Air India inspects all Boeing jets after AI171 crash — says no fault found anywhere else; pilot's wrong fuel switch suspected
At the same time, a separate investigation by US authorities appears to be focusing on the role of the aircraft's captain, according to sources cited in a Wall Street Journal (WSJ) report.
What did the preliminary report reveal?
The initial investigation by India's Directorate General of Civil Aviation found that after taking off from Ahmedabad airport, the London-bound plane's fuel switches were turned off 'one after another,' cutting off fuel supply to both engines. With both engines shut down, the plane lost altitude and crashed within 32 seconds, killing all 241 passengers and crew on board, along with 19 people on the ground.
The black-box data showed one of the engines restarted seconds later after the switches were turned back on, but it was not enough to save the flight. A mayday call was made to air traffic control moments before the crash.
The report did not assign blame or recommend any action against Boeing, the aircraft manufacturer, but it did lead Air India to carry out safety checks on its fleet.
US focus on pilot actions sparks criticism
While India's preliminary report did not attribute fault, a WSJ report stated that US officials are focusing their early investigation on the actions of Captain Sumeet Sabharwal. The report claims that he may have manually moved the fuel switches, though his exact intent is unclear.
According to the WSJ, the black-box audio indicates that the first officer, Clive Kunder, who was flying the aircraft at the time, questioned why the fuel switches had been turned off. Sabharwal responded that he hadn't done so. Sources cited in the WSJ report also suggested that the first officer appeared panicked, while the captain remained calm. However, the report does not confirm whether the fuel cutoff was intentional or accidental.
These unnamed sources have led to backlash from Indian pilot groups. The Federation of Indian Pilots called the report 'baseless' and accused it of trying to shift blame to the pilot without full facts.
🚨 The WSJ now indicates that fresh insights from the investigation into last month's Air India flight AI171 crash are turning the spotlight toward the senior pilot in the cockpit.'A black-box recording of dialogue between the flight's two pilots indicates it was the captain… pic.twitter.com/j4askdxsx2
Families frustrated, officials urge patience
India's civil aviation minister, Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu, has urged restraint, asking the public not to 'jump to conclusions.' Two pilots' associations also described the early finger-pointing as 'reckless and unfounded.'
Meanwhile, family members of the 241 passengers who died have expressed dissatisfaction with the preliminary report, calling it 'vague and inexact.' According to The Indian Express, investigators are still examining whether a technical malfunction caused an 'uncommanded transition' in the fuel switches, which could point to a mechanical cause rather than human error.
In an internal message to staff, Air India CEO Campbell Wilson acknowledged that the findings have 'opened additional questions,' and urged employees to wait for the final investigation report before forming conclusions.
As of now, Indian authorities have not issued a final verdict on the cause of the crash. The investigation continues, with both mechanical and human factors under scrutiny.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Hindu
43 minutes ago
- The Hindu
The mental health of pilots is the elephant in the room
Subsequent to the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau's release of its preliminary report of the accident involving an Air India Boeing 787 flight at Ahmedabad on June 12, 2025, there has been a lot of debate on social media platforms and YouTube channels about pilot involvement. This has, in turn, led to further discussion on the sensitive topic of the mental health of pilots. While one should not indulge in speculation about the cause of the accident until the final report is published, there is no better time than now to examine this topic, which is, unfortunately, considered taboo. Though there have been at least 19 documented cases of pilot suicides, where pilots used aircraft to end their own lives and those of others, it was the Germanwings disaster (flight 9525 in March 2015) which served as a wake-up call about pilot mental health. In this accident, the investigation revealed that the captain had left the cockpit and the copilot used this time to fly the Airbus A320 into a mountain killing all 150 passengers on board. Factors in the life of a pilot Pilots, by nature, are a group of people who will not accept any form of human weakness willingly and will instead opt to bear the rough ride and hide their pain. Added to this are the consequences of any voluntary disclosure, which could mean the end of the pilot's career. In addition to the normal stressors that the general public are exposed to, there are other factors unique to the profession which place undue demands both on a pilot at the physiological level and the psychological level. In the course of their job, pilots are expected to 'sleep to order' in unfamiliar locations that are spread across various time zones. However, this is next to impossible and, obviously, results in long periods of wakefulness and sleep debt. Frequent changes in the roster also disturb a pilot's work-life balance, in turn affecting relationships with other members of the pilot's family. In addition, escalating training costs and stagnant salaries impose financial pressures. With the widespread use of social media, people in general are exposed to more depressing events. These affect all of us — pilots are also human beings and, therefore, not immune to it. The stress of modern living in cities also throws up its own set of challenges. How airline managements can help crew A study by the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, U.S. (which included Joseph G. Allen, Associate Professor of Exposure Assessment Science), titled 'Airplane pilot mental health and suicidal thoughts', conducted a cross-sectional descriptive study using an anonymous web-based survey. Analysis of the study showed that 12.6% of the pilots who answered the survey crossed the threshold of criteria for having depression, and an astonishing 4.1% said they considered suicide within the preceding two weeks. Airline operators can play a major role in alleviating the stress on aircrew. For example, there can be policies that allow pilots to proceed on paid leave when going through life-changing events such as divorce, the loss of a loved one, attending to a sick child or even taking care of a child who has learning difficulties. The majority of pilots have a high degree of resilience and it will only be a very small minority who may opt for leave citing such circumstances — this is not going to cause a dent in the finances of the company. A minor short-term issue can be prevented from escalating into a serious problem. Though there is no evidence that the captain of the Malaysian Airlines flight, MH370 (March 2014), committed suicide, it was reported that he had marital problems and was living a lonely life. Airlines should have very active peer support programmes that are managed solely by pilot groups. The social stigma associated with this should be removed and steps should be taken to improve the trust between aviation medical specialists and the pilots. Another very pragmatic approach is to permit pilots diagnosed with certain conditions to continue flying as long as they receive treatment. It is better to know and monitor than not knowing. A person could function very safely with aviation-approved medication and regular follow up. As the Federal Air Surgeon of the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said in 2022, 'Early treatment is a win-win: the person gets help more quickly; typically, the symptoms are less severe and obtaining a special issuance is more likely to be successful.' In the United States, the FAA has finally acknowledged that there is a problem and recently established a Mental Health and Aviation Medical Clearances Aviation Rulemaking Committee which is expected to make major changes. Changes in the system India's regulator, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), should adopt a very progressive attitude towards finding a solution. Requiring pilots to undergo detailed mental health tests will only be counterproductive and impose more mental burdens on the pilots. There are severe limitations in objectively assessing mental health and if the test is subjective without specific criteria, it will only open up more issues. People with mental health conditions might go without being diagnosed and others could be misdiagnosed. The most pragmatic solution will be to educate pilots to recognise signs of depression in their colleagues. Flight instructors can be an important link in this as they get to see the difficulties experienced by trainees much before other peers. The Union Ministry of Health should also enact legislation defining rules that require health-care providers to inform the appropriate authorities when a patient's health is very likely to impact public safety, while, at the same time, protecting the patient's personal/private data from unnecessary disclosure. While we may not be able to completely eliminate the risk, we can effectively manage the risks by a balanced approach and following best practices. Captain S. Sabu is an airline pilot and a member of the Flight Safety Foundation. The views expressed are personal
India.com
43 minutes ago
- India.com
This Indian state's 99% population is non-vegetarian, very difficult to find vegetarian food; not Goa, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh, state is...
New Delhi: India is at the forefront in the world in terms of vegetarians, but do you know about that state of the country where 99% of the population is non-vegetarian? What kind of food habits are there in India? You can find different types of delicious dishes in different parts of India and at the same time, India is at the forefront in terms of vegetarians in the whole world. In simple words, most of the Indians prefer vegetarian foods. However, under this situation, there is an Indian state where 99% of the population is non-vegetarian? It is very difficult or almost impossible to find a vegetarian in this state. Which Indian state is 99% non-vegetarian? Actually, the state we are talking about is Nagaland, located in the northeast of India. Almost the entire population here is non-vegetarian. Most of the traditional dishes in Nagaland are made from meat. Chillies and spices are used a lot in the food here. Boiled vegetables with rice and spicy chutneys are an important part of the food here. Smoked meat and fish are main foods of Naga culture. People here eat these dishes with great gusto. What about vegetarians? If you are a pure vegetarian and are thinking of visiting Nagaland, then it may be a little difficult for you to find food here. Most of the restaurants and homes here serve non-vegetarian food.
&w=3840&q=100)
Business Standard
an hour ago
- Business Standard
Lost for words: India's lesser-known languages are fading by design
India's lesser-known languages are fading -- by design, not by accident premium Kumar Abishek Listen to This Article Languages die not with a bang but a whimper: Word by word, speaker by speaker, until there's no one left to pass them on. 'Languages have no existence without people,' wrote British linguist David Crystal in Language Death, capturing how spoken tongues fade. In India, over 250 languages have vanished in five decades, and nearly 400 more are facing extinction, according to the People's Linguistic Survey of India (PLSI). Unesco lists 197 Indian languages as endangered. This is cultural deletion. Most language loss happens not by force but by choice. It begins when a parent drops Kurukh in favour of
