"Why did you cut off the fuel?": The disturbing conversation between the pilots of the crashed Air India flight
The plane crashed shortly after takeoff, killing 260 people.
BarcelonaThe preliminary report of the Air Accidents Investigation Bureau of India on theAir India Flight 171 crash, killing 260 people On June 12, the investigation focused attention on the pilots' actions. It noted that, according to the flight recorder, the two fuel control switches, normally used to turn the engines on or off on the ground, were switched from the "run" position (run) in the "cut" (cutoff) shortly after takeoff. This caused both engines to lose thrust.
The report adds that, in the Air India Boeing 787-8 cockpit voice recording on the black box, "one of the pilots is heard asking the other: 'Why did you cut out?' And the other pilot replies that he didn't." The report does not clarify who the pilot and co-pilot are in the conversation. At the time the aircraft took off, it was the co-pilot who was flying the plane, while the captain was supervising. The switches were then returned to their normal flight position, which automatically initiated the process of restarting the engines. In fact, one of the engines had begun to regain thrust at the time the aircraft crashed. The other was reactivated, but had not yet regained thrust.
Protected switches
To stop the fuel supply, two switches are required. These switches are located in the center of the control and are designed to prevent accidental activation: both switches must be lifted to unlock them before activating them. This is a safety measure dating back to the 1950s. Manufactured to highly reliable standards, they have protection against accidental impacts. Switching the switches to the "cutoff" position almost immediately stops the engines, because it interrupts the fuel supply. This is usually done once the plane has reached its destination and the engines are shut down. It can also be done in some emergency situations, but the report does not mention that one occurred on board the Air India plane.
The text emphasizes that "at this stage of the investigation, there are no recommended actions for the operators and manufacturers of the B787-8 or the GE GEnx-1B engine," suggesting that no significant fault has been found with the plane or its engines. The report draws no conclusions and notes that the investigation is ongoing. The next steps will include examining other identified components of interest, analyzing fuel samples recovered from the aircraft, and a more comprehensive analysis of data from two onboard recorders and postmortem reports from the crew and passengers. A final report is expected within a year.
