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Pilot action 100% right, tried to revive engine: Ex-IAF pilot after Air India crash report
Former IAF pilot Captain (retired) Ehsan Khalid backed the pilots who flew the ill-fated plane, saying they tried to revive the engine.
A 15-page preliminary report probing the deadly Air India plane crash has been released, a month after the accident. While a detailed investigation is still underway, the report provides some important insights into what may have gone wrong within seconds off the flight taking off on June 12.
Reacting to the report, former Indian Air Force (IAF) pilot Captain (retired) Ehsan Khalid backed the pilots who flew the ill-fated plane, saying they tried to revive the engine moments before the crash. Flight AI171, that was headed to London from Ahmedabad but crashed moments after take-off, was flown by Captain Sumeet Sabharwal and first officer Clive Kunder.
"Pilot action 100 per cent right, they tried to revive the engine that is further corroborated with the fact that there was some movement of the fuel cut-off switch," the former IAF pilot said.
His remarks came after a report by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) revealed that shortly after take-off, both fuel cutoff switches on the AI171 flight moved from 'Run' to 'Cutoff' within a second of each other.
However, the report also says that attempts were made by the pilots to re-engage the fuel switches, so the engines could be revived.
Hours after the report was released, the former IAF pilot said it junks some speculation regarding the accident, and also supported how the pilots handled the situation.
Talking about how a fuel switch operates and sharing his insights on what the report revealed, he told news agency PTI, “The fuel cut-off switch is a physical switch, it has to be moved from one position to another, and it has to be moved from that position back. There is not automation involved in it. What automation is involved is the fuel shut-off valve”.
While the preliminary probe report did reveal that the fuel switches were turned off, almost simultaneously, it was not specified what led to it.
A conversation between two pilots from the cockpit was also detailed in the report. "In the cockpit voice recording, one of the pilots is heard asking the other why did he cut off. The other pilot responded that he did not do so," the preliminary report said.
However, when asked about the report, Civil aviation minister Ram Mohan Naidu said “do not jump to conclusions”. He also heaped praise on all pilots and said, "I truly believe we have the most wonderful workforce in terms of pilots and the crew in the whole world.”
Earlier, the Airline Pilots' Association of India (ALPA) also reacted to the report, saying the probe was “being driven in a direction presuming the guilt of pilots”.
The report states that both engines of the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner shut down just a second apart, which led to a rapid loss of altitude, resulting in the crash.
Bird strikes or any signs of external damage have been ruled out, but the exact cause of the fuel cutoff remains under investigation.
