The head of the US Federal Aviation Administration has cleared Boeing of blame in the June 12 Air India crash, saying a mechanical failure did not appear to have caused the 787-8 Dreamliner disaster.
FAA administrator Bryan Bedford also discounted “inadvertent manipulation” of the fuel control switches, a comment that appeared to buttress the theory that one of the pilots intentionally cut off the fuel switches.
Federation of Indian Pilots president C.S. Randhawa responded by underlining that the FAA was not the investigating agency.
Randhawa and some aviation experts questioned the propriety and credibility of Bedford’s comments when the probe was still continuing and wondered if he was trying to influence the investigation.
Air India did not comment on the US aviation regulator’s remarks.
Reacting to Bedford’s statement, Boeing said: “We’ll defer to the FAA for any comments on this.”
News agency Reuters reported that Bedford had made the remarks to reporters on the sidelines of an air show in Wisconsin.
“We can say with a high level of confidence that it doesn’t appear to be a mechanical issue with the Boeing fuel control unit,” Bedford was quoted as saying.
“We feel very comfortable that this isn’t an issue with inadvertent manipulation of fuel control.”
The report said Bedford had cited an evaluation conducted by FAA employees who had (while examining aircraft other than the crashed AI171) “taken the units out, tested them and had inspectors get on aircraft and review them”.
A preliminary report by India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) indicated that the fuel control switches of AI171 had flipped from “run” to “cut off” seconds after the lift-off from Ahmedabad, starving both engines of fuel.
The flight data recorder showed that one of the pilots asked the other who he had “cut off” (the fuel) and the other replied that he didn’t.
While the report did not provide any conclusions, there has been wide speculation that one of the pilots “intentionally” cut off the fuel. The plane crashed 32 seconds after lift-off, killing 241 people on board and 30-odd on the ground.
Aviation expert Sanat Kaul called it surprising and objectionable that a senior US government functionary like the FAA administrator had tried to influence the AAIB investigation.
“It’s unfortunate that the administrator of FAA has himself opted to pre-empt the inquiry by making this very public statement at an air show in Wisconsin,” Kaul, chairperson of the International Foundation for Aviation, Aerospace and Drones, told The Telegraph.
He added: “If it’s a manufacturing issue, then Boeing along with its suppliers will be held responsible and it would lead to huge damages and loss of reputation.”
Kaul cited a report about how, in 2019, the fuel switches of a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner operated by Japanese airline ANA had got cut off automatically on landing at Osakaairport.“It did not lead to an accident but it was a software glitch,” Kaul said.
Randhawa, the Federation of Indian Pilots president, too expressed shock at the FAA giving its opinion onthe subject.
“The FAA is not the investigative authority (and cannot) clearly stipulate that there is no technical issue. As long as the investigations are going on, it’s strange to come to conclusions,” he told this newspaper.
“I strongly believe there is an electronic problem with the Thrust Control Malfunction Accommodation (TCMA) or the electronic engine control (EEC).”
The TCMA is a safety system designed to detect and correct thrust control malfunction, while the EEC controls and optimises engine performance and efficiency.
Both the AAIB and the US National Transport Safety Board had cautioned the media against speculating on the reasons for the crash.
Air India on Tuesday announced that it had completed precautionary inspections of the fuel-control-switch-locking mechanism on all its 787 and 737 aircraft and found no issues.