Saturday, July 12

Some crucial new information has arisen in the investigation into the devastating Air India crash that occurred in the city of Ahmedabad last month, killing over 260 people.

The flight, Air India AI171, a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, took off from Ahmedabad, a city in the western Indian state of Gujarat, on June 12. Just after takeoff, the plane was seen losing altitude, and it soon crashed into a doctors' hostel near the airport.

Footage taken by a nearby onlooker showed the plane slowly going down with its landing gear extended, with the nose pointed up as if it was about to land on the tarmac. The plane slowly descends straight into the hostel, where it briefly goes out of sight before a fiery explosion and a massive plume of thick, black smoke erupts from the crash site.

242 people were onboard the plane, and only one passenger managed to survive the crash. Meanwhile, dozens of people on the ground were killed by the impact, and the resulting blast also injured dozens of others. Read more into the initial incident here.

Investigations quickly began into the crash, but no initial blame was directed. Experts thought it could have been a bird strike or pilot error, while others suspected Boeing due to their faltering track record that has continued to worsen ever since the 737 Max crashes of 2018 and 2019.

Now, after analyzing the black boxes of the aircraft, authorities have uncovered some new evidence. They found that just seconds after takeoff, as the plane began gaining altitude, the fuel supply to the engines was completely shut off.

This has helped investigators confirm that the blame is unlikely to be placed on Boeing or any manufacturer, as there are multiple safeguards that are built to prevent the fuel switch from accidentally being toggled while in flight.

The switch is designed to be extremely tough to move, as it needs to be pulled out of its locked position and moved to the desired position, which can either begin or cut off the fuel supply. Additionally, there is one of these for each engine, meaning that a total fuel cutoff would require both switches to be toggled, and accidentally bumping it into a new position is not possible due to the design of the toggle. On top of those measures, the switches are blocked off by metal bars on the sides, further preventing an accidental toggle of the mechanism, and the switch has no way of moving automatically or on its own.

However, even more curious is that the pilots seem to have had no knowledge of the fuel switches being turned off, adding to the mystery. In the cockpit voice recorder, which is one of the two black boxes that record flight data, one of the pilots can be heard asking the other one why he cut off the fuel, but the other pilot responds by stating that he did not shut off the fuel.

Data from the other black box, the flight data recorder, has shown that the fuel supply was restarted around 10 seconds after it was shut off, but there was not enough time for the engines to power the plane out of its descent. By this time, it was already too late, and the plane crashed into the hostel before the aircraft could resume its ascent.

This new information is part of Air India's preliminary report that is required to be released within 30 days of the crash, but a specific cause of the incident has still not been determined yet, and it could take months or even years to truly discover that cause.

Fact of the Day (The Fact Site): The flashes of colored light you see when you rub your eyes are called "phosphenes."

Quote of the Day (Gracious Quotes): True humility is not thinking less of yourself; it is thinking of yourself less. (Rick Warren)

Word of the Day (Merriam-Webster): Rescind (verb, rih-SIND) - To rescind something, such as a law, contract, agreement, etc., is to end it officially. Rescind can also mean "to take back; to cancel."

In a Sentence: Given the appeal court’s recent decision, it is likely that the law will be rescinded.