AAIB report on AI 171 plane crash by its nature raises questions, doesn’t provide answers: Global pilots’ body

IFALPA urged caution after AAIB’s preliminary report on the Air India 171 crash, which killed 260 people. The report raised questions but gave no conclusions. Pilot groups stressed against speculating on pilot error until a full investigation is complete

New Delhi: The International Federation of Air Line Pilots’ Associations (IFALPA) has said AAIB’s preliminary report into the Air India plane crash, by its very nature, raises many questions and does not provide answers and urged all parties to refrain from speculations.

In its preliminary report on the Air India’s Boeing 787-8 accident on June 12 that killed 260 people, the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) on Saturday said the fuel switches to the engines were cut off within a gap of 1 second immediately after takeoff, caused confusion in the cockpit of the plane before crashing into a building. The AI 171 was en route from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick.

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Citing cockpit voice recording, the 15-page preliminary report, released on Saturday, said one pilot asked why the switch was cut off and the other pilot responded that he did not do so.

While the initial report does not provide any conclusions, there are speculations in certain quarters that a possible pilot error could be a reason for the crash. “Whilst this preliminary report by its very nature raises many questions, it does not provide answers, and any extrapolation of its content can only be regarded as guesswork, which is not helpful to the good conduct of the investigation,” IFALPA said in a statement on July 14.

According to IFALPA, the report clearly states that no safety recommendations are being provided at this stage and stresses that the federation remains committed to supporting the efforts of the AAIB of India as they work to determine the contributing factors of the accident. IFALPA claims to have 1 lakh pilots as its members from across 100 countries.

On Saturday, Airline Pilots’ Association of India (ALPA), an IFALPA member, said the tone and direction of the investigation suggest a bias towards pilot error and rejected this presumption as it insisted on a fair, fact-based inquiry.

In the statement on July 14, IFALPA also highlighted that a preliminary report is merely the means of communication used for the prompt dissemination of data obtained during the early stages of the investigation and only contains factual information and an indication of the progress of the investigation.

Urging all parties to refrain from speculation, allow the investigation to run its full and proper course, IFALPA said everyone should avoid drawing conclusions from preliminary information.

“The victims, including the families of the crew and passengers of Air India 171, deserve our collective professionalism while the full investigation is conducted,” it added.

Two pilot bodies of Air India — Indian Commercial Pilots Association (ICPA) representing narrow-body pilots and Indian Pilots Guild (IPG) representing wide-body pilots — have also warned against speculations based on the preliminary report.