Al crash: Pilot asked captain about switches

RECORDING CONFIRMS THAT KUNDER QUESTIONED SENIOR COLLEAGUE

- BY ANUPAM VARMA

A cockpit voice recording of doomed Air India flight 171 indicates the younger copilot asked his more experienced colleague why he turned off the plane’s fuel-supply switches, according to people familiar with the matter.

The information, from people who asked not to be identified, reveals for the first time who said what in the flight deck. The exchange was first mentioned in last week’s preliminary report from India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau, probing the June-12 crash in Ahmedabad, but without identifying the speakers.

2 switches moved

The report had shown two fuel switches in the cockpit were moved to a cutoff position, causing the Boeing Co. 787 Dreamliner to lose lift and crash 32 seconds after takeoff. The other pilot had denied turning off the switches, according to the AAIB, which had extracted data from the cockpit voice recorder.