A cockpit recording of dialogue between the two Air India flight crash pilots that crashed last month supports the view that the captain cut the flow of fuel to the plane’s engines, said a source briefed on U.S. officials’ early assessment of evidence.
The first officer was at the controls of the Boeing (BA.N), opens new tab 787 and asked the captain why he moved the fuel switches into a position that starved the engines of fuel and requested that he restore the fuel flow. The information has been claimed by international media wherein the source of information has asked for condition of anonymity because the matter remains under investigation.
A day after The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) published a report citing cockpit voice recordings and early assessments by US officials, the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) on Thursday said it is essential to respect the sensitivity of families of passengers, crew members, and others who lost their lives in the Air India crash.
The report by WSJ claimed that the captain may have inadvertently cut fuel supply to the engines seconds after takeoff. The claims have been made based on the cockpit recording captured first officer Clive Kunder asking Captain Sumeet Sabharwal why he had cut off fuel flow to the engines shortly after liftoff. Sabharwal reportedly replied that he had not done so.
The AAIB’s preliminary report, released on Saturday, similarly mentioned that one pilot was heard asking the other about the fuel cutoff, and the response was a denial. However, the investigators did not identify which pilot made which remark.
The bureau, which functions under ministry of civil aviation also clarified that it’s too early to reach any definite conclusions on the Air India plane crash as the probe is still not complete. “The final probe report will come out with root causes and recommendations. Refrain from spreading premature narratives”, said AAIB.
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