Captain Umang N Jani, HoD Aviation department, Indus University, told the media that when the fuel supply stops, both engines stop working, and then such an incident is possible. He added that since this is a preliminary report, there may be further investigation and more details could emerge in the final report
The wreckage of the doomed plane. File pic/Nimesh Dave
An Automatic dual fuel switch cutoff is stated to be the cause of the fatal June 12 crash of Air India flight AIC171, according to the first report of the
Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB).
The report says the cutoff led to an engine flameout and eventually the crash. The aircraft involved in the crash was a Boeing 787-8, a 12-year-old aircraft manufactured in 2013.
The report reads, “The aircraft achieved the maximum recorded airspeed of 180 knots IAS [Indicated Air Speed] at about 08:08:42 UTC (1.38.42 pm local time) and immediately thereafter, the Engine 1 and Engine 2 fuel cutoff switches transitioned from RUN to CUTOFF position one after another with a time gap of 01 sec.” This indicates that the engines of the flight gave up 1 minute 9 seconds after takeoff, which was at 1.37.33 pm.
Captain Umang N Jani, HoD Aviation department, Indus University, told the media that when the fuel supply stops, both engines stop working, and then such an incident is possible. He added that since this is a preliminary report, there may be further investigation and more details could emerge in the final report.
The AAIB report states, “The EGT [Exhaust Gas Temperature] was observed to be rising for both engines indicating relights. Engine 1’s core deceleration stopped, reversed and started to progress to recovery. Engine 2 was able to relight but could not arrest core speed deceleration and re-introduced fuel repeatedly to increase core speed acceleration and recovery.”
An aviation expert who wished to remain unnamed told Sunday mid-day, “A detailed investigation of the CVR and FDR along with other aspects of the crash should shed light on what triggered the fuel switch to go to cutoff state.”
Captain Sam Thomas, President, Airline Pilots’ Association of India, said, “We feel that the investigation is being driven in a direction presuming the guilt of pilots and we strongly object to this line of thought.”
Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!
