13072025-TTB-01.qxd 7/13/2025 LEGAL SYSTEM IN NEED OF A FIX: CJI NATION /thetribunechd 12:16 AM Page 1 123 CHANDIGARH | GURUGRAM | JALANDHAR | BATHINDA | VOL. 145 NO. 192 | 24 PAGES | ~7.00 | REGD. NO. CHD/0006/2024-2026 ESTABLISHED IN 1881  DELHI sunday | 13 july 2025 /thetribunechd www.tribuneindia.com ‘Why did you cut off fuel? I didn’t’: AI pilots’ chilling last chat ahead of crash Witness in dera chief case seeks US asylum Bhartesh Singh Thakur Tribune News Service Prelim probe confirms engines had shut down | No bird-hit or external damage AHMEDABAD MID-AIR RESTART ATTEMPTS FAILED TRAGEDY Tribune News Service New Delhi, July 12 The preliminary investigation into last month’s Air India AI171 crash in Ahmedabad has found that fuel supply to both engines was cut off seconds after take-off, resulting in a catastrophic loss of power. The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) report found that flight recorder data showed both engines’ fuel control switches moved from “RUN” to “CUTOFF” position one after another, just moments after the aircraft lifted off from Runway 23. The Boeing 787-8 aircraft, registered as VTANB, had reached 180 knots airspeed before both engines shut down. Both enhanced airborne flight recorders, commonly known as black boxes, were retrieved during the debris removal operations — one was found damaged on a building rooftop near the crash site on June 13 and the other from the wreckage on June 16. While one was too damaged for extraction of the data, information from the other was culled. It has been crucial in reconstructing the continued on page 7 ■ One engine briefly regained power automatically seconds after takeoff, triggering dual engine failure ■ Cockpit recording captured confused pilots denying they manually switched off engines before crash mid-air but stalled again despite desperate restart attempts ■ Investigators rule out bird strikes, focus on why fuel systems shut down unexpectedly LALIT MOHAN ■ Fuel supply to both engines cut off Ujwal Jalali FUEL SWITCHES ARE The Air India plane that crashed in Ahmedabad on June 12. FILE MOMENTS LEADING UP TO CRASH SPRING-LOADED ■ Fuel control switches on a 787 Dreamliner are located on the engine start panel in the overhead section of the cockpit from Bay 34 at Ahmedabad airport idle; RAT supplies hydraulics ■ The switches are spring-loaded 13:25:15 Taxi clearance granted 13:38:52 Engine 1 back to RUN, starts to remain in position. A pilot 13:26:00 Taxis to runway 23 13:38:56 Engine 2 also reset has to first pull the switch up via R4; backtracks and lines up to RUN, but it fails to recover and then move it from run to cut-off or vice versa 13:37:37 Cleared for takeoff 13:39:05 One of two pilots issues ■ No sane pilot would ever turn distress ‘Mayday’ call 13:38:39 Lifts off from runway these switches off in flight, 13:38:42 Max speed (180 knots) 13:39:11 Data recording from the especially as the plane is just aircraft stops; signals lost reached; both engines’ fuel cutstarting to climb, an aviation offs engage, RAT deploys 13:44:44 Fire engines dispatched safety expert said 13:18:38 AI Dreamliner departs 13:38:47 Both engines below FUEL CONTROL SWITCHES A close-up of the fuel control panel in the flight deck of a 787 commercial aircraft. NOW, AI CRASH INQUIRY TO FOCUS ON FORENSIC ANALYSIS, FLIGHT DATA | WILL FULLY COOPERATE WITH ACCIDENT BUREAU: AI BACK PAGE Seven years ago, US regulator Pilots’ body objects to release had flagged fuel switch issue of report, wants role in inquiry Ujwal Jalali Tribune News Service New Delhi, July 12 India’s aviation safety investigators have ruled out any defect in the fuel control switch of the Air India aircraft that crashed in Ahmedabad last month, even as the probe highlighted that the US Fed- eral Aviation Administration (FAA) had issued a cautionary bulletin regarding the same component seven years ago. The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), in its preliminary report released Saturday, said the Boeing 7878 (VT-ANB) was equipped with continued on page 7 IGA SWIATEK BAGS FIRST WIMBLEDON TITLE SPORT Tribune News Service New Delhi, July 12 The Airline Pilots’ Association of India (ALPA-India) on Saturday raised serious concerns over the transparency and direction of the investigation into the Air India AI 171 crash in Ahmedabad, following the release of the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau’s (AAIB) preliminary report. The pilots’ body objected to the report being shared with the media without official attribution, calling it a breach of protocol that undermines public trust. continued on page 7 Today’s issue is of 24 pages, including six-page Spectrum and four page Delhi Tribune. Chandigarh, July 12 A victim and prime witness against Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh in the castration case has alleged threats to him and his family and has sought asylum in the US. He has requested that his crossexamination in the case be conducted via videoconferencing due to safety concerns, but Ram Rahim has opposed this plea. The victim’s petition in 2015 led to the registration of a case by the CBI against the Dera chief, followed by a chargesheet in 2018, accusing him of orchestrating the castration of followers in collusion with doctors. Castration victim cites threat | Charge made up: Ram Rahim Appearing before a Panchkula trial court through his counsel, Navkiran Singh, the victim stated that he moved to the US with his wife and three children in June 2024 due to direct and indirect threats to his life. He expressed unwillingness to return to India but agreed to undergo cross-examination via videoconferencing. He also informed the court that due to financial constraints, his wife and children returned to India and are currently residing in Tohana, Haryana. The witness said his asylum application in continued on page 7 PACLscam:~762-cr propertiesattached NEW DELHI: The Enforcement Directorate has provisionally attached immovable assets worth approximately Rs 762.47 crore of PACL Ltd, its directors, promoters and affiliated entities, an official said here on Saturday. The attached properties are across Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Maharashtra and Australia. INSIDE IIM-Calcuttastudent ‘raped’,onearrested KOLKATA: A woman studying at the Indian Institute of Management-Calcutta was allegedly raped by a student inside a hostel of the business school, the police said on Saturday. The accused has been arrested on the basis of an FIR lodged by the woman at the Haridevpur police station, they said. — PTI Face of Mandi tragedy, help pours in for infant whose family was washed away Many ready to adopt 11-mth-old; aunt says will look after her Dipender Manta Tribune News Service Seraj (Mandi), July 12 Eleven-month-old Nitika has become the face of the Seraj tragedy in Mandi district as help is pouring in along with offers to adopt the infant whose parents and grandmother were washed away in the flood fury on the night of June 30. On the fateful night, it rained misery, leaving no trace of hundreds of houses. which had started entering Her family was washed away their house,” said Nitika’s by the gushing waters uncle Balwant in Parand slush that ravaged wada village. All this various villages in the while, Nitika was fast Seraj area. asleep inside the house. “As the water in two Unaware of a cloudnullahs on both sides of burst in the higher the house soared reaches, the three were Nitika around 10 pm, Nitika’s washed away by the father Ramesh, mother and sudden gushing waters while grandmother rushed out to trying to save their house. continued on page 7 divert the flow of the water,