{"text":[[{"start":8.22,"text":"Campaigners and groups representing families of the 260 people killed when an Air India plane crashed last year are challenging the theory that pilot action may be to blame as investigators prepare to release their final report into the tragedy."}],[{"start":23.36,"text":"The Boeing 787 Dreamliner went down in June last year after 32 seconds in the air despite good conditions that day in Ahmedabad, the capital of Gujarat. India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) issued a preliminary report after a month, as required under international air safety agreements, with the full investigation taking more than 12 months."}],[{"start":47.04,"text":"The idea that a suicidal pilot deliberately starved the aircraft of fuel to crash it appears to have been triggered by the preliminary report’s finding that the fuel switches had “transitioned” from “RUN” to “cutoff” soon after take-off. However, the report also stated that the switches were later found in the debris in the RUN position."}],[{"start":67.52,"text":"Indian investigators have publicly committed to releasing a final definitive report on the crash by October."}],[{"start":74.04,"text":"Air safety campaigners and one Indian pilots’ union, along with lawyers for the victims, vociferously contend that a serious electrical failure on the aircraft could be to blame, rather than deliberate pilot action."}],[{"start":86.6,"text":"“We have been saying right from the word go that there are electrical problems in the aircraft which need to be investigated,” said C S Randhawa, president of the Federation of Indian Pilots and a former Air India pilot who previously worked for India’s civil aviation authority. He told the FT the investigators’ focus on fuel control switches was the “wrong direction” for the probe."}],[{"start":null,"text":"

"}],[{"start":87.1,"text":"The fuel control switches on the 787 were supplied by US industrial group Honeywell, which, along with Boeing, is facing legal action from victims’ groups over the crash."}],[{"start":87.6,"text":"Even if an electrical failure is found to have contributed to the crash, “it still opens a whole host of questions”, said Jeff Guzzetti, a former lead accident investigator for the US National Transportation Safety Board and ex-director of the FAA Accident Investigation Division. “It could be a design issue, it could be a maintenance issue, an installation or a manufacturing issue — we just don’t know at this time,” he said."}],[{"start":109.24,"text":"Campaigners challenging the pilot suicide theory have focused on another aspect of the preliminary report, which found the plane’s emergency power device called the Ram Air Turbine had been deployed “during the initial climb immediately after lift-off”."}],[{"start":123,"text":"Ed Pierson, executive director of the Washington-based Foundation for Aviation Safety and a former manager at Boeing’s 737 factory, said the turbine indicated that “something was not right”."}],[{"start":134.96,"text":"He added: “The deployment of that device is really under emergency conditions when it detects loss of power or loss of hydraulics — the pilots can’t manually deploy it.”"}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":145,"text":"Lawyers for the victims’ families have written to US Transportation secretary Sean Duffy seeking the results of tests carried out on a Boeing 787 simulator. They argue that the findings suggest the turbine on the Air India plane was deployed “many seconds” before the fuel supply cut out."}],[{"start":161.88,"text":"“The tests indicate that the [turbine] may be unrelated to fuel system changes and instead may be a symptom of faults occurring prior to any fuel disruption,” the letter from law firm Beasley Allen said."}],[{"start":170.98,"text":"John Cox, a veteran pilot and aviation safety consultant, cautioned that, while there were “notable questions in the preliminary report, it is not complete — nor should it be”."}],[{"start":184.32,"text":"He said that determining whether the fuel supply was cut before, or at the same time, that the fuel switches “transitioned” would indicate whether an aircraft fault or pilot action was responsible. Until this information was released, “everything is speculation”, Cox added."}],[{"start":200,"text":"Under international aviation treaty law, Boeing and Air India face restrictions on their ability to comment on matters relating to ongoing accident investigations. The AAIB, Boeing and Air India all declined to respond to detailed questions from the FT pending the final investigation report. Honeywell, a technical adviser to the investigation, also declined to comment."}],[{"start":222.44,"text":"Boeing said: “Our thoughts remain with the families and loved ones of those who lost their lives on Flight 171, and with Air India and everyone affected by this tragedy.”"}],[{"start":232.12,"text":"After suffering huge financial losses and extra regulatory scrutiny over two fatal crashes of the 737 Max jet in 2018-19, caused by flawed sensors and control systems, and a blowout on an Alaska Airlines flight in January 2024, Boeing cannot afford a problem with the Dreamliner — its flagship wide-body jet. The Ahmedabad disaster is the only fatal 787 crash among more than 1,200 aircraft delivered."}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":261.34,"text":"Air India, owned by India’s Tata conglomerate, is bleeding money as it struggles with issues including high fuel costs and route cancellations due to the Middle East conflict."}],[{"start":271.76,"text":"Air India, which is part-owned by Singapore Airlines, lost $2.8bn in its most recent financial year and Campbell Wilson resigned as chief executive in April. He will be replaced by Tewolde Gebremariam, who has turned Ethiopian Airlines into Africa’s largest and most profitable carrier."}],[{"start":290.12,"text":"A parliamentary committee flagged findings in March from a detailed audit of Air India conducted by India’s aviation regulator after the crash. It found about 100 safety lapses on the airline’s planes, including seven of the most serious Level 1 violations requiring immediate action. A Tata-led consortium also insured the aircraft."}],[{"start":309.56,"text":"Soon after the audit Air India said it acknowledged the findings and restated its commitment to safety and regulatory compliance."}],[{"start":317.32,"text":"The captain of the doomed plane was Sumeet Sabharwal, 56, who had more than 15,000 hours of flying experience — about half of them on the Dreamliner. He lived in Mumbai with his father Pushkar Raj Sabharwal, a former aviation safety official."}],[{"start":332,"text":"Sabharwal’s father has condemned AAIB investigators for visiting his home two months after the crash “under the pretext of offering condolences” and then insinuating that his son had deliberately moved the switches to cut fuel after take-off."}],[{"start":346.48,"text":"“Such speculative remarks, made outside the framework of an official report, are procedurally improper and professionally indefensible,” he wrote in an email last September to the pilots’ federation and seen by the FT."}],[{"start":358.88,"text":"Asked about Sabharwal’s allegations, the AAIB said the final crash report would be published when the investigation had been completed."}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":366.2,"text":"The FT has seen a string of 10 automated maintenance alerts sent by the aircraft to Boeing and Air India ground operations centres during its 32 seconds in the air. The pilots’ federation has asked investigators to direct Boeing to interpret the messages, which were first reported by Indian investigative magazine The Caravan."}],[{"start":386.96,"text":"The federation has also highlighted what it says is a US patent filing for the 787’s fuel control system showing that under certain circumstances the fuel supply to the engines can be automatically shut off without the pilots moving the cockpit switches."}],[{"start":402.52,"text":"When the aircraft was flying earlier that day from Delhi to Ahmedabad, passenger Akash Vatsa posted a video of what he said were numerous electrical problems with crew call lights, air conditioning and in-flight entertainment screens all out of order."}],[{"start":416.92,"text":"Vishwashkumar Rajesh, a Briton who was the crash’s sole survivor, has described how the plane’s lights apparently started flickering moments after take-off and recalled hearing a loud bang."}],[{"start":427.88,"text":"Pierson said: “If this thing was as simple as a pilot issue, they’ve had a year. They should have been able to easily say ‘here’s our evidence’.”"}],[{"start":435.96,"text":"He added: “Our belief is that the plane took off, [then] they had some massive electrical impact.”"}],[{"start":441.66,"text":"Whether the AAIB’s findings will satisfy campaigners and the passengers’ families, as well as Boeing and Air India, is impossible to predict."}],[{"start":450.06,"text":"Investigators may find that deliberate pilot action was to blame. Such an event is not without precedent: in 2015 co-pilot Andreas Lubitz, who had a history of depression, flew a Germanwings plane into the French Alps, killing 150 people."}],[{"start":464.68,"text":"Randhawa, the pilots’ federation president, trained Sabharwal and knew him personally and professionally and insists: “I am convinced 101 per cent it was electrical failure.”"}],[{"start":475.36,"text":"Additional reporting by Christian Davies in New York"}],[{"start":482.28,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1788150734_3616.mp3"}