"AI 171 crash report leaves many doubts": Air Marshal (Retd) Sanjeev Kapoor on AAIB preliminary report
Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau
(AAIB), retired
Air Marshal Sanjeev Kapoor
has questioned the unexplained engine and electrical failures highlighted in the report, saying it "leaves many doubts" and demands a deeper technical probe into the sequence of events that unfolded shortly after takeoff of
Air India
aircraft that crashed on June 12.
Calling the findings inconclusive, Kapoor has urged a deeper technical probe into what he described as a "grave mid-air emergency" that unfolded within seconds of the aircraft's departure from Ahmedabad.
The Air India Boeing 787-8 aircraft crashed shortly after takeoff from Ahmedabad's Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport on June 12, resulting in the deaths of 260 individuals, including 229 passengers, 12 crew members, and 19 people on the ground.
Speaking to ANI, Kapoor said, "The preliminary report, which has come last night, leaves many doubts in my opinion. Why did the engines fail? The pilot has given a Mayday call, which is given by the pilot when there is a grave emergency. RAT (Ram air turbine) indicates that both the complete electricals and the complete engines have failed."
"Upon reviewing the 787 manual, I noticed that when both engines have been cut off, the levers must be manually moved to restart. In my opinion, the pilots are taking off and the engines failed, and in this short period after giving the Mayday call, they have tried to restart the engine,' he added.
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Additional criticism came from aviation expert Sanjay Lazar, who told that the AAIB's findings raise 'more questions than they answer'.
"The AAIB report raises more questions than it answers. There are a lot of gaps, which might be filled once the investigation goes further. However, I've had few issues. How was the US media alerted three days ago. Everyone carried it out, and something does seem correct here. The AAIB should have made the entire Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) transcript public," Lazar told ANI.
He added, "By just informing the public about one line, it leaves a lot of questions hanging. I do not believe that, when the investigation was not complete, it was the most appropriate thing for the AAIB to have said in the last line of the report is that there are no safety recommendations for Boeing or General Electric. That means that you have washed your hands or you have decided that there is something else."
The Airline Pilots' Association of India on Saturday raised objections to the preliminary report released by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) regarding the Air India plane crash on June 12, claiming that it suggests a bias towards pilot error.
On Friday, India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) released the preliminary report into the tragic crash of Air India flight AI171.
The report outlines a harrowing sequence of events that unfolded within 90 seconds of takeoff, as both engines of the aircraft shut down unexpectedly during the initial climb, leading to a catastrophic loss of thrust and rapid descent.
Flight data recovered from the aircraft's Enhanced Airborne Flight Recorder (EAFR) revealed that the fuel cutoff switches for both engines were inadvertently moved from RUN to CUTOFF, one after the other within a 1-second interval, at an altitude just moments after liftoff. One pilot was heard asking the other, "Why did you cut off?" to which the response was, "I did not."
This uncommanded shutdown triggered the deployment of the Ram Air Turbine (RAT), and the aircraft began losing altitude almost immediately, unable to sustain powered flight.
According to the AAIB, the pilots re-engaged the fuel switches in an attempt to relight both engines. Engine 1 showed signs of recovering thrust, but Engine 2 failed to stabilise. The aircraft, which had briefly reached a speed of 180 knots, was already descending and failed to regain altitude. The final distress call, a "MAYDAY", was transmitted at 08:09 UTC, just seconds before the aircraft crashed into residential buildings outside the airport perimeter.
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