A month after the fatal Air India crash that killed 260 people, including 241 passengers and crew, the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) has released a preliminary report.
The report reveals that two engine fuel control switches moved from RUN to CUTOFF within seconds of each other, shortly after take-off.
It also includes only a brief excerpt from the Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR), where one captain asks the other why he was cut off — to which the other responds saying he did not.
Aviation expert Sanjay Lazar speaks to The Quint about the many questions that remain unanswered: from the missing CVR transcript to concerns over a premature blame on the pilots to Boeing and GE being given a 'get out of jail' card.
Edited excerpts from the interview:
What are the questions that the preliminary report raise?
The preliminary report has raised more questions than given us answers. Why has the entire CVR transcript not been released? Had they given us the transcription in a tabular form, correlating it with all the incidences that happened, it would have made it very clear what actually transpired. Now, there's a sense of mystery over this.
Why was there a 10-second gap between the two engines going off and then restarting? Though the report has touched upon the 2018 circular and said Air India did not comply. It's not gone into the other circulars. There is one from May 2022 which talks of a danger to unwarranted shutdown of the fuel pumps.
Given the enormous feelings of the tragedy and the fact that we are in the top three or four aviation nations on Earth today, I think we deserved a more professional and transparent report.
From an investigative point of view, what would be the key components that could help us determine whether the fuel switches were moved deliberately by a human being or if it could be a mechanical or electronic malfunction?
The constitution of the committee itself left much to be desired. You did not have a 787-rated pilot. In fact, until Saturday or Sunday, you didn't even have a pilot. I just saw a notice which is the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet appointing a squadron leader pilot there.
So it means that they've gone a month without having subject matter experts who are not pilots, and that leaves much to be desired. They also posted video images of CCTV at the airport but without timestamps, so we don't know what time stamps and height they are at. A good report would have done that.
To go back to the statement that you referred to from the report which says that there are no safety recommendations for Boeing or General Electric (GEE) at this stage, do you think this is premature? Since a lot of questions remain unanswered, and also because the investigation could take at least up to a year, does it mean that till then, Boeing and GE have essentially gotten a clean shit?
They've got a get-out-of-jail card. There they may have findings against them later, but in light of what has happened. I can't see them getting any anything against them. This needs to be looked in deeper. It means that there is no no question mark over either of them, either the engine or the the systems.
The Airline Pilots Association of India has strongly objected to what they call a bias in the report towards pilot error, and they are also mulling legal recourse to have their members as part of the investigation. Do you agree with these concerns?
All the pilots organisations in the country must get together and file a public interest litigation, because it's essential. You can't have an investigation without the subject matter expert of that type. You can have aviation specialists, avionic specialists, but you need a pilot to tell you what could have been wrong.
The second thing is a judicial inquiry is a must to ensure transparency. Have a sitting judge of the High Court, or a retired judge of the High Court, head the report. Everything will be crystal clear.
There's been renewed discussion after the report, on installing cockpit video recorders in addition to audio recorders. Do you think this is necessary, and will be helpful?
I think it's imminent. There's no question, and I don't believe anybody can stop it from happening. Cars also have dash cams today, so I think it will be helpful.
But the two black boxes were badly damaged. So I think there's a lot of going back to the drawing board for Boeing and the component manufacturers to see. How to ensure that it even in an infernal like this, it stays the course. If the DFDR could not handle it, would a camera handle of such a large inferno?
So they'd have to look at safety, and they'd have to look at security whether somebody can hack it. This is a whole new world we're entering of aviation security, which will be combined with cyber security.
Watch the full interview.