Should Fuel Switches Have Been Changed? Expert's Take On Air India Crash

An advisory had been issued by the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) in 2018 about fuel cutoff switches moving without any force after they get worn out and, in hindsight, it would have been better if changing them had been made mandatory, a former director general of the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) has said.

Speaking to NDTV on Saturday, Group Captain Aurobindo Handa (retired), former director general of the AAIB, also said that he was with the Air Force where no chances are taken on ejection seats and engines and, going by that, "a better application of mind" should have taken place. 

In its preliminary investigation report on the Air India Dreamliner crash in Ahmedabad, the AAIB noted that both engines of the plane had shut down mid-air within seconds of take-off and both fuel cutoff switches moved from 'RUN' to 'CUTOFF' position within a second of each other. This meant no fuel was reaching the engines, causing the plane to lose thrust. 

The report said that, in the cockpit voice recording, one pilot can be heard asking, "Why did you cut off?" and the other replies, "I did not".

Group Captain Handa - who handled at least 100 such investigations, including the August 2020 crash of an Air India Express flight from Dubai to Kozhikode- said it is "extremely difficult" for both fuel cutoff switches to move together and then pointed to the 2018 advisory. 

"Way back in December 2018, there was an advisory issued by Boeing through the FAA that these gated switches get worn out over a period of time and they can move without any force. They had suggested that they should be checked and, in case they are worn out, they should be changed. But they recommended an on-condition change. On-condition means that if you see a worn-out valve, change it," he pointed out. 

"But what now, in hindsight, all of us are thinking is that it would have been better had they made it a mandatory change at that point in time... at the same time, there is a saying everyone is wise in hindsight. But, being from the Air Force, let me tell you one thing very clearly: On ejection seats and on engines, we do not take a chance. So, going by that, since this pertained to engine controls and flame-out in air, I think better application of mind should have taken place," the former AAIB chief said. 

He continued, "When this advisory was issued in the form of a bulletin, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation should have called the senior pilots operating the variants of Boeing and should have told them 'This bulletin has come, please apply your mind and tell us what we should do.  So, automatically, there would have been a better collaborative decision... we would have arrived at a better decision."

Transparency

Group Captain Handa praised India's leadership, in civil aviation and otherwise, for coming out with the preliminary investigation report, saying it was important given how many lives were lost in the crash and because it will give grieving relatives some sense of what happened.

The Air India Dreamliner 787-8 - operating as AI flight 171 to London, had crashed into a medical college's hostel in Ahmedabad on June 12, just 32 seconds after taking off. One passenger had miraculously survived, but all the other 241 people on board and at least 20 on the ground were killed.

On whether the crash raises concerns about the accountability of the manufacturer, operator or regulatory bodies, the former AAIB chief said it is hard to say at this point because the investigation is only in its initial stages. 

"We should wait for at least four, five months because it is a long-drawn process... The evidence is comparatively low in this crash," he sai, urging everyone to refrain from speculation.