'Premature and irresponsible': Indian pilots' body slams Air India crash probe report

The pilots' body has questioned the exclusion of pilot representatives from the probe and called for a thorough investigation before "assigning blame".

The FIP said as quoted by Hindustan Times, "Assigning blame before a thorough, transparent, and data-driven investigation is both premature and irresponsible.

"Such speculative commentary undermines the professionalism of highly trained crew members and causes undue distress to their families and colleagues."

The remark comes days after the preliminary investigation conducted by India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau, or AAIB, on the June 12 Air India Boeing 787 flight crash has revealed that both engines of the plane had shut down mid-air within seconds of take-off.

The report said: "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 Engine N1 and N2 began to decrease from their take-off values as the fuel supply to the engines was cut off."

The report mentioned the cockpit voice recording showed 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.

The report further said: "As per the EAFR, the Engine 1 fuel cutoff switch transitioned from CUTOFF to RUN at about 08:08:52 UTC. The APU Inlet Door began opening at about 08:08:54 UTC, consistent with the APU Auto Start logic. Thereafter at 08:08:56 UTC the Engine 2 fuel cutoff switch also transitions from CUTOFF to RUN."

The report further said: "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 EGT was observed to be rising for both engines indicating relight. Engine 1’s core deceleration stopped, reversed and started to progress to recovery. Engine 2 was able to relight but could not arrest core speed deceleration and re-introduced fuel repeatedly to increase core speed acceleration and recovery. The EAFR recording stopped at 08:09:11 UTC," the report mentioned, sharing details about the aviation tragedy that left India shocked.

The report indicated that no immediate evidence was found that suggested there was a possible sabotage angle to the mishap.

Ahmedabad plane crash

On June 12, a London-bound Air India Boeing Dreamliner flight crashed into a medical college hostel soon after takeoff near the Ahmedabad airport, killing at least 270 people including on-ground people.

241 out of 242 onboard passengers and crew members were killed in the crash, which is one of the country's worst aviation tragedies.

One person, the passenger of seat No. 11A,  survived the crash miraculously.