- A victim's father is dissatisfied with the AAIB's preliminary report on Air India plane crash
- Air India AI171 crashed on June 12 after both engines shut down post-takeoff
- 241 of 242 onboard died, including former Gujarat CM Vijay Rupani
The father of Sanket Goswami, a 19-year-old student who died in last month's Air India AI171 crash, stated that he was "not satisfied" with the preliminary investigation report released by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), and requested the government to conduct a "thorough investigation".
He also urged the government to take strict action against those responsible for the incident.
Sanket's father, Atul Goswami, told ANI, "My son was 19 years old... My family is living under such difficult circumstances. We used to rely on my son a lot. He was going to London for three years to get his degree. Our whole family relied on him... We are not satisfied with the report. We request the government to conduct a thorough investigation and strict action be taken against the responsible parties..."
The AI171 crash took place on June 12, when the London-bound Air India Boeing 787-8 aircraft crashed shortly after takeoff from Ahmedabad's Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport. The aircraft hit a hostel building at BJ Medical College, killing 241 of the 242 people on board. Among the victims was former Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani. It is one of the worst air disasters in India in recent years.
On Friday, the AAIB released its preliminary report into the crash. It described a critical situation that developed just 90 seconds after takeoff, when both engines shut down unexpectedly during the climb. This led to a loss of thrust and a rapid drop in altitude.
Flight data from the aircraft's Enhanced Airborne Flight Recorder (EAFR) showed that the fuel cutoff switches for both engines were accidentally moved from RUN to CUTOFF within one second of each other, shortly after takeoff. One pilot was heard asking the other, "Why did you cut off?" to which the response came, "I did not."
The sudden shutdown caused the Ram Air Turbine (RAT) to deploy, but the aircraft began losing height immediately and could not stay in the air without engine power.
According to the AAIB, the pilots tried to relight both engines by switching the fuel systems back on. While Engine 1 started to recover, Engine 2 did not stabilise. Even though the aircraft briefly reached 180 knots, it continued to descend. The final distress call, a "MAYDAY", was sent at 08:09 UTC, seconds before the crash.
