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Latest Air India crash: Investigators conclude that emergency power most likely activated prior to the incident, canceling 66 Dreamliner flights
Investigators probing the deadly crash of Air India flight 171 in which more than 270 people were killed have found that the aircraft’s emergency power system was likely active just before impact.
The Wall Street Journal reported that this possibly suggested an engine or hydraulic failure during takeoff, a rare and serious event in commercial aviation.
However, the investigators were yet to determine whether engine, hydraulic, or other system failures activated the emergency power, according to the outlet, which cited people familiar with the probe.
Air India has cancelled 66 Dreamliner flights since the 12 June crash in Ahmedabad, Indian aviation regulator DGCA said on Tuesday.
The airline has also delayed multiple flights serviced by Boeing 787-8. It has attributed the interruptions to grounded aircraft, technical issues, restricted airspace, and heightened safety protocols.
The DGCA, meanwhile, has found no major flaws in Air India’s Dreamliners, but flagged maintenance delays and coordination issues.
British man's family in distress over lack of support from UK and India governments
The family of 25-year-old Faizan Rafik, a British man feared to be on the Air India flight that crashed in Ahmedabad last week, is still awaiting official confirmation of his fate.
Despite providing DNA days ago, they’ve received no updates, leaving them in distress and without guidance, the BBC reported.
Rafik was returning to the UK after visiting his wife in Gujarat. His cousin has called for more support from UK authorities and expressed frustration at the lack of communication from both Indian and British officials.
Sameer Rafik, his cousin told the outlet that his family had been left “completely stuck” and that they “don’t know what to do”.
The crash killed 241 of 242 on board, including 53 Britons.
Mr Rafik said: “There’s no update on him, we don’t know if he’s dead or alive.”
“We are still hoping to hear some good news from India but unfortunately we aren’t getting any update from anywhere.“Faizan’s dad was asked to give DNA - it’s been more than four days now. We were supposed to have heard from the hospital by Monday but we haven't heard anything.
“We need to get some update about my brother. Was he there in the flight crash? If he wasn’t on the flight where is he? If he is on the flight then what’s the condition of the body?”
He added: “We haven’t had anything from the UK or India – it feels like he was the one paying tax to this country and the government doesn't bother about the person who has died.
“It feels very awful. He’s nothing to the government – just a piece of paper, feels like tearing it up and throwing it in the bin.
“We don’t know what to do because we’re completely blank. We need some kind of support from someone, we need a guide about what to do but we don’t have that at the moment.”
What do investigators mean when they say that 'emergency power was likely active' before the crash?
On airplanes, there is a backup system called emergency power that turns on only if something goes seriously wrong.
In the case of Air India Boeing Dreamliner crash in Ahmedabad last week, people familiar with the probe told the Wall Street Journal that the emergency system was activated before the crash which meant that it is likely that both engines failed or that the plane lost some important systems that would have helped in giving it thrust.
Having the emergency power active means that something may have gone very wrong right after the takeoff.
It doesn’t, however, prove exactly what caused the crash, but it’s a big clue for the investigators.
Investigators recover cockpit voice recorder from crashed Air India flight
Investigators have recovered the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) from the Air India flight that crashed shortly after takeoff outside Ahmedabad airport last week.
All but one passenger died after the London-bound Boeing 787 aircraft crashed into the campus of a medical college in Ahmedabad city on Thursday afternoon. Only one passenger among the 242 aboard survived.
At least 29 others on the ground, including five medical students inside the hostel, were also killed.
The CVR, which captures audio from the cockpit, including pilot conversations along with the flight data recorder, will be key to determine the possible cause of one of the worst aviation disasters in decades. The flight data recorder was recovered from the crash site over the weekend.
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