Preliminary finding

It was disturbing to read that the Air India AI 171 fight crash was possibly triggered by a cut-off of the fuel to the engines. This could be a preliminary finding and further investigations are in progress. The US Federal Aviation Administration had advised as early as December 2018, that the spring-loaded switch could malfunction, under some circumstances.

At any time, about 15,000 to 20,000 commercial aeroplanes are in the air during peak hours. It is terrifying to think that the fuel could choke automatically, in some planes, for some reason. What will happen if the flight is cruising at 20,000 or 30,000-feet height? The very thought is chilling.

Air travel is very common in our global connected world. Hopefully the investigations will zero into the precise triggers of the accident, so that people are not petrified to fly. We cannot have a situation where people pray every time before boarding a flight or even avoid air travel.

Rajendra Aneja,
Mumbai, India