Investigators submit preliminary report on Air India crash to Centre
What's the story
The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) has submitted a preliminary report on the Air India flight AI-171 crash to the Ministry of Civil Aviation. The report is based on initial findings of the investigation into the tragic incident, which killed over 250 people. The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner was headed to London Gatwick from Ahmedabad when it crashed shortly after takeoff on June 12.
Global collaboration
Crash investigation team
The crash investigation is being led by AAIB officials, with technical experts from the Indian Air Force, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), and the United States National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). An aviation medicine expert and an Air Traffic Control officer have also been included in the team. The NTSB team is currently stationed in Delhi to assist Indian authorities at the AAIB Lab, ANI reported, citing sources.
Data recovery
Recovery of the black box
The Crash Protection Module (CPM) from the front black box was retrieved, and its data was downloaded at the AAIB Lab on June 25. An identical black box, a "golden chassis," was used to verify if data could be recovered from damaged black boxes. One was recovered from a building rooftop on June 13 and another from debris on June 16.
Black box
Investigators have downloaded data from black box
Investigators are looking into the position of the fuel switches during the flight. They are attempting to confirm the data with any wreckage of the fuel switches that may have been discovered, which will be vital in determining whether any of the engines were mistakenly turned off by the pilots. They are also looking into whether a dual-engine failure might have caused the crash.
Technological advancements
AAIB lab can now decode black boxes domestically
Before this crash, India relied on foreign decoding centers in countries like the UK, USA, France, Italy, Canada, and Russia for serious aviation accidents. For instance, black boxes from the 1996 Charkhi Dadri crash were decoded in Moscow and Farnborough, while those from the 2010 Mangalore crash were handled by the NTSB in the US. This trend has changed, as AAIB Lab in Delhi is now capable of decoding Cockpit Voice Recorders (CVR) and Flight Data Recorders (FDR) domestically.
Victim details
Bodies of all victims identified, handed over to families
In the wake of the crash, Air India and Tata Sons announced compensation for victims' families. Air India offered ₹25 lakh interim compensation, and Tata Sons announced ₹1 crore ex-gratia to each victim's family. The airline also reduced international flights operated with widebody planes by 15% till mid-July due to operational disruptions. Among the passengers, 181 were Indians, 52 were Britishers, seven were Portuguese nationals, and one was a Canadian citizen.