, north-west India, on June 12. The London Gatwick-bound flight, which was carrying 230 passengers and 12 crew members, crashed into buildings of a medical college near the airport. The accident killed 260 people − all the crew, all but one of the passengers and 19 people on the ground. The aircraft, registration VT-ANB, was fitted with GE engines. What is the cause of the crash? The 15-page preliminary report released by the AAIB suggested that the aircraft's fuel control switches were turned off, cutting fuel to the engines and causing a loss of engine thrust shortly after take-off. Fuel control switches regulate fuel flow into an aircraft's engines, used by pilots to start or shut down engines on the ground or to manually shut down or restart engines, if an engine failure occurs during a flight. 'In the cockpit voice recording, one of the pilots is heard asking the other why did he cut off. The other pilot responded that he did not do so,' the report said. It did not identify which of the remarks were made by the flight's captain and which by the first officer, nor which pilot transmitted, 'Mayday, Mayday, Mayday' just before the crash. The switches had been flipped back to the run position, the report said, but the plane could not gain power quickly enough to avoid crashing. The report findings left a key question unanswered: Why and by which pilot were two fuel switches moved to a cut-off position, starving the two engines of thrust just as the plane needed the most lift. The report is based on data from the aircraft's black boxes, which combines digital flight data and cockpit voice information. Can theories by substantiated? In a statement on July 17, the AAIB said that it is 'too early to reach any definitive conclusions' about the cause of the crash. 'The investigation by the AAIB is still not complete. The final investigation report will come out with root causes and recommendations,' it said. The body urged the public and the media to refrain from 'spreading premature narratives' that risk undermining the integrity of the investigative process. It added that 'certain sections of the international media are repeatedly attempting to draw conclusions through selective and unverified reporting.' This came after media reports abounded about the role of one of the pilots in cutting the flow of fuel to the plane's engines, but these have not been substantiated by official findings. When will the final report come out? The AAIB said on July 17 that it will publish updates 'as and when required'. 'AAIB appeals to all concerned to await publication of Final Investigation Report after completion of the investigation. AAIB will also publish updates, as and when required, which have technical and public interest,' the body said in a statement, without providing a date for the final report. What have Boeing said so far? The Air India crash marks the first hull loss for Boeing's 787 widebody aircraft. Boeing has said it continues to support the investigation. The accident will be a 'stress test' for Boeing, which had made progress in rebuilding trust after a series of safety and production quality lapses, analysts have said. 'At this stage of investigation, there are no recommended actions to 787-8 and/or GE GEnx-1B engine operators and manufacturers,' according to the AAIB report. Willie Walsh, director general of the International Air Transport Association, said earlier this week that there is a 'strong argument' to install cockpit cameras that would help aviation safety authorities investigating accidents such as the Air India crash, Bloomberg reported. What has Air India done in response to the accident? India's civil aviation regulator ordered the country's airlines this week to investigate the locking feature on the fuel switches of several Boeing models. Air India's inspection of the locking feature on the fuel control switches of its existing Boeing 787 aircraft found no issues, AFP reported, citing an internal airline memo. What are other Boeing 737 and 787 operators doing? Flydubai has joined several other airlines in the Middle East in checking the cockpit fuel switches on their Boeing aircraft, following the Air India crash investigation report. Flydubai conducted 'precautionary inspections' of the fuel switches on its Boeing 737. Elsewhere in the region, Saudia said it had completed precautionary inspections on the fuel shut-off switch system across its 787 fleet and that 'all aircraft remain fully operational.' Oman Air said it has finished checks on its 787s and is completing inspections of its 737s. When will Air India resume normal flight schedules? Air India on July 15 said it had performed additional precautionary checks on its Boeing 787 aircraft and would partially restore its international flight schedule, which it had scaled back after the crash. It will resume some flight frequencies from August 1, with full restoration planned from October 1. With the partial restoration, Air India will operate more than 525 international flights per week on 63 short, long and ultra long-haul routes.
Gulf Business
3 days ago
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Air India crash: What are the fuel switches at the centre of the probe?
Image credit: airindia/Instagram A cockpit recording of dialogue between the two pilots of the Read- Below are a few facts about engine fuel switches, their functions in the aircraft and their movements on the Air India flight. What are fuel switches? They are switches that regulate fuel flow into a plane's engines. They are used by pilots to start or shut down engines on the ground or to manually shut down or restart engines if an engine failure occurs during a flight. Aviation experts say a pilot would not be able to accidentally move the fuel switches that feed the engines. But if moved, the effect would be immediate, cutting off engine power. There are independent power systems and wiring for the fuel cutoff switches and the fuel valves controlled by those switches, according to US aviation safety expert John Cox. Where are the fuel switches located? The two fuel control switches on a Boeing 787, in Air India's case equipped with two GE engines, are located below the thrust levers. The switches are spring-loaded to remain in position. To change one from run to cutoff, a pilot has to first pull the switch up and then move it from run to cutoff or vice versa. There are two modes: 'CUTOFF' and 'RUN'. What happened on the fatal Air India flight? According to the flight recorder, a few seconds after takeoff, switches for both engines transitioned to 'CUTOFF' from 'RUN' one after another with a time gap of one second. As a result, the engines began to lose power. One pilot was heard on the cockpit voice recorder asking the other why he cut off the fuel. 'The other pilot responded that he did not do so,' the report said. The report did not identify which remarks were made by the flight's captain and which by the first officer. The first officer was at the controls of the 787 and asked the captain why he moved the fuel switches into a position that starved the engines of fuel and requested that he restore the fuel flow, the source briefed on U.S. officials' early assessment told Reuters. Both switches were flipped back to 'RUN', according to the preliminary report, and found in the 'RUN' position at the crash site. When fuel control switches are moved from 'CUTOFF' to 'RUN' while the aircraft is in flight, each engine's control system automatically manages a relight and thrust recovery sequence of ignition and fuel introduction, the report said. 'No sane pilot would ever turn those switches off in flight,' especially as the plane is just starting to climb, US aviation safety expert John Nance said.
