00:00What is strange is that the AAIB preliminary report is being disclosed and leaked in the
00:06United States and that brings a greater worry for all of us in India because this is an
00:12independent organisation controlled by the government of India, yet the Wall Street Journal
00:17seems to know more about it than any of us in India or our parliament or the civil aviation
00:22ministry.
00:23The Federation of Indian Pilots has expressed its dissatisfaction with the report and the
00:29role of the AAIB, I concur fully with this, in fact I go one step further.
00:35The leaks that are going on in the USA with various media also are undesirable for a nation
00:41like India, I think the government must take a strong look at it.
00:43See the report which has come out in the public uses a very particular word, it says transitioned,
00:52the switch is transitioned, there is a breakdown of CRM, this is one term which is commonly used
00:58in aviation.
00:59If the switches have run and cut off two modes, if the switches have changed, that might
01:08be, I think it is primarily because of some kind of a failure which happened in this aircraft.
01:14The Wall Street Journal this morning has released a report which suggested that the commander of
01:21the flight AI-171 had undone the fuel switches and the first officer was panicking during that time.
01:30So my thoughts on this are the preliminary report of the AAIB of India has only released a single
01:37statement, a very bold statement which says, why did you cut it off?
01:42And the pilot replied, no I did not.
01:46Given this single statement, I do not believe that there is ample scope for us to make a determination.
01:54The preliminary report failed in providing the entire transcript of the CVR.
02:00What is strange is that the AAIB preliminary report is being disclosed and leaked in the United States.
02:07And that brings a greater worry for all of us in India because this is an independent organisation controlled by the government of India.
02:16Yet the Wall Street Journal seems to know more about it than any of us in India or our parliament or, you know, the civil aviation ministry.
02:24The AAIB had found no fault in the fuel switches of Air India and had actually pointed out that the Air India had replaced the throttle
02:35quadrants which contained the switches in 2019 and 2023.
02:40There was an FA directive of 2018 which mandated, which made it optional to check the switches, which Air India apparently had not done.
02:53However, having changed the switches and the quadrant in 2023 and 2019, I don't believe there was anything at fault with the part or the checks.
03:04This is a machine. Very often what happens is, you know, problems can occur after the machine has been checked and, you know, on any flight, at any time, at any place, anywhere.
03:15So, I think we need to look deeper into the mechanical issues in this aircraft or the electronic issues that could have occurred.
03:24The Federation of Indian Pilots has expressed its dissatisfaction with the report and the role of the AAIB.
03:31I concur fully with this. In fact, I go one step further.
03:36I have made an appeal to many pilots and aviation organizations, passenger organizations too, that we write an appeal to the Prime Minister of India,
03:44seeking complete transparency, seeking a judicial probe into this matter and by a sitting high court judge.
03:51And so that there could be accountability and transparency during this process.
03:55They could run side by side with the AAIB's investigation.
03:58However, the power to subpoena and summon witnesses under a high court judge would be much stronger.
04:05The leaks that are going on in the USA with various media also are undesirable for a nation like India.
04:12I think the government must take a strong look at it.
04:14See, the report which has come out in the public uses a very particular word.
04:21It says, transitioned.
04:23The switch is transitioned.
04:26Now, because there are two people in the cockpit,
04:29in this case there is one senior captain who is having more than 9,000 hours to his credit
04:35and the other officer, Captain Clive, that he was the pilot flying.
04:42We must understand the pilot flying and the pilot monitoring, his duties are their own.
04:47Now, the report says the fuel control switches transitioned.
04:52Also, that led to a confusion state between the pilots.
04:55That is what this particular report is trying to say,
04:59that there is a challenge and response happening between both of these pilots.
05:05One is questioning the other.
05:07There is some kind of a confusion.
05:09There is a breakdown of CRM.
05:11This is one term which is commonly used in aviation.
05:14That might be primarily because of some kind of a failure which happened in this aircraft.
05:32Being senior pilots and also with a knee-jerk reaction, we can call this,
05:37they must have used these switches to regain the power back of this aircraft
05:41or this might be some kind of a startle effect,
05:45which is another human factor term in aviation.
05:48So, we will know what is the final outcome of this particular action taken by the pilot
05:55if he has taken an action deliberately
05:58or if there is some kind of an issue which happened in this Boeing 787 machine
06:04which led to these engines in the cut-off position.
06:08But, having said that, this particular switch has a locking mechanism.
06:13If there is a locking mechanism that led to this particular switch going in the cut-off position,
06:20then I am sorry the pilots were also very helpless
06:22because time is very critical.
06:24This was a very critical moment in take-off.
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