Air India Boeing 787 crash preliminary report released

Paige Cornwell and Lauren Rosenblatt The Seattle Times The two engines on the Air India flight shut down within one second of each other before the Boeing Dreamliner crashed last month in Ahmedabad India killing at least people according to a preliminary assessment circulated Friday Related Articles Japan urges China to stop flying fighter jets too close to Japanese military aircraft Satellite photos suggest Iran attack on Qatar air base hit geodesic dome used for US communications US is selling weapons to NATO allies to give to Ukraine Trump says UN s food agency limits aid operations in West and Central Africa due to funding cuts Ukraine s capital buzzes during the day but it s a battleground at night Both engine fuel control switches that if pulled while in flight cut power to the engines transitioned from the run to cutoff settings as the plane took off according to the statement In the recovered cockpit voice recording one of the pilots is heard asking the other why he cut off fuel to the engine The other pilot responded that he didn t according to the -page statement The preliminary document distributed by India s Aircraft Accident Scrutiny Bureau comes days after the fatal crash following guidelines from the International Civil Aviation Organization a United Nations agency that recommends practices for the industry The new information matches media reports this week that citing anonymous sources announced that investigators were focused on the engine fuel control switches On June the Boeing crashed in the northwestern Indian city of Ahmedabad less than a minute after takeoff killing of the people on board and people on the ground according to the the greater part new estimates from local functionaries The Everett-built plane crashed into a medicinal hostel roughly mile from the airport It was the first fatal crash involving a Boeing Dreamliner the jet maker s smaller widebody plane India s civil aviation authority is leading the analysis with backing from the U S and the U K which had several citizens on board the London-bound plane The switches moved back to run and one engine was regaining thrust when the plane crashed The statement doesn t specify which of the two pilots requested the other about the switches Both pilots had an adequate rest period before the flight underwent preflight breath analyzer tests and were deemed fit to fly according to the statement The first officer was flying the plane and the captain was monitoring during takeoff The takeoff weight was within the allowable limits and there were no dangerous goods on the plane according to the statement There was no major bird activity in the flight path Boeing and engine maker General Electric offered to patronage the review and Air India Both companies have been limited in what they can say as the research is ongoing The statement noted at this probe stage there are no recommended actions for Boeing Dreamliner or General Electric engine operators and manufacturers With meager official updates from accident investigators the aviation industry and flying masses have been searching for answers about what went wrong Aviation experts who spoke with The Seattle Times over the last month shared a long list of possibilities and were reluctant to rule anything out noting that the circumstances of the crash were unique The Seattle Times Visit seattletimes com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency LLC