Ex-pilot points to chip fault, not pilot error in report on AI171 crash

A report released by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau following the fatal crash of Air India flight AI171 indicated a chip malfunction as a cause of the crash, a former pilot told Reuters on Saturday.

The AI 171 crash of the Boeing Dreamliner 787-8 aircraft in Gujarat's Ahmedabad killed 260 people, including 229 passengers, 12 crew members, and 19 people on the ground.

Senior lecturer at Buckinghamshire New University and former pilot Marco Chan said that although the report did not explicitly exonerate the two pilots from human error, the chances of accidentally switching the fuel cut-off toggle would be "close to zero". 

The preliminary report, released on July 12, depicted confusion in the cockpit shortly before the jetliner crashed and killed 260 people last month, after the plane's engine fuel cutoff switches flipped almost simultaneously and starved the engines of fuel. 

"If you will to exonerate the pilots from Pilot Error. This is what the reports were stating. Now they didn't say that explicitly, but from reading the findings, it tells me that it wasn't a Pilot error. What the report seems to be suggesting is the error with the chip," the former pilot told Reuters in an interview.

"What the report seems to be suggesting is the error with the chip. It's as simple as one chip not working properly, losing contact," he added.

A former pilot has shed light on the possible cause of the AI171 crash, stating that a technical issue may have been responsible for the incident. According to the former pilot, once contact is lost, the system can fail, much like a laptop experiencing a blue screen of death.

He explained that the thermal cycle being in a warm condition could have caused the signal to not be contacted properly. "Once you lose contact, it's kind of like how electricity works; the signal is not contacted properly. It's because the thermal cycle is in a warm condition," Chan said.

The former pilot further elaborated that the system may have stopped functioning due to excessive workload, similar to a laptop shutting down. "It's been working very hard, like your laptop stops working, basically giving you the blue screen of death and Windows," the former pilot added. 

During the interview with Reuters, the former pilot pointed out that the fuel control unit (FU) failed to receive a command to stay in a run position, resulting in a brief interruption in fuel supply. "It doesn't command the FU to be in a run position even for a split second. The fuel stopped for a couple of seconds, and the engine will start decelerating," the former pilot explained.

Raising key questions about the Air India AI171 crash, highlighting two main areas of investigation. Chan said the investigation should focus on whether Air India carried out necessary maintenance and replacement of certain chips in accordance with the Service Bulletin.

"I would say now this spotlight would be on, first of all, whether Air India has carried out the necessary maintenance and replacement of those chips according to the Service Bulletin," Marco Chan added.

The former pilot further emphasised the need to investigate the nature of the bulletin issued by GE Aviation (previously known as General Electric) and its partner, Bowen. "The second question will likely be for Bowen and General Electric together, why it was issued as a surface bulletin rather than an airworthiness kind of mandate, where a directive or call that you must carry out those actions," he added.