AAIB report not final, do not speculate: Union civil aviation minister on Ahmedabad Air India 171 crash findings

Union Minister Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu urged the public not to speculate on the Ahmedabad Air India flight crash based on the probe report by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau. The probe agency investigating the tragic crash released its preliminary probe report on Saturday, a month after the incident. 

 

Naidu told reporters it is too early to jump to conclusions based on the preliminary report. "This is a preliminary report, we are analysing it," the Union minister said. 

 

Naidu added that his ministry is coordinating with AAIB and extending necessary support. The Union minister said pilots and airline crew were the backbone of civil aviation in the country and the government cares for their well-being as well.  "Let us not jump into any conclusions at this stage and wait for the final report," The Union minister said.

 

 

Addressing reporters, the Minister of State for Civil Aviation, Murlidhar Mohol, seconded the Union minister's statement. "The AAIB has brought out a preliminary report; this is not the final. Until the final report comes out, we should not arrive at any conclusion. AAIB is an autonomous authority, and the ministry does not interfere in their work," he said.

 

AAIB released a 15-page preliminary report on its probe into the Ahmedabad Air India crash on  Saturday. The 15-page preliminary report rules out any malfunction with the aircraft or engine for now and has not recommended any action against Air India, aircraft maker Boeing and engine manufacturer GE.

 

According to the report, fuel supply to both engines was cut off soon after the aircraft took off. "The aircraft achieved the maximum recorded airspeed of 180 Knots IAS at about 08:08:42 UTC, and immediately thereafter, the Engine 1 and Engine 2 fuel cutoff switches transitioned from RUN to CUTOFF position one after another with a time gap of 01 second. The Engine N1 and N2 began to decrease from their take-off values as the fuel supply to the engines was cut off," the investigators said.

India