Aviation expert explains how fatal mistake could have happened in Air India crash after cause revealed
As the preliminary report into last month's fatal Air India crash is released, an expert has explained how the fatal error which killed 260 people could have happened.
Exactly a month ago (June 12), 242 people on board a commercial airline collided with a medical college hostel in a residential part of Ahmedabad, India, which is located roughly a mile away from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport's runway.
The disaster unfolded at 1.38pm (local time), and saw all but one person on board the aircraft die.
Vishwash Kumar Ramesh was sat in seat 11A when the 40-year-old miraculously was pictured walking away from the wreckage, and tragically was one of his brother Ajay's pallbearers just days later - with the 35-year-old having also been on the doomed flight.
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Now, a preliminary report from the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau, which was published yesterday (July 11), has determined the cause of the crash - citing that the fuel supply for the engines were switched off mid-flight.
It states that as the aircraft reached a maximum recorded airspeed of 207mph, the engine one and engine two fuel cut-off switches were flicked off seconds after takeoff.
"The Engine N1 and N2 began to decrease from their take-off values as the fuel supply to the engines was cut off," it read.
At which point, the report mentions what could be heard in the pilots' compartment: "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."
Aviation expert Tim Atkinson believes that there to be 'very few situations or circumstances which would explain this'.
The pilot and aviation consultant told Sky News: "One would be an utterly extraordinary human error, an unintentional act, and the other - I'm very sorry to say - would be an intentional act.
"And that's not a suggestion or allegation, it's simply an analysis of the small amount of information that we have at hand at this moment."
Another aviation expert, David Learmount, told the same publication: "The fuel switches cannot be turned on or off by mistake. They have to be pulled out before selecting up (run) or down (cut off)."
He added, however, that 'there are cases of pilots carrying out an incorrect action instead of what they should be doing'.
The Air India jet was understood to have been carrying 54,200kg of fuel at the time which is within the 'allowable limits'.
After the error with the fuel supply switch was realised by the cockpit, the pilots quickly turned them back on - according to the report.
Which read: "At 08:08:56 UTC [Coordinated Universal Time - which India Standard Time is five-and-a-half hours ahead of] the Engine 2 fuel cutoff switch also transitions from CUTOFF to RUN.
"When fuel control switches are moved from CUTOFF to RUN while the aircraft is inflight, each engine’s full authority dual engine control (FADEC) automatically manages a relight and thrust recovery sequence of ignition and fuel introduction."
Joe Yates