AAIB's initial report into Air India plane crash provides more info than expected, says IATA DG

The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau's ( AAIB) preliminary report on the Air India plane crash contains more information than most people were expecting, which is helpful, global airlines' grouping IATA on Wednesday.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) is a grouping of around 340 airlines, including Air India.

At an event in Singapore on Wednesday, IATA Director General Willie Walsh, who is also a pilot, said aircraft accident investigators should be allowed time to conduct investigations properly and it is also important for the industry that the reports are published in a timely manner.

"I commend the Indian government and the AAIB for the release of the preliminary report, which I think contained more information than most people were expecting, which was helpful... I think all airlines and all aviation professionals will now await the publication of the final report, which I'm sure will go into significantly more detail," he said.

Walsh also noted that he is very pleased that the Indian government and the AAIB issued the preliminary report on time.

AAIB released the preliminary report into the crash of Air India's Boeing 787-8 aircraft that killed 260 people on June 12.

In the report published 30 days after the accident, AAIB said the fuel switches to the engines of the aircraft were cut off within a gap of 1 second immediately after takeoff and caused confusion in the cockpit before the plane crashed into a building.

Walsh said that while no formal recommendations were made by AAIB to Boeing or to engine manufacturer GE, some airlines have taken it upon themselves to check the fuel cutoff switches. "I think it is a sensible thing to do in the circumstances".

While the initial report does not provide any conclusions, there are speculations in certain quarters that a possible pilot error could be a reason for the crash. Such a proposition has been strongly rejected by various pilot associations.

According to him, the airline industry has always been very open in sharing information.

"We believe that any accident or any major incident that takes place needs to be investigated fully, properly, and reported so that everybody can benefit from the experience. And I think, you know, based on what little we know now, it's quite possible that, you know, a video recording in addition to the voice recording would significantly assist the investigators in conducting that investigation," he added.