Just before the crash of an Air India device on 12 June in Ahmedabad, the fuel switches were eliminated for both engines, according to international press agencies, a first study by the Indian government organization for aviation accidents shows. As a result, no fuel went to the engines anymore and the Boeing 787 Dreamliner immediately lost thrust and height.
In the crash, 241 of the 242 passengers were killed and also 19 people on the ground. Sound recordings can be heard how one pilot asks the other why he closed the fuel supply, but he replies that he did not do that.
The researchers do not report how the fuel switches are switched off. According to a Reuters consulted by the Reuters consulted by the flight expert, they cannot be switched on or off by accident. The switches are used to switch off the engines if the aircraft is at the gate, or in emergency situations such as a motorcycle fire.
‘Almost impossible’
The first study shows that the switches were turned off at the same time and were immediately switched on again. But it is ‘almost impossible’ to set out both switches with one hand movement, an anonymous an aviation accidents told the BBC.
According to the BBC, it was found in previous research in comparable aircraft that these fuel switches were sometimes not locked. If that means that the switches can be switched off with a single movement, “that is a very serious problem,” a former investigation of aircraft accidents told the BBC. Experts expect the audio recordings from the cockpit to give more clarity about how the switches could be switched off. To this end, the votes must first be identified.
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