Indian officials detect engine shift in deadly Air India crash – no instant measures for Boeing or GE
A recent report on the Air India crash that resulted in 260 fatalities last month revealed that just three seconds after the aircraft took off, the engines' fuel cutoff switches abruptly switched from run to cutoff mode, causing the engines to lose fuel supply. As a consequence, the Boeing 787 Dreamliner began to lose thrust and descend. The preliminary report by Indian aviation investigators, released last Saturday, recorded one pilot questioning the other about the fuel cutoff, to which the response was denial of involvement. The report did not specify which pilots were engaged in the dialogue or who issued the distress call before the crash. Despite finding both fuel switches in the run position at the crash site, and indications of engine restart attempts before impact, the report did not provide clarity on how the switches could have shifted to cutoff during the Ahmedabad to London flight on June 12. Concerns were raised by aviation safety experts regarding the unusual operation of the switches and whether the pilots or other factors had caused them to trigger the cutoff. The investigation, which involves no current recommendations for operators or manufacturers of the Boeing 787-8 and GE GEnx-1B engine, is being conducted by India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau. Stakeholders, including Air India, Boeing, and GE Aerospace, have not yet responded to requests for comments on the incident, which is considered the most deadly aviation disaster in the past ten years.
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