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Indian pilot associations have slammed speculative reporting around the preliminary probe into the Air India AI171 crash, after a Wall Street Journal report suggested that the Captain of the flight deliberately turned off the fuel control switches of the plane’s two engines. The Federation of Indian Pilots (FIP) stressed that the Indian Ministry of Civil Aviation’s report did not explicitly point to pilot error in its preliminary probe, while the Airline Pilots’ Association of India (ALPA-I) asked the media to refrain from spreading “unverified and speculative theories”.
In its preliminary report released on July 11, India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) had said that the fuel control switches had transitioned from ‘Run’ to ‘Cutoff’.
“In the cockpit voice recording, one of the pilots is heard asking the other why did he cutoff. The other pilot responded that he did not do so,” the report said, without mentioning which pilot said what.
On July 17, Thursday, Wall Street Journal reported that it was First Officer Clive Kunder who asked Captain Sumeet Sabharwal why he moved the switch, based on information from unnamed sources “familiar with US officials’ early assessment of evidence uncovered in the crash investigation.”
The Airline Pilots’ Association of India (ALPA-I) has already criticised the AAIB’s report for promoting a “presumption of pilot guilt” even before the investigation is complete into the crash that killed at least 260 people.
After the Wall Street Journals’ latest report naming Captain Sabharwal, ALPA-I said, “We at ALPA India make a sincere and urgent appeal to all media outlets and journalists to refrain from spreading unverified and speculative theories regarding the tragic crash of AI 171, especially those involving sensitive matters such as mental health, suicide, or assigning blame to the flight crew without factual or investigative substantiation.”
Captain CS Randhawa, President of FIP, told ANI that “neither the [AAIB] report nor the Civil Aviation Minister has said that it was pilot error.” He also urged the Civil Aviation Ministry to reconstitute the investigation committee to include pilots, engineers and air safety experts.
On July 17, the Wall Street Journal reported, “A black-box recording of dialogue between the flight’s two pilots indicates it was the captain who turned off switches that controlled fuel flowing to the plane’s two engines, according to people familiar with US officials’ early assessment of evidence uncovered in the crash investigation.”
It said that according to the sources, First Officer Clive Kunder asked the more-experienced Captain Sabharwal “why he moved the switches to the cutoff position after it climbed off the runway… The first officer expressed surprise and then panicked, these people said, while the captain seemed to remain calm.”
“Details in the preliminary report also suggest it was the captain who turned off the switches, people familiar with the matter, U.S. pilots and safety experts tracking the probe said. The [AAIB] report didn’t say whether turning off the switches might have been accidental or deliberate,” Wall Street Journal said.
The WSJ report said that US officials have suggested that the accident be reviewed by criminal authorities, in case there was a “potential crime” and not a safety mishap involved.
The ALPA-I has questioned the credibility of individuals making such speculations. “It is deeply concerning that commentary is being sought from self-proclaimed aviation experts who neither have experience operating the aircraft type involved, nor had any personal or professional association with the crew,” a statement issued on July 17 said.
“The crew of AI 171 made every possible effort—till their very last breath—to protect the passengers on board and minimize harm on the ground. They deserve respect, not unfounded character judgments. We urge the media to exercise restraint and avoid sensationalism that causes further trauma to the families of the deceased and undermines the dignity of the profession,” ALPA-I statement said.
Captain CS Randhawa of FIP called for an investigation into a possible malfunction of the TCMA (Throttle Control Malfunction Accommodation). “Boeing has not yet acted and tried to issue a directive that all these aircraft should be checked for TCMA functions,” he said.
US-based publications The Air Current and Wall Street Journal reported before the release of the AAIB’s preliminary report that switches controlling fuel flow to both the plane’s engines had been cut off, and that the investigation was focusing on the pilots’ actions based on this angle.
The AAIB’s preliminary report had also mentioned a December 2018 US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) advisory that flagged a relevant issue on a few Boeing models.
The FAA advisory had said that some of Boeing’s 737 airplanes had fuel control switches with a disengaged locking feature. In the absence of the locking feature, the switch can move or be moved between the two positions without physically lifting it.
According to the advisory, Boeing informed FAA that the switch design is similar on other models like the 787-8, the 787-9, and the 787-10. Even though it had ordered operators to inspect the affected airplanes, the concern is not an “unsafe condition”, the advisory had said.
The AAIB probe report of the Ahmedabad crash stated that the inspections were not carried out on Air India aircraft, as the SAIB was of an advisory nature, and not mandatory.