Federation of Indian Pilots Letter to the AAIB
 

I am unable to post the letter ( I have a copy) but would be interested in views on its contents, much of which can be seen here https://www.newsgram.com/india/2026/...chnical-review

Some of the theories put forward in it have been debated on the Accidents & Close Calls thread on the crash over the last year but any informed observations welcome. There are some law suits being revved up and it may have a bearing on that.

You didn't share the letter but I see nothing that provides an alternative explanation for the DFDR indication that the fuel switches were selected to Cut-off.

Is the letter an attempt to sway people who have no understanding of how the fuel switches interface with FADEC and DFDR?

I tried to upload the letter but it kept failing, any ideas welcome. I could see nothing in it that changed things either but I am not the oracle, some may. I think regarding FADEC/Fuel switches TD Racer put that to bed long ago.

Some details are being reported in Indian media.

More:

https://www.newindianexpress.com/ind...ad-plane-crash

Copy-paste the text?

(probably) Being only a few days from a Final or Interim report we could just sit these days of, when it comes to the actual cause.

Aside that, it is interesting that a pilots organization post a letter ~ten months after the accident that demands what anyway is standard procedure in accident investigation to be performed (looking at all aspects, and excluding things until there only is one the probable cause left).

Also, pointing to things that can be easily excluded from probable causes (from an a(i)rmchair position at least) seems a bit desperate action to try to achieve….something?

Are the unthinkable action from one of the pilots so unthinkable that the pilots organisation would prefer a cover up?

Not exactly on board with this.

Its a mix of national pride and anxiety.

Many pilots have no interest of the caa digging into licensing and medical records it might uncover some uncomfortable things for them.

Or make things less convinient in the future.

I find all this very depressing and highlights the sad state of affairs we’ve got ourselves in, with misinformation being touted as equally valid as the information coming from the experts (in this case the AAIB). We just seem to have reached a point where no one trusts authority or official sources, and people just believe what they want to believe, regardless of the facts.

I know it’s a pilot union’s job to protect their members, but they also need to come out of this with credibility. The AAIB is prohibited from speaking to the media, so the vacuum is being filled with people pushing whatever narrative they want in order to try to discredit the report when it comes out.

BINGO

Tried that the PDF won't let me & it has no edit function.

There are some law suits circling the crash outcome and so that may be a factor?

You don't seem too comfortable with it 🙄

​​​​​​Try to get some help.
​​​​​​Scribd would be a good place to host a pdf but there are many other possibilities.

Is India so far behind that the AAIB is not independent of the DGCA?

That link is to your hard drive, so it won't work.

For a .pdf you should apply it as an attachment to your post, not an image. Are you making that mistake?

There are many wonderful aspects of Face cultures. But when standing and honour, conversely the potential for a collective shame are held so highly in the collective National consciousness it leads to situations where objective fact simply cannot and will never be accepted.
Thus the tendency to push away what is perceived as blame, anywhere else. Instead of addressing cause and leaning from it.

Well, if the OP says he has a copy of the letter he is amongst a very privileged few. Extensive AI searches reveal that the text of the letter has not been published and is simply not available "from any mainstream source", nor from any other as far as I can tell. It has been summarised (above) and possibly excerpts or short quotes have escaped but everyone who has a copy appears to be keeping a firm lid on it, including, I suspect, the OP who could easily provide a screenshot of it regardless of its electronic format. This is the simplest procedure imaginable and failure to produce one while expressing a willingness to do so is, to my mind, somewhat difficult to comprehend.

The Beeb carries a longish piece on this and contains a statement that "the RAT was activated before takeoff" Not seen that anywhere else and (by any measure) if correct, it would put a whole new slant on this event :confused:

Meh. Not quite. What the BBC actually says is;

"According to the preliminary report, the RAT was providing hydraulic power within five seconds of the fuel switches being cut off. However, simulator tests, the results of which have been shared with the BBC, appear to demonstrate that it would actually need 14-18 seconds. This would imply that it had actually deployed far earlier, potentially while the aircraft was on the ground, and well before the fuel was cut off"

Jack, you omitted the crucual 'appear to demonstrate' and 'this would imply' before your partial and rather misleading quote. The full text is very far from being "a statement" - it is merely speculation, albeit an avenue that could have merit and will doubtless be further investigated.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cwyk9exxp2qo

The OP has more than enough posts to allow him to upload an attachment.

I'm sure he can get a friend or neighbour to help him to do so if he has a mind to.

Does the FDR record the position of the switches or the operation of the fuel valves? Or both?

if it only records the position of the valves (not the switches) we may never know if the cut-off switches were moved to the OFF position (unless the switches survived the crash).

Without clear evidence to prove that one of the crew operated the switch, we may never know why this aircraft crashed. The cockpit voice seemed to imply that neither pilot switched the fuel off.