Indian pilot grouping FIP threatens legal action against Wall Street Journal for ‘maligning' AI 171 pilots
The FIP's President CS Randhawa criticised the WSJ's recent report, adding that the publication was insinuating pilot action even though the preliminary investigation report into the crash did not say that the one of the pilots had cut fuel to the engines.
'We strongly object to targetting of the pilots despite the preliminary report not mentioning pilot error or action. They are maligning the pilots. We are contemplating legal action and will be consulting our lawyers,' Randhawa told The Indian Express. The FIP has around 5,500 pilots as members.
In its latest report on the AI 171 crash investigation, WSJ said that details from the ill-fated Boeing 787-8 aircraft's cockpit voice recorder have shifted focus to one of the pilots, who may have switched off the fuel control switches. The WSJ report attributed the information to 'people familiar with US officials' early assessment of the investigation' without identifying anyone.
The preliminary investigation report from India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) said that the Air India plane crashed after both its engines were starved of fuel as the two fuel control switches transitioning of from 'RUN' to 'CUTOFF' position within a second of each other moments after lift-off. From the cockpit voice recorder data, the preliminary probe report notes that one of the pilots asked the other why he cut off the fuel, to which the other pilot responded saying he did not. The report just says the engine fuel control switches that allow and cut fuel flow to the plane's engines transitioned from RUN to CUTOFF. It does not state these were moved by either of the pilots.
The initial probe report does not provide details of the rest of the verbal exchange between the two pilots.
Various pilot groupings in India have hit out at the speculation in certain sections of pilot action–deliberate or inadvertent–that has followed the release of the preliminary probe report. Apart from the FIP, the Indian Commercial Pilots Association (ICPA), and the Airline Pilots' Association of India (ALPA-I) have also flagged insinuation against the pilots of the doomed aircraft at this early stage of the investigation without any proof.
Top officials of the aviation ministry, experts and industry insiders maintained that jumping to any conclusion at this early stage of the investigation just based on limited information in the initial report wouldn't be appropriate. There is a long way to go for the investigation and a lot could change as the probe progresses over the coming months, they said. The report, too, clearly mentions the disclaimer that it is based on 'preliminary facts and evidence', and that the information it contains is 'preliminary and subject to change'.
According to experts, the investigators should now focus on unearthing the cause behind the transitioning of the fuel control switches, which are used to allow and cut fuel supply to the engines. There is considerable speculation on whether the switches were flicked by one of the pilots—inadvertently or otherwise—or whether the transition signal to the system was due to any technical, mechanical, or software issue. The report did not issue any recommendation to other operators of the Boeing 787-8 aircraft and its GE engines, suggesting that at this stage, the investigators do not have a reason to believe that there was any issue with the plane or its engines.
Sukalp Sharma is a Senior Assistant Editor with The Indian Express and writes on a host of subjects and sectors, notably energy and aviation. He has over 13 years of experience in journalism with a body of work spanning areas like politics, development, equity markets, corporates, trade, and economic policy. He considers himself an above-average photographer, which goes well with his love for travel. ... Read More
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