When Will
The UK Government Funded BBC Have Its Anti India Switch Fixed
The British
Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) put out a hurried report apparently implying
Indian pilot error for the Air India plane crash a month ago. It was typically
based on a selective interpretation of the preliminary findings from the Indian
investigative authorities.
The report
did not emphasise the tendency of the fuel switches to malfunction and
disengage despite the provision of locking mechanisms.
In a glaring
expression of bias, probably intended to shield aircraft maker Boeing and jet
engine maker General Electric, the BBC glossed over the American Federal
Aviation Administration (FAA) bulletin from 2018 pointing out problems with the
fuel switches in Boeing 737 jet aircraft. The same switches are also installed
in the 787-8 Dreamliner that crashed.
The BBC
instead pointed out that the FAA bulletin from 2018 just highlighted the
problem that could, and in this instance did have fatal consequences, did not
mandatorily insist on the fuel switches being fixed or replaced. Instead, the
FAA stressed inspection. Was it laxness then on the part of the American FAA
compounded by Boeing? Are even the faulty switches being sought to be foisted
on Air India’s inspection negligence?
The tendency
of the BBC to put out slanted reports on matters Indian is not new. It has done
so time and again making up quite a long list, this being only the latest
example. As a British entity financed by the licence fee paid by ordinary TV
watching Britons, but not averse to accepting donations from all sorts of
entities including the Chinese and countries that are against Israel.
Its
irresponsible actions against India, probably a consequence of large number of anti-India
Communists in their ranks, that seem to
dislike the Congress administration as much as the Modi one, pro-Pakistan
origin employees, and a colonial hangover. However, all this lying and half-truth,
not only harms its own reputation, but potentially also Indo-British relations.
These
relations are now being taken up a notch by the implementation of a hard
negotiated Free Trade Agreement (FTA). There is also an ongoing negotiation and
competition between Rolls Royce of Britain and Safran of France to collaborate
with India to manufacture a brand new AMCA sixth generation stealth fighter
engine. Other military engine collaborations for the Indian Navy are also in
the works even as the British economy is not doing very well.
A
preliminary report on this first Air India crash in decades, released by the
Indian Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) on July 13th one month after the end of Air India AI
171 at Ahmedabad, stated that the fuel switches were apparently switched off
for both engines.
They were
switched off, one after the other, just1-3 seconds after take-off, and then
switched on again, probably by the pilots, or because they were free floating,
unable to lock into OFF or RUN positions. One engine came back to life
providing some thrust after some 10-14 seconds, but the aircraft could not gain
height even after that.
The cockpit
voice recorder had one pilot asking the other why he had switched off the fuel
and the other pilot saying he had not. The plane could not climb beyond 670
metres and the pilot cried May Day before crashing into a trainee doctor’s
hostel building just 39 seconds after take-off. It burst into flames after
three explosions caused by its momentum, the impact, and full tanks of aviation
fuel.
Notably, the
AAIB preliminary report mentioned that a 2018 US Federal Aviation
Administration (FAA) bulletin concerned the fuel control switch locking
mechanisms on Boeing 737 jets. When disengaged, the switches could move more
easily through vibration, contact or other factors. The FAA did not mandate
fixes in the bulletin, only recommending inspections to ensure proper locking
engagement. This suggests that perhaps both the fuel switches malfunctioned and
were not properly locked into place in the ill-fated aircraft before take-off.
This is the latest position even as the AAIB has not suggested any further
action on the part of Boeing or GE at this time.
But the
speculation on what happened began a month ago. Soon after the 787-8 Dreamliner,
Flight AI 171 on 12th June crashed. It killed 241 people on board
and 19 on the ground, with 67 more injured.
Western ‘aviation
experts’ were quick to cast speculative aspersions of pilot error on the two
Indian pilots. Their clear objective, probably funded by Boeing and General
Electric (GE) themselves, was to drive the narrative away from the aircraft
company and its GE engines that failed. This is because any culpability established
by the investigations from the successfully recovered black box, the cockpit flight
recorder and the relevant wreckage would likely result in expensive law suits
against Boeing and GE. These, if they went against them, would involve billions
of dollars in payouts. Objectivity and balance was clearly missing in the early
reactions, including those in media reports, social media posts. podcasts and
so on.
Only one Western expert notably suggested the
possibility of software malfunctions in the aircraft.
Indian
commentators advanced many other theories steering clear of blaming the highly
experienced but dead pilots. They spoke of software malfunctions too, possible
sabotage, maintenance issues, inherent flaws and shortcoming of the aircraft.
They cited erstwhile Boeing executives criticising the manufacture process and
short cuts taken by Boeing for the Dreamliner. At the same time, this
particular aircraft had been in operation for 11 years prior and there are some
1,175 Dreamliners operating in various airlines all over the world since it
began to fly in 2011.
Early speculations
included possible bird hits on both engines though later there was no evidence
of this found.
Only one
passenger in seat 11A escaped miraculously, almost unscathed, and he said he
heard a loud bang followed by the aircraft losing height
(963
words)
July 13th
2025
For:
Firstpost/News18.com
Gautam
Mukherjee
