787 Crash
- Thread starter Ronen E
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ABC Australia - Four Corners did an excellent episode...what I and many other drew from this was a deliberate diversion of a 777, bound for mainland China...ultimately ditched in the western Indian Ocean (confirmed debris field from the 777). Inmarsat? helped tracked the flight after all other on board ELT, GPS, etc were mysteriously disabled...
In the case of Air India #171, from avherald site, one of the possibilities, a deliberate flipping of switches to cut-off (temporarily) fuel to both engines...that is my read. And of course a solder related issue that may be part of the mystery
In the case of Air India #171, from avherald site, one of the possibilities, a deliberate flipping of switches to cut-off (temporarily) fuel to both engines...that is my read. And of course a solder related issue that may be part of the mystery
After reading Aviation Herald and watching several videos where commercial pilots (?) analyse the preliminary report, my impression is that the switching of both engines to cutoff is a likely cause. Whether that was suicidal or otherwise is not clear because the report provides only bits from the cockpit recordings, and maybe that direction wasn't investigated thoroughly yet. Either way, my (uninformed) impression is that the solder issue is not likely the cause, though it can't be ruled out (in other words: low probability).
As someone completely outside this industry, but experienced with failure investigations and reports, the most shocking element for me is the seeming sloppiness of the report, and maybe the entire government conduct around it. Caveat: I am fed by the Internet, and don't know for sure what the gov did (or didn't do). This aspect brings back strong memories from the MH370 aftermath. The Malaysian government acted strangely, inconsistently, borderline cover-up-ly; which added to the confusion / mystery.
The Indian government report (or my 2nd hand impression of it, more accurately) seems disorganized and having too many holes. There is no clear narrative (or narratives, in case there is more than one explanation being pursued), leading from facts / findings to conclusions. It feels like a random dump of information. I understand that it's just an interim report, but to me it doesn't feel acceptable that we will need to wait a year before we know, while 787s continue to fly as usual, potentially with a flaw that can bring another plane down. They need to either establish that there is no significant reason to worry, or ground the fleet (or a relevant subset of it).
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From several websites, loosely quoted, the NTSB team was threatening to leave India, due to the “unorthodox manner” the CVR/FDR readouts/analysis were being handled.
Maybe others currently in the commercial aero field can chime in, it’s my understanding, the fuel cut off switches have safety covers to prevent inadvertent flipping of the switch??
Maybe others currently in the commercial aero field can chime in, it’s my understanding, the fuel cut off switches have safety covers to prevent inadvertent flipping of the switch??
Yes, this was thoroughly discussed in the videos I watched - highly unlikely to have been inadvertently flipped. That's why suicide seems plausible. Error seems less likely because of switch location and nature, pilot qualifications (training), rest duration etc. But the package feels disturbingly loose right now.
mattador78
Quite Involved in Discussions
The confusing thing is the advisory about the locking mechanisms being disengaged and the FAA sent this out in 2018. but as an advsory it didnt have to be acted on?
They brought a few aviation psychologists to the team so perhaps suicide is possible in their minds
mattador78
Quite Involved in Discussions
Its a weird suicide for the attempted rectification of the issue.
From the Aviation Herald website:
On Jul 14th 2025 India's DGCA instructed airlines to check the fuel switches on the Boeing 787 and Boeing 737 aircraft as used by Air India Group, Indigo and Spicejet for possible disengagement of the fuel control switch locking feature according to the SAIB released by the FAA on Dec 17th 2018. The checks have to be completed by Jul 21st 2025.
One week to perform the check, suggesting a degree of urgency. The mention of the switch locking feature suggests that this is of concern.
What I find very strange is that if the locking mechanism fails, gravity will cause the switch to transition to the cut-off position. Surely this should be the other way round, you don't want a failure of the locking mechanism to cause the switch to accidentally operate and cut off the fuel supply?
On Jul 14th 2025 India's DGCA instructed airlines to check the fuel switches on the Boeing 787 and Boeing 737 aircraft as used by Air India Group, Indigo and Spicejet for possible disengagement of the fuel control switch locking feature according to the SAIB released by the FAA on Dec 17th 2018. The checks have to be completed by Jul 21st 2025.
One week to perform the check, suggesting a degree of urgency. The mention of the switch locking feature suggests that this is of concern.
What I find very strange is that if the locking mechanism fails, gravity will cause the switch to transition to the cut-off position. Surely this should be the other way round, you don't want a failure of the locking mechanism to cause the switch to accidentally operate and cut off the fuel supply?
Isn't it plausible that one pilot switched them cutoff and the other put them back to run?
