Aviation minister reacts to Air India crash preliminary report: ‘Don’t jump to conclusions’

The report has found that the fuel supply to both engines of Air India flight AI171 was cut off within a second of each other

Union civil aviation minister Ram Mohan Naidu said on Saturday that the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau’s (AAIB) report related to last month’s fatal Air India crash contains only preliminary findings and cautioned against drawing conclusions before the final report is released.

"This is a preliminary report and at the ministry we are analysing it... I think it would be better if we comment on it once the final reports come in. We are coordinating with AAIB for any support/resources they need. We are hoping that the final reports come out soon so that we can arrive at some conclusion," he told ANI.

The minister also urged people to refrain from arriving at a specific conclusion based on the preliminary report. “I don’t think we should jump into any conclusions on this. Let us wait for the final report,” he said.

The findings relate to the deadly Air India crash last month which claimed 260 lives, including those on ground. The London-bound Boeing Dreamliner crashed shortly after takeoff from the Ahmedabad airport, resulting in the death of all but one of the 242 aboard and another 19 on ground in the deadliest aviation accident in a decade.

The report has found that the fuel supply to both engines of Air India flight AI171 was cut off within a second of each other, causing confusion in the cockpit and the airplane plummeting back to ground almost immediately after taking off.

The 15-page report says that in the cockpit voice recording, one unidentified pilot asked the other why he had cut off the fuel, which the other denied.

"I truly believe we have the most wonderful workforce in terms of pilots and the crew in the whole world. Pilots and crew are the backbone of the aviation industry," Naidu stated in response to a question over the findings of the report.

The time between the takeoff and the crash was only about 30 seconds.

The preliminary report by AAIB released on Saturday, recommended no action for now for the operators of Boeing 787-8 planes.

"The aircraft achieved the maximum recorded airspeed of 180 Knots IAS at about 08:08:42 UTC (13.38 IST) 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 report said.