DC Edit | Prelim Air Crash Report Leads To No Conclusions

How intriguingly tragic the events are that led to the crash of the Air India plane in Ahmedabad and have just come to light. But the findings of the preliminary probe into one of Indian aviation’s devastating tragedies have left behind more questions than answers. The sequence of inexplicable happenings that led to both engines having their fuel cut off will be the medium of intense speculation from here on. The suspicion is, like the Kennedy assassination, this may remain an unsolved mystery.

Why the engine fuel cutoff switches transitioned from ‘Run’ to ‘Cutoff’ will remain in the realm of speculation until and unless the fuller probe reveals how it came about. Having been designed in such a way as to predicate two distinct and opposite movements, beginning with having to pull them up to unlock before flipping them, it is unlikely that the switches were moved without human involvement.

In determining whether this was accidental or intentional will lie the key to solving the riddle. The lever-locks are designed to prevent accidental activation with protective guard brackets to shield from accidental bumps. But what if there was a mechanical or electrical failure or malfunction, or even a software failure somewhere in the precision electronics of modern, fly-by-wire standards?

Years after a Malaysian airliner crashed somewhere in an unknown spot at the bottom of a great ocean there is yet no clue to whether such a course was deliberately charted or the aircraft wandered because of inexplicable happenings inside the cockpit. Much the same speculation over whether this Air India crash was from a human intervention or mechanical or electronic failure will grip the people for long.

It would be unfair to jump to conclusions before the probe — the investigation is by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau of India with experts from Boeing, General Electric, Air India, and more from the US and the UK involved — is completed and light shed on how the fuel cutoff switches moved or were made to do so. And yet the varied nature of humans being what it is, voices will continue to be heard that may be distressing to anyone who must board an aircraft for work or leisure.

It must be particularly hurtful to the whole community of pilots if some experts have concluded already that the mental health of one of the seasoned pilots in charge of the flight may have led to his nursing suicidal thoughts and so cutting off the fuel flow. How specious that line of argument becomes can be gauged from the fact that the engines were reignited virtually instantly with the switches engaged again after one of the pilots pointed to the fuel being cut off.

What the crash itself should teach us, however, is that the state of Indian aviation, the third largest in the world, is far from ideal. The corners that we fear are being cut to ferry passengers to and from their destinations, overlooking minor equipment problems like worn out tyres, skipping rigorous safety checks and ensuring that sufficient numbers of trained pilots and air traffic controllers are recruited to conform to safety protocols, do not fill us with confidence that premier travel in the air is a very safe proposition in this country.

Taking preliminary steps towards safety is not India’s strongest suit. And this is not only in aviation but universally true in any field of endeavour. The price that India pays as a society can be clearly seen and yet expediency is considered an overriding virtue to keep things on the move and meet profit estimates. It remains to be seen if the Air India crash would have changed anything in the attitude towards safety.