Rama Krishna Sangem
The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) released its preliminary report, late Friday, on the investigation about the Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad on June 12. So, basically, this is a technical mishap that led to one of the worst aircraft disasters in the history of Indian aviation and also that of the world.
According to 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. 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 that the fatal Air India crash showed the plane engines fuel cutoff switches shifting from cutoff to run within seconds of each other. Releasing the report a month after the fatal crash, the AAIB said the aircraft air/ground sensors transitioned to air mode, consistent with liftoff at 08:08:39 UTC.
“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. The reports added that, “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.”
No bird activity near the flight
Providing a sequence of the happenings, AAIB said the CCTV footage obtained from the airport showed Ram Air Turbine (RAT) getting deployed during the initial climb immediately after lift of. “No significant bird activity is observed in the vicinity of the flight path. The aircraft started to lose altitude before crossing the airport perimeter wall,” it said.
As per the EAFR, the engine 1 fuel cutoff switch transitioned from CUTOFF to RUN at about 08:08:52 UTC. Thereafter at 08:08:56 UTC, 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 engines full authority dual engine control (FADEC) automatically manages a relight and thrust recovery sequence of ignition and fuel introduction,” the report said.
More detailed analysis of what went wrong with the flight and aircraft will only be known after an in-depth investigation of the accident in a few weeks or months.
