'Don't Jump To Conclusions': Aviation Minister On Air India Crash Report
Union Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu on Saturday said the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) released its report on the Air India crash last month based on preliminary findings, and urged that one should not jump to conclusions.
Union Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu on Saturday said the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) released its report on the Air India crash last month based on preliminary findings, and urged that one should not jump to conclusions till the final report is released.
"There are technicalities involved. It will be very premature to comment on the report. The preliminary has come in, but we have to wait for something concrete to come in," Naidu told reporters. His remarks came hours after the AAIB released its preliminary probe report that indicated a possible fuel switch as the reason behind the crash, which was one of the deadliest in recent times.
In its first investigation report, the AAIB said both switches feeding fuel to the two engines of London-bound Air India flight 171 were cut off, followed by pilot confusion, before the aircraft crashed seconds after taking off on June 12. It said that one pilot asked why he had shut off the fuel, and the other responded he didn't do it.
"The aircraft achieved the maximum recorded airspeed of 180 Knots IAS at about 08:08:42 UTC, and immediately thereafter, the Engine 1 and Engine 2 fuel cutoff switches transitioned from RUN to CUTOFF position one after another with a time gap of 01 sec," the report said. As per the report, the engine N1 and N2 began to decrease from their take-off values as the fuel supply to the engines was cut off.
Pilots Association Objects
Meanwhile, the Pilots’ Association of India alleged that Investigation into the Air India-171 plane crash is being done presuming that the pilots were at fault. The association expressed surprise over the “secrecy" behind the investigation into the incident and underlined that “suitably qualified personnel are not taken on board" for the probe.
In a strong-worded statement, the association pointed to the Wall Street Journal article, which claimed that the investigation has now zeroed in on the movement of the engine fuel control switches – something which was ultimately designated as the cause of the crash in the AAIB report.
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