Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner Crash: Investigation Between Technical Analysis and Human Factors

The Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner accident resulted in the tragic loss of 260 lives

New Delhi:

Today's Supreme Court remarks, which provided solace to the father of the pilot-in-command of the crashed Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner, have redirected attention to theories involving electrical malfunction and other potential causes.

The Supreme Court today assured the Dreamliner pilot's father that no one can hold the pilot responsible for the June crash that claimed 260 lives, while issuing notices to the Centre, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), and the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB).

The court responded to a petition filed by Pushkaraj Sabharwal, father of Captain Sumeet Sabharwal who commanded the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, requesting an independent judicial investigation into the accident. Justice Surya Kant addressed the 91-year-old bereaved father, stating, "This crash was extremely unfortunate, but you should not carry this burden that your son is being blamed."

According to the AAIB's preliminary report released in July, fuel supply to both engines was interrupted shortly after takeoff. The two fuel control switches were moved to the "cutoff" position in rapid succession; although they were returned to the on position approximately 10 seconds later, the engines had already flamed out, resulting in the crash.

The court's observations come amid credible theories from experienced aviation experts suggesting a possible massive electrical short circuit caused by water entering one of the Boeing 787's bays.

These theories propose that this triggered a cascade of failures, causing the aircraft's systems logic to shut down fuel flow to the Dreamliner's engines as a safety measure, which ironically led to the crash – as there was insufficient time, altitude, or airspeed for the engines to reach maximum thrust after they restarted.

In the absence of a detailed crash report or further statements from the AAIB, additional theories have emerged:

1. One theory suggests Air India flight AI-171 crashed due to deliberate action by one of the pilots. This is based on information from the preliminary report: "the aircraft achieved the maximum recorded airspeed of 180 knots IAS at about 08:08:42 UTC and immediately thereafter, the Engine 1 and Engine 2 fuel cutoff switches transitioned from RUN to CUTOFF position one after another with a time gap of 01 sec." The cockpit voice recorder captured one pilot asking, "Why did you cut-off?" with the response being, "I did not do so."

2. Bryan Bedford from the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) told Reuters, "We can say with a high level of confidence it doesn't appear to be a mechanical issue with the Boeing fuel control unit. We feel very comfortable that this isn't an issue with inadvertent manipulation of fuel control."

3. No international regulatory body has called for grounding Boeing 787 Dreamliners due to electrical or mechanical concerns.

4. Multiple independent sources support this account – including a report in the prominent Italian newspaper Corriere Della Sera claiming the co-pilot (who was flying AI-171) repeatedly questioned Captain Sabharwal (the non-flying pilot-in-command) about why he switched off the engines. According to the report, the pilot flying "was unconvinced and asked the same question several more times, for another six seconds."

5. This provides more details than the AAIB's preliminary crash report, indicating that complete recordings, transcripts, or technical data covering the entire flight are in possession of multiple international agencies. This was expected given the involvement of several international stakeholders in the investigation.

6. Aviation expert Richard Godfrey's independent analysis stated, "The dual engine shutdown to below idle was caused by water ingress to the Aft E/E Bay." His report continues: "The engines automatically reduce to idle when a temporary fault occurs in the digital link between the aircraft's central computer (CCR) and the engine electronic control (EEC) systems. This link carries the thrust lever position information, known as the thrust resolver angle (TRA), which tells each engine how much power the pilots are demanding. When that information is lost, the engine control systems automatically set both engines to idle as a protective measure. Once the connection is restored and valid data is received again, the systems automatically attempt to restart the engines."

7. The Federation of Indian Pilots (FIP) has urged the government to thoroughly inspect all Boeing 787 aircraft in India for electrical systems faults, following recurring electrical issues with the aircraft.

In conclusion, this emotionally charged case requires objective assessment. It is essential for the AAIB to produce a prompt and credible report – this investigation cannot be prolonged indefinitely.