Preliminary report of investigation into Air India plane crash reveals

The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) last night released its 15-page preliminary report of the investigation into the fatal Air India plane crash that claimed 260 lives in Ahmedabad on 12th of last month.

The report which examined the sequence of events and engine behaviour leading up to the crash of Air India flight AI 171 involving a Boeing 787-8 aircraft, revealed that the fuel to the engines of the plane was cut off.

The AAIB in its report said, within seconds of lift off, both engine fuel control switches of the aircraft transitioned from ‘RUN’ to ‘CUTOFF’ position one after another with a time gap of 01 seconds and turned off, resulting in devastating air tragedy.

According to the initial probe report, one of the pilots can be heard on the cockpit voice recorder asking the other why he switched off the fuel supply to engines, to which the other pilot responded by saying that he did not.

The AAIB said, the fuel control switches were switched on later but



the deceleration in one of the engines could not be stopped.

As per the report, the flight lasted around 30 seconds between lift-off and crash. The report mentioned that both pilots had an adequate rest period before the flight. The report noted that there are no recommended actions to operators of Boeing 787-8 and GEnx-1B engine operators at this stage of the probe.

It added that fuel samples taken from the bowsers and tanks used to refuel the aircraft were tested at the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) Lab and were found satisfactory. AAIB said, the investigation team will review additional evidence being sought from stakeholders.

The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner crashed into the hostel premises of BJ Medical College on the outskirts of the airport at Ahmedabad in Gujarat, killing 241 of the 242 people onboard. One passenger survived, while 19 people on the ground also lost their lives. The plane was en route to London Gatwick from Ahmedabad.