Air India crash pilot's mistake revealed in report 'couldn't have been accident'

The alleged fatal mistake made by the pilots on the doomed Air India flight that crashed was not an easy one to make, an aviation expert has said.

A preliminary report into the crash, that killed 241 onboard the flight, claimed the fuel switches to the engine were reportedly cut off prior to the tragic air disaster. An expert has since claimed these switches are the kind used on every flight, and designed so that this cannot easily "accidentally" happen. The London Gatwick-bound Boeing 787 Dreamliner crashed into a medical college shortly after taking off from Ahmedabad Airport on June 12.

A preliminary report from India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau, published on Friday, said both of the plane’s fuel switches moved to the "cut-off" position "immediately" after take-off, stopping fuel supply to the engine. This report said: "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."

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The switches were then returned to their normal inflight position, which triggered an automatic engine relight and a thrust recovery procedure. While the engines started to recover, one of the pilots transmitted a "mayday, mayday, mayday" message before the plane was seen by air traffic control to crash outside the airport.

Aviation expert Professor Graham Braithwaite, at Cranfield University, said these fuel switches are used at the end of every flight and in emergency scenarios such as a fire. They are designed so they cannot easily be "accidentally" turned off and pilots would generally run through a checklist before doing so, he added.

The professor said: "For obvious reasons, the two switches are a distance apart, so not a huge distance, but enough that you couldn’t accidentally switch two when you’re trying to switch one.

"So it’s not like the lights in your house, where they’re right next to each other, so there is some space between them. They’re in that centre console, so that’s in between the two pilots, so they can each reach them with the same ease."

Professor Braithwaite said if the switch had been touched by a person at below 1,000 feet, it would have been a "very unusual thing to do". He said: "It’s not the point of flight where you try and call for your coffee, it’s a period of flight where your focus is very, very clear, and that first 1,000 feet, it’s about keeping the airplane climbing and that’s not about clicking switches."

The professor added: "I could see why a nervous flyer would be nervous at the thought that it’s possible to shut both engines down at a critical stage in flight, but for whatever reason, and that there are a number of things that are in place to stop it from accidentally happening."

The doomed aircraft was around 11 years old, the fuel switches had been changed two years ago, and the crash was a "really, really unusual event", according to Professor Braithwaite. Of the next stage of the investigation, he said: "If somebody did wilfully move a switch, then was it on the one hand a wilful active sabotage, in which case the investigation changes considerably, because this safety investigation that published the report yesterday will not be leading on that, that would be a police investigation.

"So that would change at that point, but if it wasn’t clear that it was that wilful action, you’d be looking at, well, what kind of mistake might somebody have made?"

If the final investigation takes more than a year to complete, an interimreport would be issued on the anniversary of the crash, Professor Braithwaite said, adding that interim recommendations could be made at any time. The preliminary report said all crew members had been breathalysed on their arrival at Ahmedabad airport, and found they were "fit to operate the flight".

No significant birdactivity was spotted near the flight path and the aircraft started to lose altitude before crossing the airport perimeter wall. Both engines were retrieved from the wreckage and quarantined at a hangar in the nearby airport. Investigators have identified "components of interest for further examinations", the report says.

An Air India spokesman said: "Air India stands in solidarity with the families and those affected by the AI171 accident. We continue to mourn the loss and are fully committed to providing support during this difficult time."

The spokesman added: "Air India is working closely with stakeholders, including regulators. We continue to fully co-operate with the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) and other authorities as their investigation progresses. Given the active nature of the investigation, we are unable to comment on specific details and refer all such inquiries to the AAIB."