Needs to be ascertained further why engines of AI flight 171 shut down after take off Rudy

New Delhi, Jul 12 (PTI) There is a need to further ascertain why the engines of the Air India flight 171 shut down soon after the plane took off, BJP MP Rajiv Pratap Rudy said on Saturday, noting that the pilots might have turned the fuel switches off and on within a fraction of a second to re-start the engines after they flamed out.
    Talking to reporters here, Rudy, himself a commercial pilot, said a preliminary report of the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), released on Saturday, has pointed out that when the plane crashed, the fuel switches were in the "run" position, which means they were on.
    "The report says when the aircraft crashed, the switches were in the run position, which means the switches were on. There are some preliminary evidence that indicates that the pilots may have noticed the engine power declining. It appears that both engines had flamed out, which in common parlance means the engines had stopped," he said.
    "We know what happened, but we still need to find out if at all both the engines had flamed out...," he said, adding, "The RAT (Ram Air Turbine) had been deployed and the auxiliary power unit had automatically re-started the engines. It is ample indication that the engines had lost power."
    Rudy, however, said even though he is a pilot, his comments should not be taken as an expert opinion.
    "I am a seventh-term MP and my profession is politics," he said,
    The AAIB report said seconds before Air India flight 171 crashed while ascending from Ahmedabad on June 12, the fuel control switches of both its engines were cut off, suggesting a catastrophic pilot error in the cockpit of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.
    The Airlines Pilots Association of India has raised issues with the report and alleged that the investigation is "shrouded in secrecy", appears to be biased against the pilots and has come to a conclusion hastily.
    Asked if there was any possibility of human error, Rudy told PTI Videos that the pilots, who were "well-experienced and qualified" to fly, took "corrective actions" to re-start the engines but unfortunately, the plane still crashed because there was not enough height and speed for both engines to relight, and there were also obstructions due to buildings.
    The BJP leader said one of the engines restarted due to the pilots' efforts but the other continued to struggle.
    Asked if the cockpit audio suggests some kind of confusion and miscommunication between the two pilots, he said, "Absolutely wrong."
    "It is a call and a confirmation which the captain has sought from the other. There was no pilot confusion. I would appreciate the action on the part of the senior commanders who initiated the re-start of the engine within a span of 30 seconds by flicking the fuel-control switches," Rudy said.
    "Why the engines shut down is a matter of analysis," he added.
    According to a chronology laid out in the AAIB report, both the fuel cut-off switches moved from RUN to CUTOFF one second apart, almost immediately after takeoff. A RAT pump was deployed to supply hydraulic power as both engines fell below the minimum idle rate.
    About 10 seconds later, the first engine's fuel cut-off switch moved to its so-called RUN position, followed by the second engine four seconds later.
    The pilots managed to relight both engines, but only the first one recovered, while the second failed to build up enough power again to reverse deceleration. One of the pilots issued a "Mayday, Mayday, Mayday" distress call, but before air-traffic controllers could get a response regarding what had gone wrong, the plane crashed just outside the Ahmedabad airport boundary, having grazed some trees before plunging into a hostel packed with students.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)