New Dehli: A preliminary report into the deadly crash of an Air India jetliner in June is expected to be released by Friday, three sources with knowledge of the matter said, with one adding the probe had narrowed its focus to the movement of the plane’s fuel control switches.The London-bound Boeing 787 Dreamliner, which started losing height after reaching an altitude of 650 feet, crashed moments after takeoff from Ahmedabad, India, killing 241 of the 242 people on board and the rest on the ground.
The investigation into the Air India crash is focusing on the movement of the engine fuel control switches following an analysis of the 787’s flight and voice data recorders, along with a simulation by Boeing of the aircraft’s final moments, one of the sources said.The investigation has not raised any immediate concerns over mechanical failure, the source said, and there has been no bulletin to airlines recommending changes to 787 operations.
Aviation industry publication the Air Current first reported the focus on the fuel switches that help power the plane’s two engines. It was not clear what specific actions involving the fuel switches are being looked at by investigators.
Sources told the Air Current that the available information on the black boxes could not rule in or out improper, inadvertent or intentional actions that preceded or followed the apparent loss of thrust before the aircraft crashed.US aviation safety expert John Cox said a pilot would not be able to accidentally move the fuel switches that feed the engines. “You can’t bump them and they move,” he said.