Pilots Recreated AI-171’s Final Moments On Simulator. What They Found

New Delhi:

A week after the crash of AI-171 on June 12, at least three Air India training pilots on the airline’s Boeing 787 fleet attempted to recreate likely scenarios in Mumbai that resulted in the accident in which 260 people were killed.

The pilots attempted to simulate electrical failures that could cause a dual-engine flame-out, resulting in an inability of the aircraft to climb post takeoff.

Accident investigators, who have already downloaded data from the jetliner’s black boxes (flight data recorders and cockpit voice recorders), will also examine the position of the fuel switches on the 787 and corroborate this data with any wreckage of the fuel switches that may have been found. This would be crucial in ascertaining whether any of the engines were accidentally switched off by the pilots during a critical phase of the flight – the takeoff run or shortly after the aircraft lifted off from Ahmedabad.

To ensure they were accurate in their simulation scenarios, the pilots replicated the precise trim sheet data of AI-171. A trim sheet is a document used in aviation to calculate and record an aircraft’s weight and balance, ensuring the center of gravity is within safe limits for takeoff, flight, and landing.

The trainer-pilots also simulated the failure of a single engine, left the undercarriage of the aircraft down, and retracted the flaps of the 787 completely.

This configuration, considered unsafe and improper for normal takeoffs, was meant to simulate an underpowered jetliner taking off with its bulky undercarriage deployed (down). The undercarriage of an aircraft is normally stowed in its fuselage shortly after takeoff to ensure the jetliner is aerodynamic and can climb out efficiently.