Air India 171 Crash Probe Shifts To Senior Pilot, Says Report; Technical Snag Angle Emerges

It was nan first serviceman who asked nan elder skipper if he had turned disconnected nan substance switches, stated a study successful Wall Street Journal that quoted group acquainted pinch US officials’ early appraisal of nan Air India level clang that led to nan decease of 241 group onboard arsenic good arsenic galore connected nan ground.

According to nan WSJ report, nan black-box signaling of nan speech betwixt nan 2 pilots indicates that nan more-experienced skipper remained calm arsenic he turned disconnected nan switches while nan first serviceman expressed astonishment and past panicked, asking his elder why he moved nan switches from ‘run’ to ‘cutoff’ position.

Earlier, a preliminary probe by India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) identified nan speech betwixt nan pilots but did not explain who said what. As per nan AAIB study that had revealed nan cockpit sound recordings, 1 aviator asked, “Why did you trim off?” while nan different replied, “I didn’t.” The study didn’t specify if nan turning of nan switches was accidental aliases deliberate.

The switches were turned successful succession 1 2nd isolated arsenic per nan AAIB report.

However, a pilots’ group successful India has raised concerns astir biases against nan pilots. The Airline Pilots' Association of India (ALPA-India) questioned nan deficiency of transparency successful nan investigation and raised concerns astir nan AAIB report’s bias towards aviator error. The group besides said location was secrecy astir nan investigation. ALPA said that “suitably qualified unit were not taken connected committee for these important investigations”. “We consciousness that nan investigation is being driven successful a guidance presuming nan guilt of pilots and we powerfully entity to this statement of thought,” ALPA-India President Captain Sam Thomas had said.

It must beryllium mentioned that nan knowledgeable Captain Sumeet Sabharwal had 8,200 hours of formation experience, while First Officer Clive Kundar had a formation acquisition of 1,100 hours.

Meanwhile, a study successful The Indian Express throws ray connected different imaginable angle. Investigators are reportedly probing snags that cropped up successful nan electrical and package components of nan aircraft, which could person perchance triggered “uncommanded” actions.

In fact, a aviator flying nan aforesaid level hours earlier nan formation took disconnected from Ahmedabad, had noted a ‘Stabilizer Position Transducer Defect’ successful nan method log. The Stabilizer Position Transducer controls nan up and down activity of nan aircraft’s nose, and transmits nan information successful electrical signals to nan formation power system.

An charismatic told nan regular that it is improbable that nan ‘Stabilizer Position Transducer Defect’ caused nan clang but it could person led to aggregate sensor failure.

The charismatic said nan formation information study would attraction connected nan way of errors noted successful method logs to ascertain nan wellness of nan electrical and package components of nan aircraft. According to him, nan craft had antecedently knowledgeable 2 awesome snags – 1 was a formation cancellation successful December 2024 owed to an unresolvable electrical snag and nan different an emergency landing successful 2015 caused by a Cabin Air Compressor surge.

Published on: Jul 17, 2025 10:39 AM IST