President of the Federation of Indian Pilots, Charanvir Singh Randhawa, on Sunday raised doubts over the preliminary report on the Air India AI171 crash, saying it fails to clarify who was in control of the cockpit and points to a possible electrical or software malfunction in the aircraft.
Speaking to ANI, Randhawa said, "The aircraft was actually being flown by the co-pilot, who was controlling the plane, while the captain, the pilot-in-command, was monitoring the flight. So, it's still unclear who made the key decisions. The preliminary report doesnt clarify this, even though it would have been easy to identify from the Cockpit Voice Recorder who was speaking."
He added that the report mentions the fuel control switches changing position on their own, which could indicate a serious glitch.
"The report states that the fuel control switches changed position -- from cutoff to run -- on their own. This suggests there might have been an electrical or software fault. It seems the system detected that the switch had been moved, even though no one physically touched it."
Randhawa also referred to a Boeing advisory from 2018 warning about similar fuel switch issues in 737 aircraft.
"In December 2018, Boeing issued an advisory about similar fuel control switch malfunctions in some 737 aircraft. If that information was available, then all aircraft should have been checked. This circular should have been a directive rather than just an advisory," he said.
Randhawa said he does not believe the pilots would have moved the switches unless both engines had failed, which the report does not confirm.
"I don't believe the pilots would have touched the fuel control switches unless they were aware of a dual engine failure causing a loss of thrust. But according to the Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR), they didn't move the switches. This points to a possible issue in the aircrafts electronic system."
He added, "Yet, the preliminary report seems to give a clean chit, saying there was nothing wrong with the engines or Boeing's systems. But many questions remain unanswered. A proper investigation is still needed to understand what really happened after takeoff."
According to Randhawa, flight data shows the aircraft reached a speed of 180 knots at 08:08 for two seconds. Ten seconds later, the fuel control switches either changed manually or the system recorded a change -- possibly without physical input.
He also pointed out that the landing gear was not retracted and the flaps remained in the takeoff position, suggesting a possible system failure.
"We know from the flight data that the plane reached a speed of 180 knots at 08:08 for two seconds. Ten seconds later, at 08:08:52, the fuel control switches were either manually reset or the system detected a change, possibly without physical input. Also, the landing gear wasn't retracted, and the flaps remained in the takeoff position. This suggests some malfunction may have occurred," Randhawa said.
"If the pilots moved the switches, it may have been in response to the issue. If not, it may have been an electrical fault that falsely indicated a change."
"I hope that in the next phase of the investigation, these questions are answered clearly. Its also important that the CVR transcript identifies who was giving the commands in the cockpit," he added.
The crash of Air India flight AI171, a Boeing Dreamliner 787-8, in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, claimed 260 lives, including 229 passengers, 12 crew members, and 19 people on the ground. -- ANI