Latest news with #Dhalla
Hans India
2 days ago
- Politics
- Hans India
AI 171 report claims state of 'confusion' between pilots
New Delhi: Former Flight Operations Inspector with the DGCA (Directorate General of Civil Aviation), Captain Prashant Dhalla, spoke to ANI on Thursday regarding the Wall Street Journal's news report on the Air India AI 171 crash that occurred in Ahmedabad last month. Dhalla emphasised the word 'transitioned', which was mentioned in the report. He further explained that this report suggests a challenge-and-response dynamic exists between the two pilots, with one questioning the other, and a state of confusion. "The report uses a particular word - 'transitioned'. The fuel control switches transitioned, according to the report. This report suggests that a challenge-and-response dynamic exists between the two pilots, with one questioning the other, and a state of confusion between the pilots, potentially leading to a breakdown in Crew Resource Management (CRM)," Captain Prashant Dhalla said. "If any changes were made due to a failure in this aircraft, they would have used these switches to regain power. If there was a problem with the locking mechanism of these switches, then the pilots were also helpless," Captain Dhalla added further. Meanwhile, the Federation of Indian Pilots (FIP) President, CS Randhawa, on Thursday, condemned a media report that claimed that the captain of the flight deliberately cut off fuel to the engines. Captain Randhawa emphasised that the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau's (AAIB) preliminary report makes no mention of the pilots turning off the switches controlling fuel flow to the engines.
The Hindu
3 days ago
- General
- The Hindu
Air India crash: Report claims state of ‘confusion' between pilots, says former DGCA flight operations inspector
Former Flight Operations Inspector with the DGCA (Directorate General of Civil Aviation), Captain Prashant Dhalla, spoke to ANI on Thursday (July 17, 2025) regarding the Wall Street Journal's news report on the Air India AI 171 crash that occurred in Ahmedabad last month. Captain Dhalla emphasised the word 'transitioned', which was mentioned in the report. He further explained that this report suggests a challenge-and-response dynamic exists between the two pilots, with one questioning the other, and a state of confusion. 'The report uses a particular word - 'transitioned'. The fuel control switches transitioned, according to the report. This report suggests that a challenge-and-response dynamic exists between the two pilots, with one questioning the other, and a state of confusion between the pilots, potentially leading to a breakdown in Crew Resource Management (CRM),' Captain Dhalla said. 'If any changes were made due to a failure in this aircraft, they would have used these switches to regain power. If there was a problem with the locking mechanism of these switches, then the pilots were also helpless,' Captain Dhalla added further. Meanwhile, the Federation of Indian Pilots (FIP) President, C.S. Randhawa, on Thursday (July 17, 2025), condemned a media report that claimed that the captain of the flight deliberately cut off fuel to the engines. Captain Randhawa emphasised that the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau's (AAIB) preliminary report makes no mention of the pilots turning off the switches controlling fuel flow to the engines. 'Nowhere in the report has it been mentioned that the fuel control switch was turned off due to the pilot's mistake. I condemn the article. They have not read the report properly, and will take action against them through FIP,' said Captain Randhawa. Furthermore, he urged people not to comment on the AAIB's preliminary report, as this might create undue fear among commuters about air travel. The two pilots involved were Captain Sumeet Sabharwal and First Officer Clive Kunder, who had a total flying experience of 15,638 hours and 3,403 hours, respectively. A preliminary report released last week by India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau depicted confusion in the cockpit shortly before the June 12 crash and raised fresh questions over the position of the critical engine fuel cutoff switches, the report said. The AI 171 crash of the Boeing Dreamliner 787-8 aircraft in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, killed 260 people, including 229 passengers, 12 crew members, and 19 people on the ground.
India Gazette
12-07-2025
- General
- India Gazette
Premature to assume human error: Captain Prashant Dhalla on Air India crash preliminary report
New Delhi [India], July 12 (ANI): Former Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) Flight Operations Inspector Captain Prashant Dhalla on Saturday floated the idea of 'startle effect' in play before the Air India flight 171 crashed in Ahmedabad shortly after departure while noting that it was 'premature' to assume human error. Discussing the importance of understanding human factors in crash incidents, he noted that the preliminary report by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) states the Ram Air Turbine (RAT) was 'out'. On this basis, he pushed a theory that refers to pilots trying to engage and disengage the engines after realising the possibility of technical issues. Having said this, Captain Dhalla stated that it was 'too premature' to assume there was a human factor error as well in this crash incident, even though it might be a possibility. 'We have studied the startle effect under human factors. This can be a situation where, due to the startle effect, pilots can do things inadvertently. This is one of the possibilities, which might be a theory, that an electrical failure occurred in the aircraft. In that situation, the pilots must have thought that there was some technical issue with the engines. They tried to turn on or turn off the engines. I can substantiate this with the findings in the report, which mentions that RAT was deployed. Therefore, there is a possibility of human factor errors as well. However, it is too premature to say this,' Dhalla told ANI. When asked whether fuel switches are protected against accidental activation or mechanical malfunction, the Captain said that they have a locking mechanism in place that prevents any inadvertent action. He added that these switches can't be turned off automatically, even in the case of Foreign Object Damage (FOD). 'Fuel switches have a locking mechanism in place. This means that if there is an inadvertent push and pull of switches by mistake, these switches won't automatically turn off. We need to understand that there are many types of switches, including push-pull and guarded switches. This switch had protection to deter damage. Even in the case of FOD, these switches couldn't be turned off automatically,' Dhalla said. When asked about cockpit coordination and situational awareness based on conversation between pilots, the Captain argued that there was confusion in the cockpit and said that the entire transcript from the Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) must come out. 'There was confusion in the cockpit. They had very little time to tackle the situation. The transcript from the cockpit voice recorder must come out before the public,' he said. 'There are many aspects that the government and the agencies look into. The report will be divided into many phases. If we examine the minute details, we can see the conversation between the pilots, their flying hours, what was mentioned about the engine, and the procedures they followed. This is a preliminary report, and several factors will be seen in this. Second-by-second analysis will be done,' he added. Dhalla said that the actions of the pilots flying the crashed Air India Flight 171 clearly indicate that there were issues with the engine. 'The fuel cutoff switches are primarily given by the manufacturer. Boeing has designed it so that you use it while starting the engine, and when you need to turn it off, you simply cutoff. It has two modes: Run and Cutoff. The system of restarting the fuel cutoff is a process where the pilot tries to regain power in the engine. This clears it that there were issues with the engine,' he added. Focusing on the possible situation in the cockpit before the crash, Dhalla said that the aircraft was merely 400-600 feet above ground, which gave pilots only seconds to act while simultaneously contacting the ATC. 'Pilots have to follow a checklist after encountering problems on the screen. Human factors must also be considered in this case. The time is very critical. The aircraft was at a height of only 400-600 feet above was a matter of that moment, they tried connecting with the ATC also while performing their actions. They were very experienced pilots,' he said. 'This could be a rarest of rare accidents, where dual engine flame out could have happened. However, the report is silent since it doesn't mention a dual-engine flameout in this incident. This remains a matter of investigation,' he added. On Friday, India's AAIB released the preliminary report into the tragic crash of Air India flight 171, a Boeing 787-8 aircraft, which crashed shortly after takeoff from Ahmedabad's Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport on June 12. The AI-171 flight, which was bound for London's Gatwick airport, crashed soon after takeoff from Ahmedabad's Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel airport. 260 people lost their lives in the accident, which included 229 passengers, 12 crew members and 19 people on the ground. 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. (ANI)
Time of India
12-07-2025
- General
- Time of India
Premature to assume human error: Captain Prashant Dhalla on Air India crash preliminary report
Former Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) Flight Operations Inspector Captain Prashant Dhalla on Saturday floated the idea of "startle effect" in play before the Air India flight 171 crashed in Ahmedabad shortly after departure while noting that it was "premature" to assume human error . Discussing the importance of understanding human factors in crash incidents, he noted that the preliminary report by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) states the Ram Air Turbine (RAT) was "out". On this basis, he pushed a theory that refers to pilots trying to engage and disengage the engines after realising the possibility of technical issues. Having said this, Captain Dhalla stated that it was "too premature" to assume there was a human factor error as well in this crash incident, even though it might be a possibility. "We have studied the startle effect under human factors. This can be a situation where, due to the startle effect, pilots can do things inadvertently. This is one of the possibilities, which might be a theory, that an electrical failure occurred in the aircraft. In that situation, the pilots must have thought that there was some technical issue with the engines. They tried to turn on or turn off the engines. I can substantiate this with the findings in the report, which mentions that RAT was deployed. Therefore, there is a possibility of human factor errors as well. However, it is too premature to say this," Dhalla told ANI. When asked whether fuel switches are protected against accidental activation or mechanical malfunction, the Captain said that they have a locking mechanism in place that prevents any inadvertent action. He added that these switches can't be turned off automatically, even in the case of Foreign Object Damage (FOD). Live Events "Fuel switches have a locking mechanism in place. This means that if there is an inadvertent push and pull of switches by mistake, these switches won't automatically turn off. We need to understand that there are many types of switches, including push-pull and guarded switches. This switch had protection to deter damage. Even in the case of FOD, these switches couldn't be turned off automatically," Dhalla said. When asked about cockpit coordination and situational awareness based on conversation between pilots, the Captain argued that there was confusion in the cockpit and said that the entire transcript from the Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) must come out. "There was confusion in the cockpit. They had very little time to tackle the situation. The transcript from the cockpit voice recorder must come out before the public," he said. "There are many aspects that the government and the agencies look into. The report will be divided into many phases. If we examine the minute details, we can see the conversation between the pilots, their flying hours, what was mentioned about the engine, and the procedures they followed. This is a preliminary report, and several factors will be seen in this. Second-by-second analysis will be done," he added. Dhalla said that the actions of the pilots flying the crashed Air India Flight 171 clearly indicate that there were issues with the engine. "The fuel cutoff switches are primarily given by the manufacturer. Boeing has designed it so that you use it while starting the engine, and when you need to turn it off, you simply cutoff. It has two modes: Run and Cutoff. The system of restarting the fuel cutoff is a process where the pilot tries to regain power in the engine. This clears it that there were issues with the engine," he added. Focusing on the possible situation in the cockpit before the crash, Dhalla said that the aircraft was merely 400-600 feet above ground, which gave pilots only seconds to act while simultaneously contacting the ATC. "Pilots have to follow a checklist after encountering problems on the screen. Human factors must also be considered in this case. The time is very critical. The aircraft was at a height of only 400-600 feet above was a matter of that moment, they tried connecting with the ATC also while performing their actions. They were very experienced pilots," he said. "This could be a rarest of rare accidents, where dual engine flame out could have happened. However, the report is silent since it doesn't mention a dual-engine flameout in this incident. This remains a matter of investigation," he added. On Friday, India's AAIB released the preliminary report into the tragic crash of Air India flight 171, a Boeing 787-8 aircraft, which crashed shortly after takeoff from Ahmedabad's Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport on June 12. The AI-171 flight, which was bound for London's Gatwick airport, crashed soon after takeoff from Ahmedabad's Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel airport. 260 people lost their lives in the accident, which included 229 passengers, 12 crew members and 19 people on the ground. 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.
CBC
22-02-2025
- Politics
- CBC
Ruby Dhalla learns on CBC's Power & Politics she's been disqualified
A source tells CBC News former MP Ruby Dhalla has been disqualified from the Liberal leadership race. Dhalla says she learned the news on CBC's Power & Politics from host David Cochrane.
