A month after Boeing 787-8 accident of the Air India company, shortly after taking off at Ahmedabad, the first elements are now known about the circumstances of the disaster. According to a preliminary research report published this Saturday, July 12, the fuel supply switches of the aircraft engines were placed in the “stop” position just before the plane was released.
• Querosene energy supply cutting
The 15 -page report published by the Indian Research Office on Air Accidents (AAIB) does not draw any conclusion and does not attribute any responsibility. However, he noted that when the Boeing reached a maximum speed of 180 knots (333 km/h) while taking off, the fuel switch switches went from the “run” (open) position to the “cut” position (stop) for the first engine and then the second a second later.
“In the recording of conversations in the cabin, one of the pilots asks the other why he cut the fuel diet. The second pilot replies that he did not,” you can also read in the document. The two engines began to lose power. Less than a minute later, a pilot transmitted the “Mayday, Mayday, Mayday” relief signal, and the plane crashed into the homes.
As Jean Serrat, aeronautical consultant for BFMTV, explains, these switches are behind the thrust controllers and several manipulations are needed to change from a “execution” position to a “cut” position. “You have to lift it, put it in the front or on the back and drop it,” he describes. “Is it a voluntary action of one of the two pilots with the other who would have put the devices again before the accident? At the moment, we do not know.”
• A complete analysis must have “months”
Citing this week several sources of the survey, the specialized air current site said that it had recently focused on the movement of the engines’s fuel switches, after an analysis of the integrated flight recorders and vocal data “of the device. The complete analysis must take” months, if no longer “, and the privileged hypothesis could still evolve.
The Indian office report recalls that the United States Federal Administration (FAA) had published a bulletin in 2018 on “the possible disconnection of the fuel control switch lock function.” Air India informed the researchers that he had not carried out the suggested inspections because they were “advised and non -mandatory.” Air India respected all navigability guidelines and alert service tickets, indicates the report.
The Research Office also said that “there was no recommended action for operators and manufacturers B787-8 and/or Genx-1B”, which suggests that there were no technical problems with engines (GE) or the device.
• Air India continues “cooperating completely”
Boeing did not comment on the Indian report. “Our thoughts remain with the relatives of the passengers and the crew of the Air India 171 flight, and with all the people assigned to the ground in Ahmedabad. We continue to support the survey and our clients,” only the manufacturer wrote in a press release.
In a press release in X, Air India said he continued “cooperating completely with AAIB and other authorities as his investigation progresses.”
The survey is still underway, the Indian office added, adding that “additional information from interested parties was” requested. ” The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) stipulates that the states that direct the investigation must submit a preliminary report within 30 days after an accident.
The Indian aerial plane transported 230 passengers (169 Indians, 53 British, seven Portuguese and a Canadian), as well as 12 crew members. A single passenger has survived, a British citizen outside the debris of the plane and who has since left the hospital. The authorities also identified 19 people killed in the field.
Source: BFM TV
