Latest news with #piloterror
CNA
22-07-2025
- CNA
Jeju Air crash: Did pilots shut down wrong engine before deadly crash?
Latest investigation findings into the deadly Jeju Air crash in December 2024 revealed that pilots mistakenly shut down the left engine, which was operating normally, instead of the right engine, which had been severely damaged by a bird strike before landing. Families of the victims objected to the conclusions, leading to South Korea's investigation body cancelling a planned release to media on Saturday (Jul 19).
Russia Today
21-07-2025
- General
- Russia Today
Western media hit with legal action over Air India crash coverage
The Federation of Indian Pilots has filed a legal notice against the Wall Street Journal and Reuters over their coverage of last month's deadly Air India crash, the group's head, Captain MR Wadia, has told RT. He called the reports 'irresponsible' and said they damaged the pilots' reputations for suggesting crew error. The UK-bound Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner crashed into a residential area in Ahmedabad shortly after takeoff on June 12, killing 241 of 242 people onboard and 19 people on the ground. A preliminary report by India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) found that cockpit fuel switches had been switched off seconds after takeoff, which shut down both engines. The reason for the fuel switches being moved remains unclear. The pilot body accused the Western media – particularly the WSJ and Reuters – of misrepresenting the findings and blaming the crew. Let's Talk Facts! #AirIndiaCrashFederation of Indian Pilots President - Captain MR Wadia - explains why Boeing systems might be at fault for the tragedy in Ahmedabad. But... he STRESSES he isn't making a statement or placing BLAME until the evidence is Western… from day one… there were Western media people in captain's uniforms saying, 'we know exactly what happened', 'we know exactly that the pilot made a mistake',' Wadia told RT on Saturday. He added there were multiple 'insinuations' suggesting pilot error from the outlets. 'These are totally irresponsible, irrational and illogical statements... to blame the pilots when we know for a fact that the pilots have done a wonderful job,' Wadia added. 'That prompted us to give a notice to the Western media… that please resort to facts only and not to conjecture.' A legal notice is a formal warning that often precedes a lawsuit. Asked why such reporting occurred, Wadia responded: 'It's just one word – finance.' 'Suppose it is found that Boeing is at fault for faulty equipment and that is what caused the crash… Therefore, they have tried to lay the foundation from the very next day that the fault of the accident is the pilots,' he said. While the AAIB report does not blame Boeing for the crash, India's aviation regulator has ordered fuel system checks on all domestic aircraft made by the US firm. Wadia declined to speculate on why the switches were turned off, saying only that further analysis is needed. However, he urged the Western media not to assign blame while the probe is ongoing.
The Sun
21-07-2025
- General
- The Sun
How pilots cutting engines sparked TWO plane disasters after South Korea & India crashes as calls for cockpit CCTV grow
PILOTS manually cutting the engines were to blame for the two most deadly air crashes of this decade, investigations suggest. With a total of 420 lives lost in the flick of three buttons, urgent questions are swirling about what can be done to reduce the risk of pilot error or sabotage. 8 8 8 8 The Jeju Air emergency-landing crash killed 179 people in December, and 241 people died when the Air India plane came down shortly after takeoff in June. Investigators have sensationally revealed there is "clear evidence" that the Jeju Air pilots mistakenly shut down the wrong engine after a bird strike. The plane was then forced to make an emergency landing at Muan International Airport on December 29, where it slammed into a concrete wall and burst into a fireball. Meanwhile, the leading theory in the Air India crash is that the pilot manually flipped both guarded fuel switches to the 'cut-off' position — a move aviation experts say could only have been deliberate. A report from the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau of India (AAIB) revealed a recording of the panicked co-pilot asking which the main pilot shut off the engines. Terry Tozer, former airline pilot and author of "Confessions of an Airline Pilot – Why Planes Crash", told The Sun that it would have been be possible for the Air India pilot to shut off the engines without the other noticing. In the cockpit were Captain Sumeet Sabharwal and First Officer Clive Kunder. Terry said: "The handling pilot, which we know was the First Officer, would have had his hands full. "He would have had his hands on the controls, but the monitoring pilot [Sumeet] would have his hands free." "There is absolutely no procedure or logical reason why you would shut the engines off just after takeoff. That's so blindingly obvious that it doesn't need to be stated. "So either it happened by accident, which I think a lot of people find extremely hard to believe or it was done deliberately." Terry said that the switches are "latched", meaning you have to lift them up before you can move them. Despite the safety mechanism, Terry said it would 'probably' have been possible for one pilot to shut down the engines without the monitoring pilot noticing, because the switches "would be kind of behind his natural line of sight". The experience pilot also called on investigators to release a key piece of evidence that could clear up what happened in India. 8 8 He explained the area microphone on the cockpit voice recorder would have picked up the sound of the switches being flicked. Terry said: 'So it would have been helpful if the investigators had said whether or not they were able to tell whether a switch type sound was detectable around about the time that they think the switches might have been switched off.' Speaking about the Jeju crash, Terry said the pilots "obviously" shut down the wrong engine by "mistake" - but revealed they would have been contending with a chaos in the cockpit. He said: 'They probably would have had all kinds of bells and whistles going off and lots of indications that both engines were in trouble.' The former pilot said "takes time to analyze whether or not you should shut down one or neither or both" - but this was time the Jeju pilots did not have. He also said the new revelations about those crucial moments had been revealed in a "very odd manner". Terry said: "I understand that it was released to the relatives of the victims and in private, prior to release to the general public. "And then that causes riots and chaos." 8 8 However, Terry said that whatever happened in the two cockpits, there is one factor that determines passengers' fate above all else. He said the 'single most important thing' in passenger safety is the "airline culture". Terry explained: 'If it is a disciplined professional safety culture with a good training regime, then that makes a huge difference.' Terry recalled a similar occasion when the wrong engine was shut down - the Kegworth air disaster of 1989 - and said that was "definitely a cultural problem in the training department'. 'That may have been a factor with Jeju Air,' he said. In the wake of the two tragedies, many aviation figures have called for he introduction of cockpit CCTV. That would clear up immediately how the two engines came to be shut off on the Air India flight - but Terry said pilots would push back. He said: 'I can see why the investigators might welcome cockpit CCTV. "We should be doing everything we can to minimize crashes. 'And in any responsible environment, with a good airline and a regulatory environment that is already happening. "And obviously, if there was a video evidence of what went on on the cockpit. They would know the answers pretty clearly by now. "But it's something that I think pilots would resist, for the simple reason that they're already scrutinized, trained, checked, examined, monitored, regulated so much."
Yahoo
21-07-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Pilots ‘switched off wrong engine' in South Korea crash that killed 179
The pilots of the South Korean airliner that crashed and killed 179 people switched off the wrong engine, according to a new report. The Aviation and Railway Accident Investigation Board (ARAIB) found that the right engine of the Jeju Air Boeing 737 stopped working after the plane collided with a flock of ducks. Meanwhile, the left engine continued to produce power. However, instead of turning off the damaged engine on the right-hand side, the pilots cut power to the side that was still operational, leaving the plane without any working engines. The investigators said: 'A pilot may have mistakenly turned off the engine.' The cockpit voice recorder captured the pilot saying 'shut down engine number two', but the flight data shows that the pilots instead switched off engine number one, likely in error because of the pressure of the situation. An official told South Korea's MBN television news: 'The pilot should have turned off the right engine, which was severely damaged by the bird strike, but he turned off the left engine, which was spinning, and the black box and power went out.' The pilots on the Jeju Air flight had also activated the left engine's fire extinguisher, which makes it impossible for the engine to be restarted while the aircraft is in flight, the report said. News of the pilots' role in the Jeju Air crash comes less than a week after it was revealed that the fatal Air India crash in June, which killed all but one of the 242 passengers on board, was also caused by the pilot's error after he cut off the fuel supply. The South Korean plane, which crashed on Dec 29 2024, hit the ground at a dangerously high speed without its landing gear lowered and exploded after colliding with an embankment at the end of the runway. Credit: Lee Geun-young All 175 passengers and four of the six crew members were killed in South Korea's worst aviation disaster in decades. The pilots of Flight 2216 had also ignored the correct procedure for how to land after a bird strike by climbing the aircraft back up and then turning it to make a rushed landing in the opposite direction on the same runway. The collision with the birds had occurred as the aircraft was preparing for its descent into Muan International airport, located in the southern part of the country. The airport's air traffic control issued a warning at 8:57am that there was bird activity detected in the area, and a minute later the pilot reported a bird strike and issued a mayday call. Video footage later showed that the right engine had erupted in flames and the investigation found feathers and duck blood in both engines. ARAIB presented its findings on Saturday, but the families of the victims accused officials of unfairly blaming the pilots at the press conference. The investigators had to quickly retrieve copies of the report, claiming that it had not yet been formally issued. Investigators maintain that there were no engine defects or mechanical failures, although power to the aircraft's flight recorders was shut off for the last four minutes of the flight, so there could be key information that remains unknown. Kim Yu-jin, the head of the relatives' group, said: 'When investigators take a position, it should be accompanied by documents that support their position and convince the bereaved family that their conclusions are inevitable. We were only given their conclusions. 'We have repeatedly asked them to be careful about these disclosures because the way that the results of the investigation are communicated can have an impact on the compensation that families receive.'' Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. Solve the daily Crossword
Daily Mail
20-07-2025
- Daily Mail
Pilots are to blame for South Korea plane crash that killed 179 when aircraft slammed into concrete wall and burst into flames, report finds
Tragic errors by the pilots of South Korea airliner were the direct cause of the devastating crash that killed 179 people last December, according to a bombshell report by investigators. The Jeju Air Boeing 737 was moments from landing at the coastal Muan Airport after a flight from Bangkok on December 29 when it struck a flock of birds - believed to be Baikal teal ducks - which sent one its engines into failure. In a horrifying twist, investigators say the pilots then shut down the wrong engine, sealing the fate of those on board. Instead of switching off the damaged engine, the crew mistakenly cut power the only one that was still functioning. 'A pilot may have mistakenly turned off the engine,' investigators said. The aircraft, now critically compromised, continued its botched descent at dangerously high speed, with the landing gear still retracted. Moments later, the plane careened off the runway, slammed into a reinforced embankment, and erupted into a fireball. Only two of the cabin crew members seated at the rear survived the inferno. In a chaotic press conference on Saturday, grieving members of the victims stormed the room, accusing officials of scapegoating the pilots. 'They've just blamed it all on the pilots' a man shouted. Amid the uproar, investigators hastily retrieved copies of the interim findings from journalists, claiming the report was not yet officially released. Despite the backlash, investigators stood by their conclusion - that there was no mechanical fault with the Boeing aircraft. Instead, a catalogue of cockpit errors led to South Korea's worst aviation disaster in decades. 'The pilot should have turned off the right engine, which was severely damaged by the bird strike, but he turned off the left engine, which was spinning, and the black box and power went out,' an official told South Korea's MBN television news. Disturbingly, the final moments of the flight remain particularly shrouded in mystery. Power to the aircraft's flight data and voice recorders cut out for four minutes before the crash, severely hampering the investigation. Experts also say the pilots violated safety protocol following the bird strike, climbing abruptly and executing a risky turnaround before attempting an unorthodox landing - on the same runway but from the opposite direction. Aviation professionals have pointed out chilling similarities to the 1989 Kegworth crash in the UK, where a British Midland 737 went down after pilots also shut off the wrong engine. That disaster claimed 47 lives. Families of the Muan victims are now demanding accountability and transparency. Kim Yu-Jin, head of the bereaved families group, deemed the report 'unconvincing' and warned that the way officials handle the findings could affect compensation for grieving loved ones. 'When investigators take a position, it should be accompanied by documents that support their position and convince the bereaved family that their conclusions are inevitable,' she said. 'We were only given their conclusions. She added: 'We have repeatedly asked them to be careful about these disclosures because the way that the results of the investigation are communicated can have an impact on the compensation that families receive.'
