Pilot’s body slams US media report ‘blaming’ Captain for AI plane crash
The Federation of Indian Pilots (FIP) has written to Civil Aviation Minister Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu, raising concerns over the preliminary probe into the Air India Flight AI-171 crash and demanding that experienced aviation experts be made part of the investigation panel.
The letter from FIP president Capt CS Randhawa highlights what it calls serious gaps and premature conclusions in the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau’s (AAIB) initial report, which, according to the pilots’ body, appears to suggest pilot error without sufficient technical backing.
The pilots body’s strong reaction came a day after the Wall Street Journal’s report on the Air India flight crash claimed that the captain of the ill-fated flight had deliberately cut off fuel to the engines.
“…Nowhere in the report has it been mentioned that the fuel control switch was turned off due to the pilot’s mistake. I condemn the article. They said it was the pilot’s mistake. They have not read the report properly, and we will take action against them through FIP," Captain Randhawa said.
The FIP, in its letter to the minister, argued that the simultaneous shutdown of both engines just seconds after take-off, as recorded in the flight data, is humanly impossible and points towards an automated system malfunction rather than crew action.
The federation drew attention to previous global incidents involving Boeing 787 aircraft, particularly a 2019 ANA flight where faulty sensor data triggered a similar dual engine shutdown through the aircraft’s Full Authority Digital Engine Control (FADEC) system and Thrust Control Malfunction Accommodation (TCMA) module.
The letter also cited the US Federal Aviation Administration bulletin from 2018 that warned of potential disengagement of fuel control switch locks on Boeing 787s, a vulnerability FIP says may not have been addressed by Air India.
The federation expressed concern that key elements such as cockpit voice recorder analysis, autopilot engagement data, and wreckage findings indicating fuel switches in the ‘RUN’ position have not been properly examined or reflected in the report.
FIP said the AAIB investigation lacks subject matter experts, including type-rated pilots and air safety specialists, and called for the probe committee to be reconstituted to ensure a fair and technically sound inquiry. It cautioned against creating a “blame culture” where pilots are accused without ruling out established technical failure paths in the aircraft systems.
Meanwhile, reacting to the WSJ report, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol said the AAIB’s findings so far were only preliminary and should not be treated as final.
“I think this is a primary report by AAIB. I have said this earlier too, that soon after the incident, within 24 hours, the AAIB team and other agencies together retrieved the black box. Data was recovered from the black box which was in the custody of AAIB. A lot of details came out through that," the minister said while speaking to the reporters in Pune.
He further said it wouldn’t be correct to reach at a conclusion and all must wait for the final report to come out.
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