Did movement of fuel control switches cause Air India plane crash?

New Delhi: The ongoing investigation into the cause of the June 12 crash of Air India flight 171 has “narrowed its focus to the movement of the engine fuel control switches,” according to a report in the reputed aviation journal Air Current.

The article cites “multiple people with knowledge of the investigation,” as the sources of its information for the report. Sources told Air Current that the black box data does not confirm whether the switches were moved by mistake, on purpose, or due to some other issue before or after the apparent loss of thrust.

Moving a fuel control switch from “RUN to CUTOFF” in flight would cause the fuel supply to stop flowing to the associated engine. This may result in its immediate shutdown and the loss of any thrust, according to Air Current. That would also stop the two electrical generators on each engine from providing power to many of the aircraft’s systems and some of its cockpit displays.

US aviation safety expert John Cox told Air Current that a pilot would not be able to accidentally move the fuel switches that feed the engines. “You can’t bump them, and they move,” he said.

Engine fuel control switches in Dreamliner 787 (RUN and CUTOFF) are used on the ground for engine start or shutdown. Moving a fuel control switch from RUN to CUTOFF in flight would cause the fuel supply to stop flowing to the associated engine. This may result in its immediate shutdown and the loss of any thrust, according to the Air Current report.

That would also stop the two electrical generators on each engine from providing power to many of the aircraft’s systems and some of its cockpit displays.

The Air Current report also states that ”the lack of any kind of advisory warning from Boeing or GE operators, known as a multi-operator message (MOM) or all-ops wire, in the 13 days that have followed the initial black box reading in Delhi by the AAIB on June 25 is a key signal that a mechanical failure is not immediately suspected as the likely cause of the crash.”

There was, however, no official reaction on the Air Current report.

Meanwhile, India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Board (AAIB) has submitted its preliminary report to the Civil Aviation Ministry on the tragic crash of the London-bound Boeing Dreamliner in Ahmedabad. The report is expected to be made public soon.

India, as a member of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), is expected to release the report within 30 days of the incident. It is, therefore, widely believed that the preliminary report will be released on or before July 11.

The official investigation into the crash is being led by AAIB officials and includes technical members from the Indian Air Force, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) from the United States, which is the official investigative agency of the country of the aircraft’s design and manufacture.

More than 270 people were killed when AI-171 on a flight from Ahmedabad to London-Gatwick on June 12 crashed within 35 seconds of taking off. One passenger on the Dreamliner had a miraculous escape.

IANS