Key facts
- The Federation of Indian Pilots (FIP) has asked the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) to conduct Boeing 787 simulator tests.
- The tests are intended to verify the relationship between Ram Air Turbine (RAT) deployment and fuel control switch movement.
- FIP's request follows the AAIB's interim statement on June 12, indicating progress in the investigation of the Air India AI-171 crash.
- The pilots' group suggested that RAT deployment might be unrelated to fuel system changes prior to the accident.
- Survivor reports of a loud bang and dimming cabin lights, ACARS messages, and damage to the aft Enhanced Airborne Flight Recorder (EAFR) are to be examined.
The Federation of Indian Pilots (FIP) has requested the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) to conduct Boeing 787 simulator tests as part of the ongoing investigation into the Air India AI-171 plane crash. The pilots' group seeks to verify the relationship between the deployment of the Ram Air Turbine (RAT) and the movement of the fuel control switch, suggesting that RAT deployment might be unrelated to fuel system changes before the aircraft crashed.
This demand comes after the AAIB released an interim statement on June 12, indicating significant progress in the probe into the June 12, 2025, crash that killed 260 people. The FIP, citing a letter from a law firm representing affected passengers and families, also wants the simulator tests to correlate survivor reports of a loud bang and dimming cabin lights, ACARS maintenance messages, and visible damage to the aft Enhanced Airborne Flight Recorder (EAFR) with recorded aircraft data. The goal is to establish a coherent sequence of events and determine if electrical or software anomalies contributed to the accident.