Air India crash fuel switches turned off

[limetrees32]

I've not found a thread on this , although it's taken me so long to search out the knowledgeable posters
on the Washington crash that there probably is one now.
But @notimagain what do you think ?

What for? he wouldn´t be needing an alibi would he? Usually, the simplest explanation is the correct one.

Possibly. But if I knew my friends and family (and the world) would learn the contents of this recording, I might bear that in mind in what I said.

ETA otherwise, if it was a deliberate act and not a subconscious mistake, the one who did it could certainly say so - it would make no difference to the fatal outcome at that point.

Just a heads up @MissConductUS and others: The Wall Street Journal is in fact a Rupert Murdoch owned paper just like the The Daily Mail and it also has a right wing and conservative business slant to it.

I'm aware of the Journal's ownership. The opinion section of the paper clearly has a conservative and pro-business slant. The news operation takes great pains to be politically neutral.

Who knows how even trained pilots react in face of imminent demise but from what’s been released the Capt not at the controls maintained icy, decided calm. The actual pilot at controls however…

Just been looking elsewhere on aviation type fora at responses to the WSJ piece.

Many seem to feel that the WSJ piece should be regarded as being probably accurate but not happy as all at what appears to be a breach of the rules contained in the relevant ICAO Annex.

So a click bait piece on the backs of those who are mourning the death of their loved ones both in the plane and on the ground. Plus the sole survivor within the plane and those who survived on the ground. Shocking and shameful.

I am just baffled by this case.

It''s maybe worth bearing in mind in the context of this bit of the thread that it will quite probably be a year, even two, before we see the final accident report.

That's the (lengthy) document that will provide the full details, as best the investigators can come up with, and also possibly a full'ish transcript of what is on the cockpit voice recorder (or 787 equivalent) and that usually has the definitive exactly who said exactly what.

Experience shows that those reports rarely get read by people outside the industry.

As @MissConductUS mentioned the WSJ is pro-business. It would certainly suit at least couple of big companies to get this investigation done and dusted PDQ, certainly in well, well under two years. If they can't facilitate that they might at least try to generate public sentiment that the findings are a forgone conclusion.

As mentioned the WSJ is pro-business. It would certainly suit at least couple of big companies to get this investigation done and dusted PDQ, certainly in well, well under two years. If they can't facilitate that they might at least try to generate public sentiment that the findings are a forgone conclusion.

I suspect that the respectable press in the US must be a bit different than Fleet Street. If the WSJ had reliable information that pointed towards a problem with the aircraft, they would have reported that. If they have information the points to pilot action playing a role, they'll report that, as they have in this case. Who it helps or hinders isn't the point.

I'd point out that the WSJ was in the forefront of reporting on Boeing's many design and manufacturing faults in the past few years. They don't have form for showing them favoritism.

Here are a few examples the WSJ's reporting on Boeing in the past. As you can see, they're not pulling any punches.

What We Learned About Boeing From the Probe Into Alaska Airlines 737 MAX Blowout - Employees describe ongoing factory problems and landing in ‘jail’ after internal safety reports

Boeing Finds Cracks in Structure of 777X Test Jets - Plane maker started testing new model in July with plans to begin deliveries in 2025

Boeing’s CEO Is Shrinking the Jet Maker to Stop Its Crisis From Spiraling - A strike could end soon, but the company remains in a perilous financial position

@MissConductUS The AAIB preliminary report, with its summary of the dialogue, already pointed to likely pilot action (whether erroneous or deliberate). However, the AAIB chose not to identify which pilot was which, so the WSJ has chosen to publish a leak.

No idea of the “house” line on Boeing, but I don’t think the leaker or the paper is on the high ground here.

WSJ reported that China Eastern Airlines Flight 5735 was a suicide event in May 2022. The plane crashed March 21 2022. The investigation is still open.

So the paper has past form for this.

There's been only 7 confirmed suicide flight events in the last 40 years that involves commercial flights.

Don't want to fall out with anyone over this but it's not really the WSJ that's the problem here, they are reporting a story they got from someone and the question is who was it?

In the commercial/professional aviation world there's an expectation that the contents of the Voice recorder recovered post accident will be handled iaw ICAO Annex 13...basically release of info is down to the State conducting the investigation.

In the case of this accident It's not the job of say, the UK AAIB, Boeing, GE, the NTSB or any of the other "guest" companies or agencies to start leaking the sort of details the WSJ got hold of and published.

I hope I'm wrong but it's not out of the question there might be some political blow back because of this..hopefully that won't effect the actual investigation.

To save his family from the shame.

Footage demonstrates the fuel control mechanism in a Boeing 787 Dreamliner | Watch

If the above link works, it shows a sample video of the switch movements.

Lawyer for Air India families says one key theory has emerged to explain crash

Alaska Airlines pilot who safely landed plane after panel blew out says Boeing unfairly blamed him

And this is why I am a tad sceptical to pile on the suicide theory on the AI crash. By the way, a family did return AI from BOM to LHR a few weeks ago on a 777, they said they would never travel on AI if possible. Boeing tries to blame pilot of door blowout.

Air India grounds Boeing 787 plane after pilot flags fuel control switch issue

@SuratNuJaman thank you for updates.
A lot of research is always needed to balance media and business reports.
So I'm. grateful you're doing some

It was a Boeing 787 which most of us fly on long haul. If there is an issue with the aircraft, it is important that this come through.

Anyone seen this? Relevant or not?

https://www.omanobserver.om/ampArticle/1183852

Air India inspects B787 fuel switches after grounding

I thought this Telegraph article from January was very good and comprehensive, but some of the BTL comments are quite negative about it, so who knows.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/01/24/air-india-crash-evidence/

https://archive.ph/51HIc