Our Bureau
New Delhi
The Air India crash that happened a month ago and took lives of more than 260 innocent people, has brought Aerospace company Boeing under serious scrutiny regarding the safety of their aircrafts. To clear some air around them Boeing and the United States Federal Aviation Administration have both privately issued notifications ensuring the safety of the fuel switch looks on Boeing aircrafts, all backed by the Federal Aviation Administration.
This Friday on July 11th, the FAA issued their Continued Airworthiness Notification after their preliminary report looking into last month’s Ahmedabad crash involving Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner. The report raised questions over the sudden Cut Off of the engine fuel switches after the plane’s take off that might have become one of the reasons behind the crash.
The FAA’s notification to Civil Aviation Authorities had notified that even though the engine fuel’s switch design is quite similar in various models of Boeing, they do not consider it as something that would need Airworthiness Directive on Boeing aircrafts. The FAA have since stated that they don’t have anything else to say on the matter.
The notification stated, “Although the fuel control switch design, including the locking feature, is similar on various Boeing airplane models, the FAA does not consider this issue to be an unsafe condition that would warrant an Airworthiness Directive on any Boeing airplane models, including the Model 787.”
India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) also gave out a preliminary investigation report on the horrific crash and referred to a 2018 advisory issued by the FAA. The advisory stated clearly that they recommend but do not mandate operators of several Boeing aircrafts to inspect the locking feature of the fuel Cut Off switches so that they aren’t moved accidentally.
This clarified as to why Air India did not perform FAA’s suggested inspections as they were not mandatory. The report by AAIB noted “all applicable airworthiness directives and alert service bulletins were complied with on the aircraft as well as engines.”
Why did the first officer was flying AI 171 and not the pilot? Was it intentional so that he manipulate switching off fuel switches to off while the first officer was busy navigate the 787 -8 ? Lastly why is Indian piolet association is too busy defending the dead piolets???