It’s been nearly one month since Air India Flight 171 plunged into a medical college shortly after taking off from Ahmedabad Airport in India. The crash killed 241 people on the Boeing 787 Dreamliner and 19 more on the ground, with a single survivor on the aircraft. India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau is expected to release the crash’s preliminary report on Friday. Still, investigators have hinted that pilot error will likely be deemed the cause of the disaster, with a focus on the engine fuel control switches.
As much as Boeing has been deservedly maligned for the persistent quality control issues that led to a door plug blowing out of a 737 Max over Portland, the American aviation giant probably won’t be found at fault on this occasion. According to the Air Current, the data from the recovered black boxes revealed that no design or mechanical issues impacted the 787 or its pair of GE Aerospace GEnx-1B engines during the crash. Investigators also ruled out common theories such as fuel contamination or the flight crew improperly retracting the plane’s flaps.
Air India was accused of having lax safety standard before the crash
While it will be clear to see from the flight data recorder if the fuel control system was switched from run to cutoff, it will take months to determine why it happened. The pair of switches behind the throttle features a metal stop lock mechanism with the panel itself bounded by brackets. It’s set up specifically to prevent the captain or first officer from accidentally clipping a switch with a hand or arm and starving the engine of fuel. The loss of thrust would happen quickly.
The increased scrutiny put on Air India has already uncovered worrying practices at the company. Budget subsidiary Air India Express was accused of falsifying safety records by India’s civil aviation authority. The carrier claimed to have made required updates to the engines on its Airbus A320neo planes. However, the information submitted to regulators is believed to be fake. The budget airline has also been accused of faking medical records after a pilot died of a heart attack in April after landing a plane. The pilot was found to have an underlying heart condition, something typically identified during a mandatory exam that would disqualify a commercial pilot from service. Tragically, lax standards might have killed hundreds of Air India passengers.
