Inside the AI171 Crash: A Detailed Look Into the Report

Inside the AI171 Crash: A Detailed Look Into the Report

Gourab Mandal
1 Comments
50 mins, 976 words

 On a regular afternoon, an Air India Boeing 787 lifted off from Ahmedabad for an international flight. What should have been a routine journey ended in the deadliest air crash in Indian history. Just seconds after takeoff, something went terribly wrong. Both engines shut down. The plane crashed. Over 270 lives were lost.
 
Nearly a month later, the government quietly released a preliminary report. No press conference. No detailed briefing. And no clear answers. The report appears to focus on the pilots’ actions during those final moments.
 
But is that the full story?
 

Timeline: What Went Wrong in the Air

 
11:25 AM – Pilots passed routine medical tests. Both were fit and hadn’t flown in 24 hours.
 
12:30 PM – The crew reported at the gate. Weather was clear. The aircraft was ready.
 
1:18 PM – The Boeing 787 taxied out of the bay toward the runway. All systems were normal.
 
Takeoff – The plane took off smoothly without any issues.
 
1:38:42 PM – The aircraft reached its peak speed. Then, both engines suddenly lost fuel supply. The fuel cutoff switches, located between the pilots, flipped from “Run” to “Cutoff” in just one second.
 
The cockpit voice recorder picked up a panicked exchange: one pilot asked, “Why did you cut off?” and the other replied, “I didn’t do anything.”
 
1:38:52 PM – The first engine's switch was turned back to “Run.”
 
1:38:56 PM – The second engine’s switch was restored.
 
The automatic system tried to restart both engines. Only one came back online.
 
1:39:05 PM – The pilots made a 'MAYDAY' call.
 
1:39:11 PM – The plane crashed. It all happened in less than 30 seconds.
 

What Is a MAYDAY Call?

 
For those unfamiliar, "Mayday" is an international distress signal used by pilots when they face a life-threatening emergency. It’s repeated three times—“Mayday, Mayday, Mayday”—to make sure it is heard clearly and treated seriously. It alerts air traffic control that the aircraft is in immediate danger and needs urgent help.
 
In this case, the pilots managed to issue a MAYDAY call just seconds before the crash, showing how little time they had to respond.
 

So, What Caused the Crash?

 
The main event was a sudden loss of fuel to both engines mid-air. The fuel cutoff switches moved from “Run” to “Cutoff” almost at the same moment. This immediately cut power to the engines.
 
These switches are not easily triggered. They are spring-loaded, protected by covers, and require deliberate manual effort to operate. It's highly unlikely they could flip on their own due to turbulence or casual contact.
 
Even the pilots were clearly surprised, as heard in the cockpit audio. Neither seemed to understand what had just happened.
 
The aircraft’s automatic system attempted to restart both engines. One engine did come back online—but by that time, the aircraft didn’t have enough altitude or time to recover.
 

What the Government Report Says

 
When the preliminary crash report was finally made public, it wasn’t through a press conference. It was quietly uploaded online, and details began appearing in Western media before Indian sources could pick it up.
 
The report highlights pilot inputs as a possible cause. However, it does not explore other potential factors in detail—such as mechanical failure, electrical issues, or software glitches. It does not explain how or why the fuel switches moved. No immediate safety checks or action points were recommended for other Boeing 787 aircraft.
 
For a crash of this scale, such silence around technical possibilities is unusual. Typically, regulators would alert other airlines operating the same model to investigate possible safety issues.
 

A Warning Was Already Given—Years Ago

 
In 2018, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in the United States issued a safety bulletin about a potential issue with fuel cutoff switches in Boeing aircraft. In some cases, the locking mechanisms on these switches were not properly installed, meaning the switches could move unintentionally—even during flight.
 
The Boeing 787 uses the same type of switches.
 
The FAA advised airlines to check them, but it wasn’t made mandatory. According to records, Air India did not inspect or replace the switches in this aircraft. Although the same aircraft had its engine and throttle changed in 2019 and 2023, the switches were never examined.
 
This was not just a random failure. The risk was known in advance but was not acted upon.
 

What the Pilot Association Has to Say

 
India’s pilot association expressed strong dissatisfaction with the investigation. They described the process as secretive and said that no senior pilots or technical safety experts were involved in the report’s preparation.
 
Their concern is that highlighting only pilot actions ignores deeper safety issues—especially if a faulty component was responsible. They referenced previous incidents, such as the Boeing 737 Max crashes, where problems were only acknowledged after repeated accidents.
 
Their fear is that a similar pattern may be repeating—where technical faults are overlooked until more lives are lost.
 

Conclusion: A Plane Crashed. Are We Burying the Truth?

 
This incident raises more than just questions about what happened in the air. It also raises questions about how we respond on the ground—how we investigate, what we reveal, and who we hold accountable.
 
If a technical fault caused the crash, other aircraft might be at risk. But instead of immediate safety checks or deeper inspection, attention has shifted toward the pilots—who are no longer here to speak for themselves.
 
Transparency and accountability are essential for aviation safety. Without them, the risk of repeating the same mistake remains very real.
 
The crash of AI171 is a tragedy. But ignoring the possible reasons behind it could lead to something worse.
 
Let’s not wait for that to happen.
 
 

1 Comments

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Sudip Mondal Reply
3 days ago

Nice ❤️