Washington DC [US], July 17 (ANI): A cockpit recording from the Air India flight that crashed last month appears to show that the captain turned off switches controlling fuel flow to the engines, shifting the focus of the probe onto him, Reuters reported Wednesday, citing a Wall Street Journal (WSJ) report.
The June 12 crash of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner killed 260 people. According to WSJ, which spoke with people familiar with US officials’ early assessment of the evidence, the recording revealed that shortly after the aircraft lifted off the runway, the first officer — who was piloting the plane — questioned the more experienced captain as to why he moved the engine fuel switches to the “cutoff” position.
Reuters, citing WSJ, said the first officer sounded surprised and then panicked as the incident unfolded, while the captain appeared calm.
India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), Boeing, and Air India have not yet issued any comments on the new revelations.
The two pilots involved were Captain Sumeet Sabharwal, who had logged 15,638 flying hours, and First Officer Clive Kunder, with 3,403 hours of experience.
A preliminary report from India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau released last week had already highlighted cockpit confusion moments before the crash and raised questions over the position of the crucial engine fuel cutoff switches.
In a related development, Air India on Wednesday announced it had completed precautionary inspections of the Fuel Control Switch (FCS) locking mechanisms across its entire fleet of Boeing 787-8 aircraft, with no faults found.
According to a company communication sent to flight crews, the checks were carried out over the weekend in line with a DGCA directive issued Monday, July 14.
“Over the weekend, our Engineering team initiated precautionary inspections on the locking mechanism of the Fuel Control Switch (FCS) on all our Boeing 787 aircraft. The inspections have been completed, and no issues were found,” Air India said in its notice.
The airline also confirmed that all of its 787-8 aircraft had already received Throttle Control Module (TCM) replacements as per Boeing’s maintenance schedule, noting that the FCS is an integrated component of the TCM.
Investigations into the crash are continuing as authorities examine both human factors and mechanical issues surrounding the tragedy. (ANI)
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