The preliminary report on the Air India plane accident highlights potential confusion among pilots regarding fuel switches, which regulate fuel flow to the engines. The report suggests the switches were cut off and then switched on again shortly before the crash, raising questions about pilot actions and procedures.
The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau has already launched a formal investigation into the incident.
The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, operated by Tata-owned Air India, was carrying 169 Indian nationals, 53 British citizens, 7 Portuguese, and 1 Canadian passenger, along with crew members. There are feared to be no survivors.
21-year-old Nganthoi Sharma Kongbrailatpam was part of the cabin crew in Air India flight AI 171, a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, which crashed near Ahmedabad airport on Thursday.
The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) has urged restraint in speculating about the cause of the Air India plane crash, emphasizing that the investigation is ongoing and premature narratives should be avoided.
Pilot groups have accused the AAIB of portraying the pilots as responsible for the incident, with vague and selective presentation of cockpit conversations.
According to a source, the flight was to be operated with a Boeing 787-9 plane.
With the finding of both black boxes of the plane, it would be easy for investigators to ascertain the cause of the crash.
Air India Group expects to induct 26 wide-body and narrow-body planes, and operate 81 per cent of its international flights with upgraded aircraft by the end of 2026, while overall capacity will remain almost unchanged next year.
Families of victims of the Air India plane crash have hired a US law firm to explore legal options, seeking answers and accountability.
An Air India aircraft with 242 passengers on board heading to London crashed in the Meghaninagar area near Ahmedabad airport on Thursday afternoon, the police said.
"When the fuel control switch has to be cut off, the pilot flying will say, fuel control switch left, confirm. So, after the confirmation is made by the second pilot, the pilot monitoring will cut off (the switch).
More than 200 passengers on a Singapore-bound Air India plane had a harrowing time at the Delhi airport as they were first deboarded from the aircraft due to cabin temperature issue and were later flown to their destination after a delay of nearly six hours.
Hundreds of people, including inconsolable family members and friends, gave an emotional farewell to First Officer Clive Kunder, co-pilot of the Air India plane that crashed in Ahmedabad last week, and flight attendant Roshni Songhare whose last rites were held on Thursday.
'The black box is very much in India and it it currently being investigated by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau'
The Dreamliner will allow Air India to finally match the right kind of routes with the right kind of planes, while launching new ones. Some say it won't solve the airline's problems.
Aparna Mahadik, 42, was on board the Air India flight AI171 that tragically crashed shortly after take off from Ahmedabad airport. The Boeing 787 Dreamliner was carrying 242 people.
The Ahmedabad Civil Hospital performed the last rites for body parts of 19 victims of the June 12 Air India plane crash. The body parts were discovered after the initial remains were handed over to families.
Efforts are on recover the black box of the Air India flight AI 171 which crashed in Ahmedabad as its analysis will provide vital clues about what triggered the disaster, said police and Fire Brigade officials on Friday.
Air India will begin operating flights between Ahmedabad and London Heathrow from August 1, replacing the Gatwick route. The airline is also partially resuming domestic and international services suspended after a fatal plane crash. Some routes will remain suspended until September 30, while others will see increased frequency.
'We're always looking at how we can keep improving, keep getting better, and keep learning.'
Insurance companies are processing a surge of claims related to the Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad, including travel, personal accident, and life insurance claims.
The announcement by Air India CMD Rohit Nandan came on a day when two of the airline's six Dreamliners resumed commercial operations and operated regular flights from Delhi to Bengaluru and Kolkata.
Reuters Photographer Adnan Abidi captures images of the mangled remains of AI-171 which crashed shortly after take off from Ahmedabad on Thursday afternoon.
The crash has dealt a blow to the conglomerate's efforts to turn around Air India, especially following its merger with Vistara in 2024.
The US federal agency, National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), responsible for the investigation of aviation accidents and significant transportation events in the country, on Friday (local time) issued a strong rebuke of recent media coverage made over the preliminary investigative report on the aftermath of the ill-fated Air India 171 crash that claimed 260 lives in Gujarat's Ahmedabad last month.
'...rectification has to happen then and there, and that takes additional time.'
'11A' is among the six seats in the first row of the economy class of Air India's B787-8 planes. It is the window seat near one of the emergency exit doors as well as the aircraft galley area, according to the seat map.
Air India replaced the Throttle Control Module (TCM) of the crashed Boeing 787-8 plane twice in the last six years following a directive from Boeing in 2019, sources said on Sunday. The replacement of the TCM twice -- in 2019 and 2023 -- was mentioned in the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau's (AAIB) preliminary probe report into the crash that was released on Saturday.
A native of Mandangad in coastal Ratnagiri district, the Songhare family had moved to Mumbai for work and shifted to Dombivli two years ago.
At Ahmedabad's Civil Hospital, DNA samples from over 190 relatives are being matched with victims of the Air India crash, a process expected to take up to 72 hours.
Aircraft manufacturer Boeing on Saturday said it continues to support the ongoing investigation into the Air India Flight AI171 crash, hours after the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) released its preliminary report on the incident that occurred in Ahmedabad.
Arjun Patolia, 36, came from London to his ancestral village Vadiya in Amreli district to immerse Bharati's ashes in the Narmada, as per her last wish.
'In the inspections, no issues were found with the said locking mechanism.'
On the one-month anniversary of the Air India flight 171 crash that killed 241 passengers and 19 on the ground, relatives of passengers expressed renewed anxieties as they saw loved ones depart on the same route.
'It is an indication that they had forgotten to retract the landing gear. That causes heavy drag, and you cannot accelerate or gain height too fast with a hanging gear.'
The Supreme Court on Friday said no one blamed the chief pilot of the Air India Dreamliner for the June 12 crash, which claimed 260 lives, and asked his 91-year-old father not to carry any emotional burden.
Air India says it would be operating its new Boeing-787 Dreamliner aircraft on key domestic routes, not abroad, to begin with. The first of these is to be inducted later this month, on routes such as Mumbai-Delhi.
A week after the devastating Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad claimed 270 lives, the debris, including the ill-fated aircraft's tail fin, is still lying at the site as investigators looked for clues to establish the exact cause behind the accident, said officials on Thursday.
They were asked to wait for 72 hours, but the deadline passed on Sunday and the wait seems endless.
