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Mint
17-07-2025
- Politics
- Mint
Air India flight 171 crash: Indian pilots' body slams US media report on cockpit voice recording, ‘will take action'
The Federation of Indian Pilots (FIP) President, CS Randhawa, has dismissed a US media report on the cockpit voice recordings from the Air India crash investigation, citing unnamed US officials privy to the early assessment of the American investigation into the Air India plane crash, saying the preliminary report doesn't indicate any blame on the pilot. Captain Randhawa dismissed the claims as baseless and vowed to take action against the publication, saying the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau's (AAIB) preliminary report on the Air India plane crash 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 said it was the pilot's mistake. They [the publication] have not read the report properly, and we will take action against them through FIP,' Captain CS Randhawa told ANI. "Neither the report nor the Civil Aviation Minister has said that it was pilot must relate this to the incident of ANA NH985, which occurred on January 17, 2019. At the time of landing, when the pilot selected thrust reversers, both engines shut down without the pilot moving the fuel control switch. I am quite clear that this is a repetition of the TCMA (Throttle Control Malfunction Accommodation) malfunction, and this needs a thorough investigation of the TCMA. Boeing has not taken any action yet and has not even tried to issue a directive that all these aircraft should be checked for TCMA functions. Secondly, there is not a single pilot in the investigation committee," he said. "….I am against this American media. They are deliberately giving their own opinion, their own views from this report, while there is nothing like this in the report. So I very strongly condemn this report of the Wall Street Journal and we will take action on it," he added. Meanwhile, aviation expert Sanjay Lazar has also expressed concern over the leak of investigation details in the United States, pointing out that India's official preliminary report only contains a short pilot denial and lacks the full cockpit voice recorder transcript. A preliminary report on Air India flight 171 crash 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.
NDTV
17-07-2025
- General
- NDTV
"Nowhere Mentioned...": Pilots' Body Slams WSJ Article On Air India Crash
Mumbai: The Federation of Indian Pilots (FIP) president CS Randhawa on Thursday condemned a media report that claimed that the captain of the Air India flight that crashed in Ahmedabad last month deliberately cut off fuel to the engines. Captain Randhawa dismissed the claims as baseless and vowed to take action against the publication. Captain CS 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 said it was the pilot's mistake. They have not read the report properly, and we will take action against them through FIP," Captain CS Randhawa told ANI. He further urged people not to comment on the AAIB's preliminary report, as this may create fear among commuters about air travel. "We had issued a press statement yesterday that no channel, commentator or president of any agency should give such an opinion that has no basis. The detailed report will take time; till then, people are giving their own opinions without any basis, which is not right," Captain Randhawa added. "Neither the report nor the Civil Aviation Minister has said that it was pilot must relate this to the incident of ANA NH985, which occurred on January 17, 2019. At the time of landing, when the pilot selected thrust reversers, both engines shut down without the pilot moving the fuel control switch. I am quite clear that this is a repetition of the TCMA (Throttle Control Malfunction Accommodation) malfunction, and this needs a thorough investigation of the TCMA. Boeing has not taken any action yet and has not even tried to issue a directive that all these aircraft should be checked for TCMA functions. Secondly, there is not a single pilot in the investigation committee," he said. Captain Randhawa said that his federation is requesting the Civil Aviation Minister to reconstitute the board and include type-rated experts in this investigation board, who are pilots, engineers and air safety experts. The FIP President said that Indian Pilots are among the best in the world. "Indian pilots are among the best in the world. I did not give my opinion to the Wall Street Journal, which had approached me as well, because I am against this American media. They are deliberately giving their own opinion, their own views from this report, while there is nothing like this in the report. So I very strongly condemn this report of the Wall Street Journal and we will take action on it," he added. Earlier on Wednesday, the Federation of Indian Pilots (FIP) expressed "serious" concern regarding the preliminary findings and public discourse surrounding the crash of Air India flight AI-171 in Ahmedabad. FIP, in an official statement, expressed their dissatisfaction with the exclusion of pilot representatives from the investigation process, objecting to the way in which the preliminary report has been interpreted and presented publicly. "At the outset, we would like to register our dissatisfaction with the exclusion of pilot representatives from the investigation process. We also firmly object to the way in which the preliminary report has been interpreted and presented publicly," FIP said in an official statement. This statement followed a Reuters report, which cited the Wall Street Journal, claiming that a cockpit recording of dialogue between the two pilots of the Air India flight that crashed last month indicated that the captain turned off the switches that controlled fuel flowing to the plane's engines. As per Reuters, The Wall Street Journal report cited people familiar with US officials' early assessment of evidence uncovered in the investigation into the crash, which killed 260 people. The recording suggested that the first officer, who was flying the Boeing aircraft, opened the new tab 787 Dreamliner, and asked the other captain, who was more experienced, why he moved the switches to the "cutoff" position after it climbed off the runway, the report said. The first officer expressed surprise and then panicked, while the captain seemed to remain calm, Reuters reported, citing WSJ. India's Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), Boeing and Air India have not yet responded to the report. 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.
Hindustan Times
17-07-2025
- Hindustan Times
Indian pilots' body slams US media report as new details emerge on Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad
The Federation of Indian Pilots (FIP) has condemned the Wall Street Journal's fresh article on the Air India flight crash, alleging the report tried to point out the 'pilot's mistake' over the movement of fuel control switches on the plane. Air India plane pilot Sumeet Sabharwal, 56, and his co-pilot Clive Kunder, 32.(Air India pilots) CS Randhawa, the FIP chief, slammed the report, pointing out that the preliminary probe report by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau's (AAIB), released last week, did not place blame on any pilot. "...Nowhere in the (probe) report has it been mentioned that the fuel control switch was turned off due to the pilot's mistake. I condemn the article. They said it was the pilot's mistake. They have not read the report properly, and we will take action against them through FIP," Randhawa was quoted as saying by news agency ANI. The AI171 Boeing 787 Dreamliner that crashed in Ahmedabad shortly after take-off was flown by two pilots -- Captain Sumeet Sabharwal and First Officer Clive Kunder. The initial probe report released last week had revealed a cockpit conversation between the two pilots after it stated that both fuel control switches on the ill-fated plane were moved to the 'cut off' position from the 'run' position after it took off. 'Why did you cut off fuel?' one pilot said, to which the other replied, 'I did not do so", the AAIB report stated. However, neither did the report identify which pilot said what, nor did it imply that the fuel cut-off to the engines was deliberate or accidental. However, a WSJ report with details in the Air India plane crash published on Wednesday read, 'A black-box recording of dialogue between the flight's two pilots indicates it was the captain who turned off switches that controlled fuel flowing to the plane's two engines, according to people familiar with U.S. officials' early assessment of evidence uncovered in the crash investigation.' couldn't independently verify the WSJ report. Objecting to what the media report claimed, FIP president Randhawa urged people not to comment on the report and wait for a detailed investigation into the crash before drawing conclusions. He also drew parallels with the investigation of a January 2019 air accident and suggested a thorough probe into the TCMA (Throttle Control Malfunction Accommodation). "Neither the report nor the Civil Aviation Minister has said that it was pilot must relate this to the incident of ANA NH985, which occurred on January 17, 2019. At the time of landing, when the pilot selected thrust reversers, both engines shut down without the pilot moving the fuel control switch. I am quite clear that this is a repetition of the TCMA malfunction, and this needs a thorough investigation of the TCMA. Boeing has not taken any action yet and has not even tried to issue a directive that all these aircraft should be checked for TCMA functions," Randhawa said. He also raised objection to not a single pilot being part of the investigation committee probing the Air India plane crash. "Indian pilots are among the best in the world. I did not give my opinion to the Wall Street Journal, which had approached me as well, because I am against this American media. They are deliberately giving their own opinion, their own views from this report, while there is nothing like this in the report. So I very strongly condemn this report of the Wall Street Journal and we will take action on it," he added. He has urged the Civil Aviation ministry for the investigation panel to be reconstituted, taking pilots, engineers and air safety experts on board. According to Reuters, Sumeet Sabharwal, 56, had total flying experience of 15,638 hours, of which 8,596 hours were on a Boeing 787, and Clive Kunder, 32, had a flying experience of 3,403 hours, of which he spent 1,128 hours being a co-pilot on 787 Boeing jets. (With ANI inputs)
New Indian Express
17-07-2025
- Politics
- New Indian Express
Report does not mention it was pilot error: Pilot Federation President on AI-171 crash report
MUMBAI: The Federation of Indian Pilots (FIP) President CS Randhawa on Thursday condemned a media report that claimed that the captain of the Air India flight that crashed in Ahmedabad last month deliberately cut off fuel to the engines. Captain Randhawa dismissed the claims as baseless and vowed to take action against the publication. Captain CS 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 said it was the pilot's mistake. They have not read the report properly, and we will take action against them through FIP," Captain CS Randhawa told ANI. He further urged people not to comment on the AAIB's preliminary report, as this may create fear among commuters about air travel. "We had issued a press statement yesterday that no channel, commentator or president of any agency should give such an opinion that has no basis. The detailed report will take time; till then, people are giving their own opinions without any basis, which is not right," Captain Randhawa added. "Neither the report nor the Civil Aviation Minister has said that it was pilot must relate this to the incident of ANA NH985, which occurred on January 17, 2019. At the time of landing, when the pilot selected thrust reversers, both engines shut down without the pilot moving the fuel control switch. I am quite clear that this is a repetition of the TCMA (Throttle Control Malfunction Accommodation) malfunction, and this needs a thorough investigation of the TCMA. Boeing has not taken any action yet and has not even tried to issue a directive that all these aircraft should be checked for TCMA functions. Secondly, there is not a single pilot in the investigation committee," he said.
Time of India
11-07-2025
- General
- Time of India
AI 171 Crash: US aviation attorney says known Boeing 787 software fault may be the reason behind Boeing 787 disaster
What happened in the sky Rare, but not impossible Live Events A history of warnings Another suspect: The human factor Too many what-ifs The AAIB report won't end it (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel On 12 June, Air India flight AI 171 lifted off from Ahmedabad for London. It never got far. The Boeing 787 used every metre of the 3.5-kilometre runway before it finally clawed itself into the sky. Thirty seconds later, the pilots issued a mayday: 'Mayday… no thrust, losing power, unable to lift.' Captain Sumeet Sabharwal and First Officer Clive Kunder had no time. By the time they spoke to Air Traffic Control, it was already too aircraft reached just 625 feet before it began to sink. It fell at nearly 500 feet per minute. When it hit the ground, it smashed into a student hostel. Only one passenger out of 242 survived. Former Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani was among the dead. Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, the sole survivor, described the aftermath as 'unimaginable'.Footage shows the 787 stayed on course. No sharp turns, no sign of birds or smoke. Just a clean, catastrophic loss of thrust from both engines. The landing gear stayed down. The wing slats stayed open to grab whatever lift they could. None of it Schiavo, a US aviation lawyer with Motley Rice, says dual engine failures are 'extremely rare'. 'When both engines fail, the cause is usually external,' she told Financial Express. She points to bird strikes, bad fuel, or weather ingestion — none fit this thinks the problem could lie deep in the Boeing 787's brains: the TCMA and FADEC. 'If the TCMA senses it's still on the ground, it throttles back the engines without pilot input,' she said. In other words, the computer may have told the plane it hadn't taken off, even as it clawed into the isn't guesswork. Schiavo points to two near-disasters: a 2025 United Airlines 787 from Nigeria to Washington that nose-dived because of a suspected computer fault, and a 2019 ANA flight where the TCMA failed outright. She says the data recorders from AI 171 will confirm if that's what doomed the switches are getting a hard look. According to Bloomberg and The Air Current, investigators think the pilots may have accidentally shut off fuel to both engines. John Cox, an ex-airline pilot, says, 'If you move those switches from run to cutoff, those engines will stop running in literally seconds.' In a cockpit crowded with checklists and blinking lights, pilots sometimes make fatal mistakes under pressure. It's happened before. A Delta pilot in the 80s cut the fuel by accident but had altitude to restart. AI 171 did far, there's no proof of sabotage. Schiavo says intelligence chatter shows no sign of that. The take-off video shows the moment the engines throttle back — right when they should be at full thrust. Ahmedabad Airport doesn't even have arrestor beds to catch an overrun. No pilot would pull power on purpose just after quoted aerospace safety consultant Anthony Brickhouse: 'In commercial aviation, a dual-engine failure is extremely rare… in the one in a million range.' When it does happen, pilots rely on an emergency turbine to keep vital systems alive. AI 171's Ram Air Turbine did deploy, proof that all other power was Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) is expected to release its first report soon. It will offer the first official clues but no big conclusions. What we know is this: a fully fuelled Dreamliner lost power and fell out of the sky, killing almost everyone aboard and dozens more on the are now dissecting flight hours, pilot training, design quirks, and a million lines of code. Neither Boeing nor GE Aerospace has commented in detail. The US National Transportation Safety Board is helping but staying aircraft. Two dead engines. Three decades of lessons on what's supposed to be impossible. AI 171 shows that when software, switches or humans fail in the air, there is often no second chance. In the coming months, the data recorders will speak. Until then, families wait. And so does an entire country that trusted that plane to fly.
