Air India Crash Preliminary Report Hands Clean-Chit to Boeing, GE Aerospace

India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) has cleared Boeing and GE Aerospace of the suspicion over their role in the deadly Air India AI-171 crash on June 12. In its preliminary report, released on July 12, AAIB primarily focused on the position of the critical engine fuel cutoff switches, suggesting that the aircraft maker Boeing and engine maker GE had no apparent responsibility for the accident.

According to the first set of findings, the fuel-control switches moved to the cut-off position, immediately disrupting the fuel supply to both engines shortly after the flight took off from the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. The report underlines that the starvation of engines was the primary cause of the crash, raising concerns about whether the pilots accidentally turned off the switch or if it was an unintentional move.

The report also narrates the chaos in the cockpit, involving a conversation between the pilots on why the fuel switches were in that position. One pilot was heard asking the other why he cut off the fuel. The other one replied, “I didn’t do so.” The report did not specify which pilot said what, nor did it identify which one alarmed “Mayday, Mayday, Mayday” before the crash. The London Gatwick-bound Air India flight flew on June 12 with Sumeet Sabharwal as the commanding pilot and Clive Kunder as the co-pilot, with a combined 19,000 flying hours.

Experts have cited the report to explain that pilots would normally never cut off fuel supply to engines mid-air, but the angle of their unintentionally pulling the switch can also not be ruled out. One of the aviation experts in the US told Reuters that a pilot could not move the switch accidentally, and if they did, then why, emphasising the pilot who was heard denying the same. Another observed that while automatic cutoff is not possible, a mechanical failure could be the likely reason, bypassing the need to lift the switches for the “cut-off” to take effect.

A report by the Federal Aviation Administration, released in 2018, underscored that if the locking mechanism of the fuel switches becomes disengaged, it can remove the need to lift the switches before they can be thrown. However, AAIB has not clarified if a mechanical failure caused the fuel supply cut-off in Air India’s crash. At the same time, the report has also not suggested whether an engine cutoff was needed, since it is often used to switch engines off once a plane has landed at the airport gate and in emergencies.

The Civil Aviation Minister, Ram Mohan Naidu, assured that the preliminary report should not prompt any conclusions as the investigation regulatory body is still probing the incident, which marked the biggest tragedy in India’s history of aviation.

Read more: Can the Fuel Switch Be Accidentally Turned Off? Air India Crash Report Reveals Alarming Truth