July 12, 2025 • 6 mins
A preliminary report into last month's Air India crash has raised more questions around the cause of the crash.
The London-bound plane crashed within a minute of take-off, killing all but one passenger on board.
Early findings by India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau show the fuel control switches in the cockpit had been cut off.
To discuss the preliminary findings, aviation commentator Irene King joined Francescar Rudkin
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Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Sunday Session podcast with Francesca Rudkin
from News talks'b.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
A preliminary report until last month's ere India crash has
raised more questions around the course of the crash. The
London bound plane crash within a minute of takeoff, killing
all but one passenger on board. Early findings by India's
Aircraft Accident Investigation Breer Bureau show the fuel control switches
in the cockpit had been cut off. So to discuss
(00:33):
these preliminary findings, I'm joined by aviation commentator Irene King.
Thanks for your time this morning. Irene, good morning. So
the report says that the fuel switches to the engines
both turned off within one second of each other. I
think it's probably pretty obvious what happens when you do that.
But taught me through the impact of those fuel switches
(00:54):
being turned off.
Speaker 3 (00:56):
Yeah, well, it's like you know, starving a body of oxygen.
As soon as that happens, you know, it is prettyst
It's not instant, but you know it is. You know,
it is catastrophic. There is no coming back. You can't
flick them back on again.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
Is that the key finding in this report?
Speaker 3 (01:19):
But This is one of the best preliminary reports I've
read for quite some time in the sense that, you know,
it gives us some comfort in caution about what, you know,
what the investigation, the final investigations is going to find.
But it also narrows down the issues and they're focusing
(01:42):
on one specific issue. What we don't know is that
you know, whether it's it's the individuals or whether it's
you know, something with the aircraft. But we do know
what what has happened, and that gives us a lot
of confidence, you know, because this is about doing confidence
(02:05):
back into the avation system that our investigation processes are
working well. So there's sort of multiple objectives going on here,
and but this is this is an excellent bord.
Speaker 2 (02:19):
Ian Can those switches flit themselves off or does it
need to be done manually?
Speaker 3 (02:25):
Look, from my understanding is that it's pretty hard to
switch them off, so you know, it's got to be
a conscious effort. Now, what we don't know and there
is some some airworthiness reports around from going that's a
potentially mechanical So those are the sort of things that
(02:49):
now that this report will be delving down into. Was
it man induced or was it mechanical, and it can
be either you know, they haven't gone as far as
saying it's this or it's that.
Speaker 2 (03:03):
There is a cockpit recording of one pilot asking the
other why they'd turned it off, and the response was
that he had not turned them off. We don't know
which pilots said what is it? Is it important to
determine which one asked the question as to white were
switched off?
Speaker 3 (03:17):
Oh? Look, I think they're protecting the privacy of the individuals.
I think they will know who said what, They know
who is flying the aircraft. So I'm pretty confident that
they are protecting the privacy and with good reason, because
(03:38):
they don't you know, there are there are loved ones
of these pilots as well, and you know, it's pretty
devastating for them if it's one of the that has
caused this accident. So they're very cautious with their wording.
And I say, there's still this question, is it the
(04:01):
man or is it the aircraft? Yes?
Speaker 2 (04:03):
Because is there any reason they would be turned off
any point in the flight?
Speaker 1 (04:08):
No?
Speaker 2 (04:09):
Okay? And then powering back up? How long does it
take for them?
Speaker 3 (04:17):
It's like I say, it's not you know, it's not
a deep breath. It is a process of you know,
getting the feelback into the engine and in the phase
of flight that they were in, you know, they were
pulling through a lot of fuel because you know, they
were ramping up the flight they were taking off and yeah,
(04:38):
extremely challenging.
Speaker 2 (04:40):
Was there anything else in the report that gives us
a clue as to what happened that day?
Speaker 3 (04:45):
Well, I think it's quite good in terms of sequence.
You know, it should give people a lot of confidence
in the aviation system itself. You know, for example, we
know that the pilots were not fatigued. We know that
they were drugging alcohol test, which is again quite unusual,
(05:06):
must be something that the Indians require prior to departure,
and that they both tested negative to that. So there
are a lot of things in this report that should
give confidence back in the aviation system. Because when you
have something like this happened and you know it's now,
(05:28):
it's videotaped, and it comes instantaneously into your own it
is pretty shattering for everyone. And so this is about confidence, right.
Speaker 2 (05:40):
So, even though we've got a lot still to learn
about what might have happened with the fuel switches, we
are it is most likely that they are the reason
that that is the reason why the plane came down.
Speaker 3 (05:55):
Look, the investigation is still ongoing. Yeah, and I think
what we can say is that they are pursuing one
course of investigation. They've got the switches, you know, they
know they've got the switches, so they know sort of
(06:15):
what happened, and so they will be giving them a
lot of again confidence to go down this particular path
and dismiss others. But like I say, there's still this
question mark was it man or was it the aircraft?
Speaker 2 (06:34):
Irene King, thanks so much for your time this morning. Appreciated.
Speaker 1 (06:37):
For more from the Sunday session with Francesca Rudkin, listen
live to News Talks they'd be from nine am Sunday,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.
You're listening to the Sunday Session podcast with Francesca Rudkin
from News talks'b.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
A preliminary report until last month's ere India crash has
raised more questions around the course of the crash. The
London bound plane crash within a minute of takeoff, killing
all but one passenger on board. Early findings by India's
Aircraft Accident Investigation Breer Bureau show the fuel control switches
in the cockpit had been cut off. So to discuss
(00:33):
these preliminary findings, I'm joined by aviation commentator Irene King.
Thanks for your time this morning. Irene, good morning. So
the report says that the fuel switches to the engines
both turned off within one second of each other. I
think it's probably pretty obvious what happens when you do that.
But taught me through the impact of those fuel switches
(00:54):
being turned off.
Speaker 3 (00:56):
Yeah, well, it's like you know, starving a body of oxygen.
As soon as that happens, you know, it is prettyst
It's not instant, but you know it is. You know,
it is catastrophic. There is no coming back. You can't
flick them back on again.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
Is that the key finding in this report?
Speaker 3 (01:19):
But This is one of the best preliminary reports I've
read for quite some time in the sense that, you know,
it gives us some comfort in caution about what, you know,
what the investigation, the final investigations is going to find.
But it also narrows down the issues and they're focusing
(01:42):
on one specific issue. What we don't know is that
you know, whether it's it's the individuals or whether it's
you know, something with the aircraft. But we do know
what what has happened, and that gives us a lot
of confidence, you know, because this is about doing confidence
(02:05):
back into the avation system that our investigation processes are
working well. So there's sort of multiple objectives going on here,
and but this is this is an excellent bord.
Speaker 2 (02:19):
Ian Can those switches flit themselves off or does it
need to be done manually?
Speaker 3 (02:25):
Look, from my understanding is that it's pretty hard to
switch them off, so you know, it's got to be
a conscious effort. Now, what we don't know and there
is some some airworthiness reports around from going that's a
potentially mechanical So those are the sort of things that
(02:49):
now that this report will be delving down into. Was
it man induced or was it mechanical, and it can
be either you know, they haven't gone as far as
saying it's this or it's that.
Speaker 2 (03:03):
There is a cockpit recording of one pilot asking the
other why they'd turned it off, and the response was
that he had not turned them off. We don't know
which pilots said what is it? Is it important to
determine which one asked the question as to white were
switched off?
Speaker 3 (03:17):
Oh? Look, I think they're protecting the privacy of the individuals.
I think they will know who said what, They know
who is flying the aircraft. So I'm pretty confident that
they are protecting the privacy and with good reason, because
(03:38):
they don't you know, there are there are loved ones
of these pilots as well, and you know, it's pretty
devastating for them if it's one of the that has
caused this accident. So they're very cautious with their wording.
And I say, there's still this question, is it the
(04:01):
man or is it the aircraft? Yes?
Speaker 2 (04:03):
Because is there any reason they would be turned off
any point in the flight?
Speaker 1 (04:08):
No?
Speaker 2 (04:09):
Okay? And then powering back up? How long does it
take for them?
Speaker 3 (04:17):
It's like I say, it's not you know, it's not
a deep breath. It is a process of you know,
getting the feelback into the engine and in the phase
of flight that they were in, you know, they were
pulling through a lot of fuel because you know, they
were ramping up the flight they were taking off and yeah,
(04:38):
extremely challenging.
Speaker 2 (04:40):
Was there anything else in the report that gives us
a clue as to what happened that day?
Speaker 3 (04:45):
Well, I think it's quite good in terms of sequence.
You know, it should give people a lot of confidence
in the aviation system itself. You know, for example, we
know that the pilots were not fatigued. We know that
they were drugging alcohol test, which is again quite unusual,
(05:06):
must be something that the Indians require prior to departure,
and that they both tested negative to that. So there
are a lot of things in this report that should
give confidence back in the aviation system. Because when you
have something like this happened and you know it's now,
(05:28):
it's videotaped, and it comes instantaneously into your own it
is pretty shattering for everyone. And so this is about confidence, right.
Speaker 2 (05:40):
So, even though we've got a lot still to learn
about what might have happened with the fuel switches, we
are it is most likely that they are the reason
that that is the reason why the plane came down.
Speaker 3 (05:55):
Look, the investigation is still ongoing. Yeah, and I think
what we can say is that they are pursuing one
course of investigation. They've got the switches, you know, they
know they've got the switches, so they know sort of
(06:15):
what happened, and so they will be giving them a
lot of again confidence to go down this particular path
and dismiss others. But like I say, there's still this
question mark was it man or was it the aircraft?
Speaker 2 (06:34):
Irene King, thanks so much for your time this morning. Appreciated.
Speaker 1 (06:37):
For more from the Sunday session with Francesca Rudkin, listen
live to News Talks they'd be from nine am Sunday,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.
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