Investigators looking into the Air India crash that killed 260 individuals are attempting to uncovering a ‘mistake’ made by the pilots.
Early assessments by US officials suggest the crash was not brought on by problems with the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.
The findings suggest that switches controlling fuel flow to the jet’s two engines were turned off.
This then led to an apparent lack of thrust shortly after takeoff.
Pilots on aircraft use the switches to begin the jet’s engines, shut them down, or reset them in certain emergencies.
These switches would normally be on during flight, and it’s unclear how or why they were turned off.
The US investigators have said that it’s unclear whether the move was accidental or intentional, or whether there was an try to turn them back on, in accordance with the Wall Street Journal.
If the switches were off this might explain why the jet’s emergency-power generator—often called a ram air turbine, or RAT was activated before the aircraft crashed.
A preliminary report is anticipated to be issued by India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau which is leading the probe.
Air India said that Sumeet Sabharwal, a pilot who served because the flight’s captain, logged over 10,000 hours flying wide-body, or larger, aircraft.
His co-pilot, Clive Kunder, had over 3,400 hours of experience.
The airline has in recent times worked to show around its operations after a long time under state ownership.
The Air India crash was the primary fatal accident involving Boeing’s Dreamliner.
The Dreamliner is used on international, long-haul routes and has a superb safety record until the Air India crash.
It comes at a time when Boeing is attempting to get better from a string of safety and quality problems.
The Air India flight was carrying 242 people from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick before it crashed shortly after takeoff in June.
The plane crashed right into a medical college about one mile southwest of the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport.
The aircraft carried 169 Indian nationals, 53 British nationals, one Canadian, and 7 Portuguese nationals.
A British man, Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, 40, is the only real survivor of the plane crash.
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