India is preparing to dispatch a team of accident investigators to Washington next week to review the ongoing probe into the June Air India crash that claimed 241 lives. The group will go through the data collected so far by the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and present their own analysis drawn from the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder, Bloomberg reported, citing a person with the knowledge of the matter.The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), which is heading the probe from the Indian side, will take part in the review meeting at the NTSB headquarters. Representatives from organizations involved in the investigation, including Boeing, are also expected to attend.
The NTSB said it has no information to share at this stage and referred questions to Indian authorities. Boeing directed queries to the AAIB. Attempts to reach the AAIB and India’s aviation ministry for comment over the weekend were unsuccessful.This latest development follows reports that tension has been building between Indian and American authorities over the conduct of the investigation, Bloomberg reported. At the same time, pilots’ unions in India have opposed any claims that the crash may have been the result of pilot action.The preliminary findings reported earlier noted that the aircraft’s fuel-control switches were turned off shortly after take-off from Ahmedabad, which caused the engines to lose power and left the flight unrecoverable. Although the switches were turned back on about 10 seconds later, the change was not enough to save the unfortunate Boeing 787 Dreamliner.Bloomberg reported that the investigators have not yet reached a final conclusion, though some information has already surfaced. The cockpit voice recordings reportedly captured the younger co-pilot, who was operating the aircraft at take-off, asking the captain why he turned off the switches while the captain denied doing so.The AAIB has said that more details will be available only when the final report is issued and has urged people not to draw conclusions before that point.
