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Air India has 33 Wide-Body Boeing 787 planes, while the Air India Express has around 75 narrow-bodies 737 planes.
Air India said it has completed a precautionary inspection of fleet control switch (FCS) locking system in fleet’s Boeing 787 and 737 planes. There is no problem in this.
In fact, Aviation Security Regulator DGCA on July 12 directed the airlines to examine the fuel switch system in their aircraft. The report was sought on 21 July.
Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau Aaib claimed in its primary report that fuel switches were closed before the Ahmedabad plane crash.
The Air India plane, which was going to Gatvik in London, crashed soon after flying from Ahmedabad on 12 June. 270 people died in this accident.
Boeing 787 is part of the fleet of Air India, while B737 is operated by its low -cost subsidiary Air India Express. Apart from these, IndiGo, SpiceJet and Akasa also have Boeing.
The Air India flight took off on June 12 at 1.38 pm and the accident occurred at 1.40 pm. At that time the plane was at an altitude of 200 feet.
What did Air India say on the investigation of fuel switch …
Air India said in a statement that both its airlines AI and AIEX have followed the DGCA instructions released on July 14. The company started voluntary inspection on 12 July and completed it within the stipulated time frame.
More than 150 Boeing 737 and 787 are being operated by Indian airlines. Of these, IndiGo has seven B737 Max 8 and one B787-9. All these are taken on lease, either on weight lease or on damp lease. Therefore, they are not registered in India.
Both engines were discontinued due to closure of fuel control switch
AAIB said in its 15-page report that switches that controlled fuel flows in both engines of Ahmedabad-London flight were closed, so the engine shut down soon after the takeoff and the aircraft thrust ended. The pilot turned on them again after 10 seconds, but by then it was late.
Cockpit’s recording has revealed that a pilot asked the other if you have closed the switch? The other replied, no. The report has also revealed that there was a problem in a flight sensor before the flight which was corrected.
The initial report does not have any final conclusion, as usually occurs in such reports. It only presents the facts and the final report will probably come after one or two years in which the real cause of this accident can be known.
A total of 270 people died in this accident due to plane crash on the medical hostel. These included 241 passengers and crew members. Only one Indian -origin British traveler was saved.
The entire flight from takeoff to the accident lasted only about 30 seconds
According to the 5 -page report, the entire flight from takeoff to the accident lasted about 30 seconds. Till this time, no warning or action has been recommended for an operator regarding the Boeing 787-8 aircraft and engine.
Also, the report does not mention any reason like weather, bird-hit and sabotaz. Both pilots were Mumbai based and reached Ahmedabad the previous day. Enough rest was taken before the flight. The co-pilot was pilot flying (PF) for this flight and pic pilot monitoring (PM).
The flight pilots were Sumit Sabharwal and K-Pilot Clive Kunder. Sumit had a flying experience of over 8,200 hours. The pilot also had a 1,100 -hour flying experience. That is, both were experienced pilots.
Fuel control switch work and technology
The fuel control switch is near the Thrust Lever in the cockpit of the aircraft. They control the supply of fuel in the engine. Its main task is to start the supply of fuel in the engine (‘run’ position) or shut down (‘cutoff’ position).
Different fuel control switches for each engine. For example, Boeing 787 has two engines, so there will be two switches – for a left engine, for a right.
- Run Position: When the switch is on ‘run’, the fuel valve opens and the fuel supply starts in the engine. This keeps the engine on and the aircraft gets a thrust.
- Cutoff Position: When the switch is done on the ‘cutoff’, the fuel valve is closed and the supply of fuel in the engine stops. This stops the engine immediately.
Fuel control switches are spring-loaded and contain a kind of lock, which keeps them stable in their positions.
The switch requires three steps to move – holding, removing and releasing from the details. This is not a normal switch that gets buried by accidentally.