Air India: Ex-Pilot Recreates Plane Crash in Simulator, Opens People's Eyes to What Likely Happened

Air India: Ex-Pilot Recreates Plane Crash in Simulator, Opens People's Eyes to What Likely Happened

  • Using a machine designed to provide a realistic imitation, a former pilot has recreated the final moments of the Air India crash
  • He disagreed with the Air Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB)'s report that pointed to a technical fault
  • The former pilot noted that the switches on the plane are properly safeguarded by safety mechanisms and ruled out a likely fuel switch flip

An ex-pilot has reacted to the Air Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) report on the Air India plane crash, which happened on June 12.

In a video, the ex-pilot used a simulator to recreate the final moments of the ill-fated crash and absolved the pilots of any blame.

Ex-pilot says fuel switch flip unlikely as he recreates Air India plane crash using simulator
An ex-pilot says a fuel switch flip was unlikely. Photo Credit: Business Standard
Source: Youtube

The ex-pilot, who was interviewed by Business Standard, stated that a fuel switch flip was unlikely and explained why.

"First of all, these switches are physical switches and uh they are properly safeguarded by safety mechanism. So inadvertent uh uh malfunction or turning them on or off is not possible. It has to be intentional or it can be a technical malfunction also.

"We cannot deny the technical malfunction... Sir, if you see the report closely, there is a discussion between the pilots, though clear instructions are not mentioned. The co-pilot asked if they switched off the cuts or something like that. How do you interpret the grey area of 6 to 11 seconds in relation to the total incident that took place in 10 to 11 seconds?"

Commenting on the final words of the two pilots, he said it was a reaction to the plane losing thrust after takeoff. He said:

"Basically it seems like that the aircraft was producing proper thrust for takeoff. The aircraft took off and immediately after that both the engines uh uh lost thrust.
"So the first reaction by the pilot was did you turn this fuel shut off switch off? The immediate uh answer to that question was no I did not. So that clearly establishes that it was not intentional or it was not done by the pilot. What happens uh if after the takeoff like suppose we can suppose the thrust levers are up the flight is taking off."

He continued:

"And in between that process because there are some words mentioned run cutaways and the pictures we see in the report there are the thrust keywords that are up plus the switch of the engines from which the fuels gets to the engine that uh turbine that is also off. It means there is a run and then cut away and then run.
"Yeah. Basically, what it seems like, based on the report, is that both engines' fuel shut-off valves were shut off, either intentionally or due to a mechanical malfunction. As per the emergency procedures for which the pilots are trained, they immediately tried to restart both engines."
"So they put the fuel shut off walls, both of the switches to run position to restart the engines. One of the engines did not responded for restart procedure. It did not relight it. But the second engine was in the process of relighting. It started to spool up. But it was already too late because uh since it was right after takeoff, so they went straight ahead and collided with the building.

"All the commercial airline uh pilots multi-engine multi-engine aircraft they are certified to operate fully on one engine. Had uh this incident taken place at some higher altitude the pilot and the aircraft they both were fully capable to bring the aircraft uh safely to land"

The ex-pilot's simulation was posted on YouTube by the news outlet and got people talking.

Ex-pilot says fuel switch flip unlikely as he recreates Air India plane crash using simulator
A former pilot reacts to the investigation report of the Air India plane crash. Photo Credit: Business Standard
Source: Youtube

Watch the video below:

Ex-pilot's simulation of AI 171 generates reactions

Legit.ng has compiled some reactions to the ex-pilot's video below:

@3legs741 said:

"Why are the cut off switches not in the centre console up high. What a stupid place to put them. If they were high in the direct line of sight of each pilot there would be no way of switching them off without the other pilot physically seeing them do it. Where they are now means either pilot must turn their head and look down, something the Captain would not do as he is taking off for at least a few seconds anyway."

@vpkann5127 said:

"Why A320 flight simulator is shown in this video,why not B787 simulator. What media wants to emphasize😮 in prelims report also not a word about master caution audio??!!"

@pksree1881 said:

"Sir ...Thank you so much for your efforts on throwing some light on the Fuel switches. But with due respect to your extensive knowledge on these things, how do you say that this could also be a malfunction ? When so much effort has to be given to lift and lock these spring loaded switches ...how can it go from Run to Off all by itself ?? When he said "I didnt" how can we take it for the truth ...!
"People have been known to Lie about so many things all the time ..! If people admit their mistakes so readily, dont you think then, the world would be full of Saints ! So many senior Pilots like you have already said that beacuse of the "Detent" in the Switch system, a inadvertent Switching off is not even 1 in a Billion chance. It has to be Delibrate !!"

@bijujoseparacka6262 said:

"Very well explained. nothing more to dig on that. appreciate."

@daasraathipranav said:

"Assumptions of pilot being suicidal looks lame. They should also investigate from other angle such as whether any officials or maintenance engineers entered the co.ck pit in Delhi before taking off to Ahmedabad."

Air India CEO reacts to investigation report

Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that the CEO of Air India had reacted to the investigation report on the deadly plane crash, stating that it raised more questions.

An Air India plane, a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, crashed into the BJ Medical College and Hospital in Ahmedabad and exploded into flames shortly after takeoff.

Weeks after the crash, an investigation by India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau revealed that the fuel control switches of the Air India plane were moved to the cut-off position moments before the plane crashed.

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Source: Legit.ng

Authors:
Victor Duru avatar

Victor Duru (Editor) Victor Duru is a Reuters-trained award-winning journalist with over 4 years of working experience in the media industry. He holds a B.Sc in Management Studies from Imo State University, where he was a Students' Union Government Director of Information. Victor is a human interest editor, strategic content creator, freelancer and a Google-certified digital marketer. His work has been featured on US news media Faith It. He can be reached via victor.duru@corp.legit.ng