Pilots' grouping ALPA India seeks fair, fact-based probe into AI plane crash
Mumbai, Jul 12 (PTI): Airline Pilots' Association of India on Saturday demanded a fair and fact-based probe into the Air India plane crash as it claimed that the tone and direction of the investigation into the Air India plane crash suggests a bias towards pilot error.
The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) has released its preliminary report into the fatal Boeing 787-8 plane crash on June 12 that killed 260 people. The report has found that the fuel supply to both engines of Air India flight AI171 was cut off within a second of each other, causing confusion in the cockpit and the airplane plummeting back to the ground almost immediately after taking off.
The 15-page report says that in the cockpit voice recording, one unidentified pilot asked the other why he had cut off the fuel, which the other denied.
"The tone and direction of the investigation suggest a bias towards pilot error... ALPA India categorically rejects this presumption and insists on a fair, fact-based inquiry," Airline Pilots' Association of India (ALPA) said in a statement.
The association has also demanded that its representatives should be observers in the investigation process to ensure transparency and accountability.
ALPA India is a member of the International Federation of Airline Pilots' Association (IFALPA).
"We are once again surprised at the secrecy surrounding these investigations. We are also reiterating the fact that suitably qualified personnel are not taken on board for these crucial investigations," the Association alleged in the letter.
"We feel that the investigation is being driven in a direction presuming the guilt of pilots and we strongly object to this line of thought," it alleged.
Noting that the report refers to a serviceability bulletin concerning the fuel control switch gates, which indicates a potential equipment malfunction, the Association said, "while the bulletin exists, ALPA India demands clarity on whether the recommendations outlined in the bulletin were implemented prior to the flight."
On June 12, the London-bound Boeing 787 Dreamliner began to lose thrust almost immediately after taking off from the Ahmedabad airport and ploughed into a medical college hostel, killing all but one of the 242 onboard and another 19 on ground in the deadliest aviation accident in a decade.
A 15-page preliminary investigation report into the disaster revealed fuel-control switches of the two engines moved from the "run" to the "cutoff" position, within the space of one second, leading to immediate loss of altitude.
The report by Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AIIB), released early on Saturday, neither concluded any reason for the switches moving nor apportioned explicit blame for the crash.
Air India has said that it will take on board its pilot community by holding dedicated sessions in the coming days to review the preliminary investigation report.
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FIDE Women's World Cup final: Humpy draws with Divya in first game
Batumi (Georgia), Jul 26 (PTI): Young Indian International Master Divya Deshmukh held her nerves to hold stalwart Koneru Humpy to a draw in game 1 of the FIDE Women's World Cup final, with both players having their share of opportunities to take the lead here on Saturday.
The draw with black means Humpy, the two-time World Rapid champion, holds a slight edge going in the second and final game under the classical chess rules in the two-game mini-match, and should the deadlock continue, games of shorter duration will be played to determine the winner.
Humpy employed the Queen's gambit accepted as black and it turned out to be a pretty fascinating game right out of the opening as Divya, 19, came up with a piece sacrifice early to deny the black king the right to castle.
Humpy was the first to err and, according to computers, Divya had things under control on the 14th move. However in her bid to recover the extra material, the Nagpur girl, who has secured a place in the Candidates tournament with her sterling performance here, missed a promising continuation.
What followed the exchange of all minor pieces and the ensuing queen and rook endgame gave enough counter play to both players. The game was eventually drawn after Humpy sacrificed her rook to force perpetual checks.
"The game saw an extremely sharp battle with the game ending in a draw in 41 moves. On move 7, Divya made her aggressive intentions clear by offering another pawn,
which looked like home preparation. Humpy made a practical decision of refraining from taking the pawn and a balanced position was reached by move 10 by white," said Grandmaster Pravin Thipsay, an Arjuna awardee and the first Indian to get a chess Grandmaster norm.
"However, instead of developing the undeveloped Knight, Humpy retreated the centralised Knight on move 10, giving huge positional advantage to Divya. Divya could have gained huge positional advantage on the 12th move by moving a rook. However, she chose to play for King side attack by sacrificing a piece instead.
"Humpy, too, erred at this stage and instead of moving the King to Queen side, moved it to the King side. Divya, on move 14, could have obtained a crushing attack by threatening a mate by developing her Queen. Instead she chose to exchange a pair of Bishops first, which enabled Humpy to defend her King by returning the piece," said Thipsay.
"Players thus reached a balanced Queen and two Rooks ending. Divya continued to play ambitiously and tried to attack Humpy’s King but the latter defended accurately and the game was drawn in 41 moves by perpetual check," he added.
In the play-off for the third place, Chinese players Zhongyi Tan, the former women's world champion and top seed Lei Tingjie also decided to split points out of a Queen’s gambit declined game.
The opening raised visions of a close contest between the two but having been knocked out of title race in the previous round, none of them wanted to take any huge risk. It was still a middle game when the players shook hands.
With the top two positions sealed for the Indians, the berth to the next Candidates is also assigned, while the player finishing third will also get an entry to the premier event scheduled for 2026.
Results: Divya Deshmukh (Ind) drew with Koneru Humpy (Ind); Zhongyi Tan (Chn) drew with Tingjie Lei (Chn).
