Pilots' body challenges Air India crash findings, cites electrical failure theory

The Federation of Indian Pilots FIP has challenged the official explanation behind the crash of Air India Flight AI 171 claiming that fresh simulator tests suggest a major electrical failure and not deliberate action by the pilots that may have caused the disaster as per IANSAddressing a press conference FIP President Captain CS Randhawa alleged that investigators overlooked critical technical evidence and excluded experienced aviation experts from key parts of the investigationOfficial report blamed pilot actionsThe governments interim report into the June 12 2025 crash near Ahmedabad airport had concluded that the flight crew manually cut off fuel to the aircrafts engines leading to a loss of power shortly after takeoffAccording to the report the aircrafts ram air turbine RAT mdash an emergency backup power system mdash deployed four seconds after the fuel supply was cutSimulator tests raise questionsHowever the pilots federation said it recently carried out simulator tests using the same weight balance and weather conditions as the illfated flightAccording to Randhawa the results do not match the timeline presented in the official report Our simulator tests prove that a manual fuel cutoff takes a full 18 seconds to deploy the backup turbine The official timeline of four seconds is physically and technically impossible Randhawa said reported the news agencyThe FIP argues that the rapid deployment of the backup turbine indicates that a major electrical failure occurred before the engines lost powerElectrical failure theoryThe federation believes that a sudden electrical malfunction may have affected multiple aircraft systems triggered the engine switches and eventually led to the crashFIP also pointed to statements made by the lone survivor of Flight AI 171 who reportedly recalled seeing the cabin lights flicker and dim moments before the aircraft began losing altitudeAccording to the pilots body this account supports the possibility of a significant electrical failure onboardFederation questions investigationThe pilots body alleged that Captain RS Sandhu whom it described as Indias leading Boeing 787 expert was excluded from crucial stages of the investigationThey are ignoring the input of our most experienced pilot because his knowledge would completely disprove their pilot suicide theory Randhawa alleged It is easier to blame dead pilots who cannot defend themselves than to confront a major mechanical or software flaw he added as per the news agencyThey further claimed that the aircraft had a history of unresolved electrical issues before the fatal flight It also alleged that investigators failed to adequately examine these technical concerns while focusing on the theory that pilot actions caused the crashDemands for reviewThe FIP said it has submitted its simulator findings to Boeing and government aviation authoritiesThe federation has demanded that the final accident report not be released until the differences between the official findings and simulator results are thoroughly examined It has also called for Captain Sandhus reinstatement to the investigation team saying his expertise is necessary for a fair and transparent reviewWith IANS Inputs