Why take data to US for analysis if ‘pilot suicide’ theory holds water: Attorney for AI 171 crash victims

“This is very interesting to me because if the initial narrative of pilot suicide was still going to be the story, why would you have to take data to Washington to analyse it? That tells me there’s something that they’re looking at…. If I were in their shoes, I would want to match the cockpit voice recorder data with the flight data recorder data so that you have an accurate representation. And then I would want to listen to the deployment of the RAT first, and then look at the flight data recorder back up three seconds, five seconds, 10 seconds, and see what event in the electrical system is calling for that RAT deployment, because that is crucial in understanding what has  happened…,” Andrews said.

Ram Air Turbine or RAT is a small emergency power generator that deploys to provide essential electrical and hydraulic power if main systems in an aircraft fail. Andrews had represented victims of aviation disasters in the past including those in the Ethiopian Airlines crash litigation.

“I would also want to listen for the warnings in the cockpit. …Because my guess is they’re gonna hear a lot of different type warnings, different level warnings. There’s probably going to be master alarms. There will be other sort of auxiliary alarms going off. I would want to listen to those. …based on our understanding of the electrical architecture of this plane, it’s altogether possible that this change in the fuel switch status was computer initiated, not manual,” Andrews explained, adding that he is very anxious and interested in the outcome of the AAIB meeting.

“And so if they are looking at the flight data and can see that change, but there’s no corresponding click, switch noise. That’s going to be a big clue, obviously. There are a number of things that I would want to listen to understand what’s happening here – say wealth of information on both of those recorders. And so if it’s the pilot suicide is the narrative, why go through that exercise? It doesn’t make any sense to me. I’ve always thought that the initiation of the RAT is the key. Something is happening to call for that,” he said.

“Even in that preliminary report, which created so many questions, even that report indicates the RAT is first before any of this fuel switch or fuel system issue. I’m also encouraged by the pilot’s association and the pilot’s father filing the petition in the Supreme Court (In India) which was accepted. And I’m encouraged by the comments that have come out by the Justices, that echoing some of the same things I have thought and said, it’s wrong to blame the pilot based on some very small decontextualised piece of information. We need all the story. We need the data. And so those things fit hand and glove. This continued focus by the AAIB and not giving up, just based on the conjecture and the push with the Supreme Court, those working in conjunction,” he said.

As the official investigation is ongoing, and no final conclusion has been reached regarding the cause of the crash, the preliminary report by the AAIB within a month of the crash revealed that the engine fuel control switches were moved from the ‘RUN’ to ‘CUTOFF’ position within a second of each other, three seconds after liftoff causing the engines to shut down. No cause for the switch movement was given in the report. Based on the preliminary findings, some aviation experts suggested the possibility of a potential pilot suicide. This was echoed by some US officials.

However, the Indian pilot associations, including the Indian Commercial Pilots’ Association (ICPA) and the Airline Pilots’ Association of India (ALPA India), have been vociferously rejected the suicide theory, calling it “reckless and unfounded”. The pilot’s father also sought a formal investigation, claiming the report tarnished his son’s reputation and that the pilot was mentally fit.

The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, operating as Flight AI171, that crashed shortly after takeoff from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport led to the death of 241 of the 242 people on board, along with 19 people on the ground, bringing the total death toll to 260. Vishwas Kumar Ramesh, a British citizen from Diu, is the only survivor.

Expressing satisfaction with the pace of investigations, Andrews says, “The key to this kind of investigation is to be methodical and to not miss points along the way, because these pieces of evidence matter. Very small things, like the comment from Vishwas (the lone survivor) about the lights. That’s a huge piece of evidence or a huge data point, because it tells us more likely than not the electrical system is switching over from the primary to the backup or the emergency power. Why? What calls that? What is the issue that is necessitated that change? The green lights in the plane typically being the emergency backup system. The pace of the investigation, we certainly have tried to not interfere with anything that’s going on with the investigation, because we think India certainly has and Air India, has the capability to investigate this, and is following the right path by being careful, by being methodical, and looking at prior crashes, sometimes the data is available very quickly, and sometimes it takes several years to get it. So I think you can’t have to examine the crash by itself and not as a comparative to something else.”

Also, stressing on the ‘history ‘ of water leaks Andrews, referring to the 229 page Boeing document, told this paper, “We know there’s a history of water leaks on these planes. The original clamp that is used, is a coupling for the water lines. The two rooms underneath the aft area and the cockpit in which the electrical components are kept, the computers and others. If you were in that room and you looked up at the ceiling, you would see all these water lines- that are drain lines from the lavatories, from the galleys, kitchenaries. They are joined in some places, they use these little couplings. If they’re not going to thread the pipes together because maintenance sometimes requires them to replace or rout, and some of these elbows and longer pieces are used in lots of other places in the plane. They’ll bring two pieces together and join them with these clips. They can be false clipped, they come apart. But what these documents speak is there’s a covering. There’s a covering and it’s called a split shroud. It’s a piece that goes up over and around these clamps. When it is fitted on there, apparently what happens is that it can interfere with the operation (of the clips) and cause it to open. So the alternative is a clip that looks exactly the same except it has a locking strap attached to it. So now, when this is attached and latched, it doesn’t matter what you do in terms of moving these little clips, it’s not going to open. And that’s intended to keep it from leaking. That’s important. That was discussed back in 2016, years ago.”

The families, Mike said, are also still waiting for the personal items that were collected at the scene, and how they might obtain those. “Those were collected, being cleaned, being catalogued, and I think that certainly the ones that are easily identifiable with, like a name tag or bag tag, or passport or something, can be returned pretty quickly,” he added.