'Air India can’t be negligent': Mother of crew member reacts to AAIB crash report

According to the AAIB, both engines of the Boeing 787-8 shut down within 90 seconds of takeoff due to an apparent cockpit error.

Pramila Patil, mother of late crew member Maithili Patil, has reacted to the preliminary findings of the Air India crash probe, saying she trusts the airline and believes it couldn’t have committed such a grave error.

“I can’t say much, we are villagers and don’t know these things. But I know the government will look into it. Air India treated my daughter well for two years. I can’t believe they would be negligent,” Patil has been cited by ANI.

Her statement comes a day after the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) released its preliminary report on the deadly crash of Air India flight AI171 on June 12, which killed 260 people, including 229 passengers, 12 crew members, and 19 individuals on the ground, shortly after takeoff from Ahmedabad’s Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport.

According to the AAIB, both engines of the Boeing 787-8 shut down within 90 seconds of takeoff due to an apparent cockpit error.

Flight data from the aircraft’s Enhanced Airborne Flight Recorder (EAFR) indicated that the fuel cutoff switches for both engines were inadvertently moved from RUN to CUTOFF, within a second of each other, just moments into the climb. One pilot is heard asking, “Why did you cut off?” and the other responds, “I did not.”

The double-engine shutdown triggered deployment of the Ram Air Turbine (RAT), but the aircraft began losing altitude rapidly. The pilots attempted to relight the engines, with partial thrust recovery in Engine 1, but Engine 2 failed to stabilise.

Despite efforts, the aircraft could not regain altitude.

A distress call, “MAYDAY”, was transmitted at 08:09 UTC, just seconds before the jet crashed into residential buildings outside the airport perimeter.

The full investigation is still underway.