WSJ : Air India Probe Puts Early Focus on Pilots’ Actions and Plane’s Fuel Switc

Air India Probe Puts Early Focus on Pilots’ Actions and Plane’s Fuel Switches
Investigation into June crash so far hasn’t pointed to problem with the Boeing 787 Dreamliner or its GE Aerospace engines

  • The Air India crash investigation focuses on pilot actions, not a Boeing 787 Dreamliner problem, per early U.S. assessments.
  • Preliminary findings suggest fuel flow switches to the engines were turned off, causing apparent loss of thrust after takeoff, but the reason is unclear.
  • U.S. officials have privately expressed frustration with the pace of the Indian-led probe, including black box analysis and information sharing.

The investigation into last month’s Air India crash is focusing on the actions of the jet’s pilots and doesn’t so far point to a problem with the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, according to people familiar with U.S. officials’ early assessments.

Preliminary findings indicate that switches controlling fuel flow to the jet’s two engines were turned off, leading to an apparent loss of thrust shortly after takeoff, the people said. Pilots use the switches to start the jet’s engines, shut them down, or reset them in certain emergencies.

The switches would normally be on during flight, and it is unclear how or why they were turned off, these people said. The people also said it was unclear whether the move was accidental or intentional, or whether there was an attempt to turn them back on.

If the switches were off, that could explain why the jet’s emergency-power generator—known as a ram air turbine, or RAT—appears to have activated in the moments before the aircraft plummeted into a nearby hostel for medical students. In all, 260 people died, including all but one of the people onboard the plane.

India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau, which is leading the probe, is expected to issue a preliminary report as soon as Friday local time. It didn’t respond to a request for comment on Thursday.

“Nothing can be said about the cause of the crash right now because the investigation is going on,” Indian civil aviation official Murlidhar Mohol told NDTV news channel in late June. “It’s a very rare incident—it has never happened that both the engines stopped together.”

Sumeet Sabharwal, a pilot who served as the flight’s captain, had logged over 10,000 hours flying wide-body, or larger, aircraft, and his co-pilot, Clive Kunder, had over 3,400 hours of experience, Air India said. Family members of both pilots declined to comment.

The stakes for determining what factors led to any crash are high and have ramifications for all parties involved. In this case, Air India is the country’s oldest carrier and worked to turn around its operations after decades under state ownership. The crash was the first fatal accident involving Boeing’s Dreamliner at a time when the plane maker is trying to recover from a string of safety and quality problems.

International accident investigations often involve several countries, including those where crashes occurred and whose governments approved designs of aircraft involved. At times, there have been disagreements over access to information and the analysis of facts that emerge.

The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board is providing support for the Indian-led probe. The Federal Aviation Administration, which certified the 787 Dreamliner for passenger service, and Boeing BA -0.23%decrease; red down pointing triangle and GE Aerospace GE 0.89%increase; green up pointing triangle are providing technical assistance to Indian authorities.

The Dreamliner, which entered service in 2011, is popular among the world’s airlines and is commonly used on international, long-haul routes and has had an excellent safety record. Boeing delivered the jet involved in the crash to Air India in January 2014.

So far, U.S. officials’ early assessments of the crash probe don’t indicate a problem with that model aircraft or its GE engines, people familiar with the matter said.

Neither the FAA nor the plane and engine makers have issued any service bulletins or safety directives to address a potential problem with the fleet. Such moves are typical in response to investigation findings if they point to deficiencies in designs, maintenance or operating procedures.

The Air Current, an industry publication, earlier reported that the probe had narrowed its focus to the movement of the engine fuel control switches. Early assessments reached during investigations, which can take a year or longer, can be contradicted as new information emerges.

Indian officials have released little information to the public about the investigation, fueling some frustration with American government and industry officials since the June 12 crash, some people familiar with the matter said.

U.S. government and industry officials have also been frustrated by what they perceived as the slow pace of downloading, analyzing and sharing the contents of the plane’s black boxes, these people said.

Indian authorities had earlier wanted to transport the plane’s black boxes—the flight-data and cockpit voice recorders—away from Delhi, where the country recently opened a new lab for analyzing such accident data, to another secure location, according to some people familiar with the matter.

The plan was scrapped, and Indian investigators wound up downloading the boxes in Delhi.

At one point, the NTSB threatened to withdraw American resources from the investigation. In the end, the American investigators remained in the country to assist. They have since returned home.

FT : Heathrow seeks rise in landing charges to fund £10bn expansion

Heathrow seeks rise in landing charges to fund £10bn expansion
Airlines expected to oppose airport’s request to regulators to increase the levies

Heathrow airport has asked regulators to approve a 17 per cent increase in landing charges to pay for a £10bn investment programme that it promises will take the airport’s annual capacity to 92mn passengers. 

Heathrow said the average landing charge over the next five-year period would increase to about £33.26 per passenger, up from the current average of £28.46 per passenger. The airport said the proposed levy was lower in real terms than it was a decade ago.

The request is likely to be opposed fiercely by the airlines that use the airport, which has been accused of overcharging and exploiting its position as the premium London hub to charge too much. 

The five-year plan, submitted to the Civil Aviation Authority on Friday, does not include proposals for a third runway. The Labour government has signalled it is minded to approve the expansion and Heathrow is preparing to submit a detailed proposal at the end of July. The third runway, if it goes ahead, is expected to be funded through a different mechanism.

The plan covers the period from 2027-2031. Heathrow said it will add 70,000 square metres of terminal space by converting areas currently not used by passengers, enabling it to add new lounges, shops and restaurants.

The plan will increase the airport’s annual passenger capacity by 10mn to 92mn at the end of the five-year period and cargo capacity by 20 per cent. 

The airport wants to secure permission to demolish Terminal One, expand Terminal Two and build a new southern access tunnel to the central terminal area.

Heathrow shareholders — which include French private equity group Ardian — will contribute £2bn in new equity towards the investment programme, the airport said.

Heathrow chief executive Thomas Woldbye said the plan “boosts operational resilience, delivers the better service passengers expect and unlocks the growth capacity airlines want with stretching efficiency targets and a like-for-like lower airport charge than a decade ago”. 

Under the current regulatory model, Heathrow is allowed to recoup spending on airport improvements through the landing fees it charges airlines, which are typically passed on to customers through ticket prices.

Airlines operating from the airport have fought previous attempts to increase landing charges. The airport was forced to cut its fees for 2024 after demand for flying recovered from the Covid-19 pandemic faster than expected and airlines successfully lobbied against a significant increase in charges.

Airlines led by British Airways owner IAG and Virgin Atlantic have recently launched a campaign to persuade the Civil Aviation Authority to review how Heathrow is funded, amid fears over the final costs of a third runway.

IAG said it welcomed Heathrow’s “intent to improve passenger experience” but said the initial business plan submitted by the airport “requires significant revision”. 

It said the proposed increase in charges was “excessive, particularly given that Heathrow is already the most expensive airport in the world and this plan does not increase capacity”.

The suggested £10bn investment, the group added, “would be paid for by passengers and airlines, raising serious concerns about affordability and value for money”.

Virgin Atlantic similarly criticised the proposal, saying that “only Heathrow, with its monopoly power as the UK’s only hub airport, would think that this £10bn investment plan represents value for money and that’s before any third runway expansion costs are factored into the equation”.

FT : UK F-35 jet fleet dogged by delays and staff shortages, watchdog says

UK F-35 jet fleet dogged by delays and staff shortages, watchdog says
Aircraft programme ‘shortcomings’ are undermining the effectiveness of Britain’s armed forces, NAO says

Britain’s public spending watchdog has warned of “shortcomings” in the country’s F-35 fighter jet programme, with delays, low pilot flying hours and personnel shortages undermining the fleet’s effectiveness. 

The 37-strong fleet last year met only one-third of the Ministry of Defence’s target to perform all required missions, the National Audit Office said on Friday.

Plans to equip the aircraft with important weapons, including UK-developed missiles, have been pushed back until the 2030s, it noted.

The “combined shortcomings of the global and UK F-35 stealth fighter aircraft programme — including delays, lower-than-expected availability, infrastructure gaps and personnel shortages — are undermining the armed forces’ warfighting capability”, according to the watchdog.

The F-35, which is made by America’s Lockheed Martin, is the world’s only advanced, long-range, stealth fighter.

The NAO’s report comes at a sensitive time for the government, which is under pressure to prepare its armed forces for modern warfare while at the same time bolstering the UK’s industrial resilience. 

The damning assessment of the warfighting capabilities of the UK’s F-35 aircraft also revealed the MoD has already spent £11bn on the programme — more than it anticipated in 2013. 

The NAO warned the costs over the lifetime of the programme, including non-equipment expenses such as personnel and infrastructure, could be as high as £71bn — significantly exceeding the department’s public forecast of £18.76bn. 

The programme offers “significantly improved capability and considerable economic benefits to the UK”, said Gareth Davies, head of the NAO.

“But the capability benefits are not being fully realised due to delays, infrastructure gaps and personnel shortages,” he added.

The MoD said the programme “continues to operate within its approved budget and the UK will have two full squadrons of F-35 fighter jets ready for deployment by the end of this year”.

The UK has 38 F-35 fighter jets which operate off the Royal Navy’s two aircraft carriers, although only 37 are currently active. One jet has been stranded at an airport in southern India due to mechanical issues.

Britain has committed to buying 138 F-35s in total, including the recently announced purchase of 12 F-35A jets that are capable of carrying nuclear bombs.  

By committing early to the US-led programme, the UK has benefited industrially and is the sole top tier partner, according to the NAO. British companies manufacture at least 15 per cent by value of all F-35s, resulting in £22bn of contracts for domestic manufacturers. 

But the delays, partly also due to problems with the global programme that has come under fire in the US over its spiralling costs, mean the MoD expects to be able to declare full operating capability of the jets at the end of 2025 — two years later than planned.

The report “does not make for particularly reassuring reading”, said Douglas Barrie, senior fellow for military aerospace at The International Institute for Strategic Studies.

The “prolonged delays in integrating key UK weapons on to the aircraft, that is the Meteor extended range air-to-air missile, and the SPEAR 3 medium-to-long range stand-off missile, also adversely affect the operational effectiveness of the UK aircraft”, he said.

The watchdog’s cost calculations were based on different underlying assumptions, defence officials said.

The MoD’s estimate for the programme’s whole-life costs only relate to the equipment and support expenses associated, they said. The NAO’s calculation, meanwhile, is based on the equipment and support costs and an assumption around the personnel, fuel and related infrastructure costs deemed to be associated with the F-35.

>>> US After Hours Summary: PSMT +7.1%, LEVI +5.6% higher on earnings; BYD to se

After Hours Summary: PSMT +7.1%, LEVI +5.6% higher on earnings; BYD to sell 5% equity interest in FanDuel to FLUT

After Hours Gainers:

Companies trading higher in after hours in reaction to earnings/guidance: PSMT +7.1% (also evaluating Chile as a potential new market), LEVI +5.6% (also increases dividend), SAND +0.3%

Companies trading higher in after hours in reaction to news: RCAT +15% (drone stocks higher on Fox news report that Defense Sec Hegseth has issued orders to fast-track drone production), VOR +3.5% (names new CFO), AVAV +3.5% (drone stocks higher on Fox news report that Defense Sec Hegseth has issued orders to fast-track drone production), ADC +1.7% (increases dividend), APAM +0.9% (reports June AUM), LUCK +0.8% (acquires real estate underlying 58 locations), AIOT +0.2% (launches AI risk intervention application), FTK +0.2% (files for $200 mln mixed securities shelf offering; also files for 6.25 mln share offering by selling shareholder), R +0.2% (increases dividend), MRK +0.1% (FDA approves BRAVECTO QUANTUM from Merck animal health), LMT +0.1% (awarded a $197.5 mln modification to a previously awarded US Navy contract)

After Hours Losers:

Companies trading lower in after hours in reaction to earnings/guidance: FEIM -6%

Companies trading lower in after hours in reaction to news: CIVB -9.8% (to acquire The Farmers Savings Bank; launches stock offering), BG -6.2% (stock offering by selling shareholders), TKNO -2.5% (files for $225 mln mixed securities shelf offering), AB -2.4% (reports June AUM), HBM -2.2% (temporarily suspends operations in Snow Lake due to wildfire), IVZ -1.2% (reports June AUM), TOL -0.1% (names new CFO), AGM -0.1% (Farmer Mac announces departure of CFO)

The Information : Why New U.S. Crypto Rules Will Reverberate Globally

Why New U.S. Crypto Rules Will Reverberate Globally
Stablecoin legislation set to pass next week will boost the use of crypto payments as well as the influence of the dollar.

The Takeaway
• New rules are expected to boost confidence in stablecoins
• Dollar-backed cryptocurrencies are already growing fast in countries with volatile currencies
• Stablecoins pegged to dollars will boost influence of U.S. currency globally

The most important cryptocurrency bill in history could become law next week, but its immediate effect on everyday Americans will be negligible. Instead, the biggest impact will occur overseas, where it will boost both crypto and the dollar in the global economy.

The law will bolster confidence in stablecoins, cryptocurrencies pegged to a traditional asset, generally the U.S. dollar. Individuals and businesses across the world—from Argentina to Turkey—have embraced stablecoins to deal with volatile currencies, avoid capital controls and make payments.

The rise of stablecoins, such as Tether’s USDT, the dominant token, and Circle’s USDC, pose risks to national financial systems because they bypass banks, are hard for regulators to control and increase the role of the dollar in overseas economies. Drug dealers and money launderers also use stablecoins to move cash, making it harder for governments to fight illicit activities.

“When the Trump government came into power, it gave legitimacy to stablecoins,” said Ife Johnson, co-founder and CEO of Juicyway, a Nigerian payments startup. Stablecoins have grown rapidly in countries with volatile currencies such as Nigeria; they give people easy access to dollars.

In Argentina, a nation that has suffered nearly every kind of financial crisis, stablecoins are increasingly popular. Micaela Scapino, a 24-year-old software engineer who lives in Cordoba, Argentina’s second-largest city, said she now keeps almost all of her savings in stablecoins.

“I feel really comfortable and safe having my money in currencies like this…not being worried about if my pesos are worth less this month,” Scapino said in a video chat from her home, a duplex with a backyard that she shares with her boyfriend. She now keeps little in her traditional bank account. “Less than 10,000 pesos,” she said.

She works remotely for a Chilean fintech company and is paid in stablecoins through Deel, a payroll startup that specializes in remote workers. She nearly tripled her salary when she took the job last year, in part because she’s effectively getting paid in dollars.

To pay rent for their three-bedroom house, she converts her stablecoins at the beginning of each month into 1.2 million pesos (about $950) using Belo, a local crypto app. Over the last weekend, she paid for two bottles of Coca-Cola and a bag of ice at a supermarket by scanning a QR code with the app, which instantly converted her Tether stablecoins into 12,400 pesos (roughly $10).

Stablecoin providers typically back the cryptocurrencies with short-term Treasurys and other safe, liquid dollar-based assets, linking them to the U.S. currency. One pitch for the bill in Congress is that it will increase demand for Treasurys at a time when the U.S. needs to sell a lot more of them to fund rising budget deficits.

“It’s a win-win-win for everyone involved: the private sector, the Treasury, consumers,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a post on X last month, urging the passage of stablecoin legislation.

The bill is likely to be approved by the House next week, which it has dubbed Crypto Week in support of President Donald Trump’s pro-crypto policies. The measure has had bipartisan support in both chambers, in part because the crypto industry has become a big election donor, backing friendly candidates and attacking unfriendly ones.

Pinn Lawjindakul, a Lightspeed Venture Partners investor who focuses on Southeast Asia, said the U.S.’s pro-crypto pivot has boosted consumer confidence in stablecoins and spurred startups into the market. “There’s a huge pent-up need for U.S. dollars in emerging economies that constantly see their currency devalue,” she said. “There’s way stronger trust now in stablecoin technology.”

She is tracking stablecoin adoption in countries like Malaysia, the Philippines and Indonesia, which have had volatile currencies and have a large base of remote employees who often work for U.S. companies.

Consumers and businesses in emerging markets like these have long wanted to hold assets in dollars but have struggled with domestic regulations and difficulty getting the U.S. currency. Stablecoins avoid those problems. However, the shift to dollar-backed stablecoins could pose a threat to the weakest currencies and the financial systems of those countries.

“It’s more efficient to dollarize with stablecoins as opposed to physical cash,” said Nic Carter, founding partner at crypto venture firm Castle Island Ventures, who invests in stablecoin-related startups. “As we look forward to the next 10 years…I think you will see it happen at scale, and it will topple certain sovereign currencies.”

Bank for International Settlements, a Switzerland-based organization owned by the world’s central banks, has warned that stablecoins without regulation could pose a risk to financial stability and monetary sovereignty. Countries could face potentially destabilizing capital flows via stablecoins while also being tightly linked to the dollar’s performance, which is largely driven by the U.S. economy. The dollar is down about 10% this year against a basket of currencies, one of its worst years in decades.

Tether is by far the biggest winner in the global shift to stablecoins. It has about a 90% market share by volume in real-world payments, according to data from Artemis, a crypto analytics firm. Stablecoin payments volume globally jumped to $51 billion in 2024—a rise of over 75% in a year—and is on track to reach more than $72 billion this year, according to Artemis.

Tether’s Ambitious Plans

Stablecoins companies can throw off big profits. Last year, Tether, which has $159 billion in stablecoins outstanding, earned more than $13 billion in profits with little more than 100 employees. Companies like Tether make their money from interest earned on the assets that back their tokens. Unlike bank accounts or money market funds, stablecoins typically don’t pay interest to their holders.

At a private event Tether hosted in May for clients and partners at the JW Marriott Marquis Hotel in Dubai, CEO Paolo Ardoino outlined the company’s ambitious expansion plans. He listed 22 use cases for its stablecoin, including saving in dollars; fast, cheap remittances; hedging against inflation; and microloans.

For Tether, the push to diversify beyond crypto trading is critical: Its USDT stablecoins could be de-listed by exchanges in the U.S. if it can’t comply with auditing and reserve requirements under the new stablecoin legislation. Tether has said it plans to launch a separate stablecoin for the U.S. market, while growing USDT usage in the rest of the world.

Tether is using its vast profit to build up a portfolio of companies. It sees commodity trading—which often involves paying for multimillion-dollar cargoes of oil, metals and food to sellers in emerging markets—as the next leg of growth for its stablecoin. Commodities are typically priced in dollars. In March, Tether bought a majority stake in the New York Stock Exchange–listed agricultural giant Adecoagro, one of the biggest land owners in Argentina. That could lay the groundwork for Tether to get into providing financing and stablecoin payments in commodity trading.

But Tether has also been under criticism because drug dealers and terrorist organizations have used its stablecoin to move money. The company estimates it has more than 400 million users across the world, but for most of them it doesn’t verify identity since they don’t interact directly with it, instead buying the tokens on exchanges or from brokers. Tether says it collaborates with law enforcement agencies to freeze assets when needed.

Nigeria’s Juicyway has ridden the stablecoin boom, growing deposits to $64 million in June from $6 million a year earlier. It acts as an exchange, mostly for businesses needing dollars or naira, the Nigerian currency. It uses stablecoins to settle most of these transactions, a service provided by Stripe-owned Bridge, which helps companies convert dollars into stablecoins in order to transfer money faster than international bank wires.

Companies in markets like these are trying to influence regulations. Yellow Card, the largest stablecoin payment company in Africa, is providing input for a bill in Kenya, said CEO Chris Maurice.

“People are using this technology, and it’s not something that you can stop,” he said. “That’s one important thing for regulators to remember.”

FT : Heat deaths in England could rise 50-fold in next half-century, study warns

Heat deaths in England could rise 50-fold in next half-century, study warns
Cooler homes and cities are needed to mitigate the dangers of rising temperatures, say researchers

Heat-related deaths in England and Wales would rise 50-fold over the next half-century if climate change is severe and adaptations are minimal, according to research that lays bare the need to prepare for higher temperatures. 

Fatalities would climb six-fold under even the most optimistic scenario as the planet warms and an ageing population becomes more vulnerable, says the study published in the journal PLoS on Thursday.  

Back-to-back heatwaves this summer have underscored how initiatives from urban planning to the building and upgrading of homes have historically paid little heed to the threat of ever hotter summers. 

“Our research shows how increases in heat-related deaths are not just a consequence of rising temperatures — they’re also driven by how we build our cities, care for vulnerable populations and address social inequality,” said Rebecca Cole of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and lead author of the paper.

“Concerted adaptation strategies are required, well in excess of those over the last 30 years,” she added.

The researchers forecast the impact of 15 different scenarios. They adjusted for demographics, regional climate variations, potential power outages, and different levels of warming and adaptation including shutters and active cooling systems.

The current baseline of 634 annual heat-related deaths would soar to 10,317 in the 2050s and 34,027 in the 2070s, under a worst-case scenario. That would include 4.3C of warming above pre-industrial temperatures by the end of the century. The world is currently on course to reach 2.9C of warming by 2100 even with existing government pledges to tackle climate change. 

The most optimistic scenario, including 1.6C of warming, would still drive deaths up to 3,007 a year in the 2050s and 4,592 in the 2070s, the study found.

The projections highlight how the balance of danger from heat and cold is likely to shift across Europe as the climate changes. Spring 2025 was the sunniest and warmest on record in Britain, while last month ranked as the hottest June on record in England.


British homes have generally been built and modified to protect against extreme cold, which is estimated to cause thousands of deaths each year. In the UK, millions of properties are built of brick, which absorbs heat slowly but retains it for longer than other materials.  

“UK homes have traditionally been designed to retain heat, and government retrofit schemes necessarily focus on energy efficiency and insulation,” Cole said.

Construction rules that came into force in 2022 require new residential buildings to be built to mitigate the risk of overheating. Housing association tenants can speak to their council if excess heat means that their property is in a dangerous condition, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said. 

Another issue is a lack of state subsidies for one of the main types of heat pumps that can be used for cooling buildings, as well as heating.

Johann Beckford, senior policy adviser at the Green Alliance think-tank, said the government should extend its support to air-to-air heat pumps, which it looked at in a recent consultation.

“These heat pumps that can cut our emissions and make our homes more comfortable during high heat events,” he said.

A separate, rapid study published this week found that there were an estimated 2,300 heat-related deaths in Europe between June 23 and July 2, including 263 in London alone. 

The research warned that relatively small increases in temperatures during hot spells can trigger big surges in deaths. Many fatalities occurred in homes and hospital settings among already vulnerable people, particularly the elderly, and are often not reported, the study said. 

Many deaths are caused by strain on the cardiovascular system, rather than heat directly, said Portsmouth university’s Mike Tipton, an expert on the effects of weather conditions. This is because the human body attempts to “offload heat” by increasing blood flow to the skin and decreasing it to soft internal organs. 

People with cardiovascular problems or who are chronically dehydrated could experience dizziness or feel light-headed, he said. “They might faint or fall. They’re more likely to form clots.”

The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero said: “We know that keeping homes cool in hot weather is just as important as heating them in the winter.

“That’s why we have consulted on including air-to-air heat pumps under the Boiler Upgrade Scheme, and our response will be published in due course.”