Air India crash report: Aviation expert suggests Pilot's deliberate attempt in Air India flight 171 crash, details inside

A leading aviation safety expert has suggested that the tragic crash of Air India Flight 171 may have been caused by deliberate human action. This raises, for the first time, the possibility that the crash was pilot-induced. Captain Mohan Ranganathan, one of India’s top aviation experts, has pointed to the way the fuel cutoff switches were operated and the cockpit audio to suggest that the crash might have been caused intentionally, possibly even as a suicide.

In a report by NDTV, Captain Ranganathan explained that the fuel cutoff switches for the aircraft’s engines must be turned off manually. "It cannot happen automatically or because of a power failure," he said. The switches are designed so that they stay in place unless someone pulls them out and moves them deliberately. This means that the switches being turned to "off" during the flight was a conscious action.

The crash happened on June 12 when Air India Flight 171, a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, took off from Ahmedabad airport heading to London Gatwick. There were 228 passengers and 14 crew members on board. Just 32 seconds after takeoff, the aircraft lost power in both engines and fell quickly, crashing into a medical hostel only 1.2 nautical miles from the runway. Sadly, 241 people died on the plane and 19 more on the ground. Only one passenger survived.

The preliminary report from India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) showed that the fuel control switches for both engines were turned off within one second of each other. These switches have guard rails and cannot be accidentally switched off due to turbulence or technical problems. The cockpit voice recordings also captured one pilot asking, "Why did you do it?" while the other replied, "I did not do it." Captain Ranganathan said this raised concerns of a possible cover-up.

According to cockpit rules, the pilot flying the aircraft during takeoff would have both hands on the controls, while the pilot monitoring has free hands to operate switches. Since the fuel cutoff switches were deliberately turned off, Captain Ranganathan believes the pilot monitoring, the captain in this case, was responsible.

He also mentioned that he had heard from other Air India pilots that the captain had a medical history and had been on extended medical leave before the flight. Although the AAIB report confirmed both pilots were medically certified, Captain Ranganathan urged further investigation into the pilots’ mental and physical health in the months leading up to the crash.

He compared this crash with other rare but tragic cases where pilots deliberately caused crashes, such as the Germanwings Flight 9525 disaster in 2015, where the co-pilot flew the plane into the French Alps, killing all aboard. Other examples include EgyptAir Flight 990, SilkAir Flight 185, and China Eastern Airlines Flight 5735. He stressed the importance of mental health checks for pilots, pointing out that Indian airlines and regulators have so far failed to adopt proper safeguards.

Captain Ranganathan also criticised the aviation industry in India for ignoring pilots’ mental health. He said pilots face high stress and fatigue due to long working hours and little time for family, which can lead to serious problems. “No airline in India maintains a psychiatric profile of its pilots during medical exams,” he said. He warned that this neglect is now costing lives.

However, the Civil Aviation Minister Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu advised caution in drawing conclusions from the preliminary report. In a statement, the minister said it was too early to jump to conclusions and praised the dedication of India’s pilots and crew. He urged everyone to wait for the final report before making any judgements, saying the preliminary findings are only the beginning of the investigation. This tragic crash has shocked India and the world, and the final report will hopefully provide clearer answers about what really happened on that fateful flight.