Rachel Chitra (David)

Eternal optimist, mom, journo. Love Jack London, Heyer, Saki; Heroes Snowden, Assange

[Rachel Chitra (David) @rachelchitra]

1/12 🚨Air India crash ✈️🔥On the crash anniversary, marking the loss of 260 lives, AAIB interim report's delayed as AAIB's trapped in a web of its own making.

It created a relight story based on blackbox data, that's now getting dismantled by engine maker GE's own manuals. @GE_Aerospace @DGCAIndia

🧵So let's look at 12 stories, published over 12 months since last June 12, 2026 - as to the truth of what happened on AI 171

In my piece for @frontline_india, I go into how AAIB implied a simple story & @WSJ ran with it

The story:
08:08:42 UTC - Capt Sumeet “cuts off” fuel
08:08:47 UTC - Both engines N2 fall minimum idle 08:08:52 ETC: First officer Clive moves fuel switch 1 for left engine from CUTOFF to RUN
Engine 1 relight - Engine 1’s core “stops decelerating, reverses and starts to recover”
08:08:56 UTC: FO Clive moves fuel switch 2 for right engine from CUTOFF to RUN
Engine 2 relight begins

But here's the problem.

Once a GEnx core goes below self‑sustaining speed, it cannot restart without power from the APU or live engine.

And AI171 didn't have starter core-spin power.

AAIB report itself admits that:
1. APU was not online. It takes 50-60 seconds to generate power. It's inlet door was only opening at 08:08:54 UTC
2. Dual engine shutdown

So where did the energy for this miracle “recovery” come from?

This then shifts the timestamp of when relight occurred. That it can't be crew-commanded but FADEC commanded. Since as per AAIB report & GE manuals, the relight that happened, where "engine 1 core deceleration stopped, reversed and progressed to recovery." There was no electrical power left on the plane at the 13th and 17th second after takeoff for such a relight.

So this relight could only happen in a timestamp, where the engines were running fast. In a narrow window of 5-8 seconds, when the blades were spinning fast enough for full voltage electricity generation from the engine's generator (PMG).

And it could've only happened if FADEC cutoff fuel at 08:08:45 UTC, under TCMA, when the plane's flight computers (FCMs) were rebooting - sending it temporarily into its default/fail-safe mode i.e. ground mode in air.

And then relight happened for engine 1 and 2 between 08:08:45-50 UTC.

So here's this thriller of a piece, edited by @Aarohanvasanth & @vaishnaroy - where you get an inside peak into the crash; how the plane went into degraded mode on its previous flight - AI 423 Delhi to Ahmedabad.

How 10 years of internal correspondence on crash flight VT-ANB between Boeing & Air India; show Air India like Lion Air getting increasingly desperate dealing with a plane that had recurring issues in power generation, fire-inerter. This story shows how even after a major fire in Frankfurt that led to the plane's grounding -- Boeing remained pedantic in its approach; with short-term fixes rather than dealing with the long term design fix of what was going wrong with the plane's electrical architecture flaw.

To the massive annoyance of Air India engineers, it's advice included usage of "duct tape, donuts & checks for water intrusion" when asked a question on how to deal with the burning of a critical (P100) power distribution panel.

Engineers say this is like the Titanic signalling "Iceberg ahead" warnings & Boeing recommending they wipe the railings for a clean ship.

https://t.co/jutxM4tOwh

[Bar and Bench @barandbench]

When a former Chief Justice of India says, 'I am going to the Rajya Sabha to bridge the gap between judiciary and the Executive,' it is fundamentally wrong: Justice Ujjal Bhuyan

Read more: https://t.co/VmExlWVoPi

[Shekhar Gupta @ShekharGupta]

CJP protesters are now carrying brooms. To tackle the garbage crisis at Jantar Mantar

Saman Husain @SamanHusain9 reports

#ThePrintFeature https://t.co/MLsMhgTH5a

[Sagarika Ghose @sagarikaghose]

SHOCKER. RAF chief ADMITS use of pellet guns and electric shock weapons on unarmed young students. UNACCEPTABLE. @AmitShah must answer in Parliament. https://t.co/hJr5TR0w7E

[Vikas Alwys @VikasAlwys]

Meet Soumith Chintala from Hyderabad, Telangana, who completed his https://t.co/YSvOF5fxhn from VIT Vellore. No IIT. No NIT. Bad at Maths. Yet this guy is the creator of PyTorch, former VP at Meta, and now the CTO at Thinking Machines Lab.

Growing up, there was no computer in his home. He used his neighbour's computer instead.

He completed his schooling at Hyderabad Public School and graduated from VIT Vellore. Later, he moved to the US in 2009.

He was rejected by 27 US universities initially, yet he kept applying. Eventually, he got admitted to New York University, where he started working under Yann LeCun, one of the pioneers of deep learning.

He applied for many jobs in the industry and faced multiple rejections. At one point, visa issues forced him to leave the United States.

Yet he stood up again.

Finally, in 2014, he joined Meta AI’s research lab, where he built PyTorch....the framework that nearly 90% of AI research runs on today.

Today, PyTorch powers countless AI breakthroughs at Meta, Tesla, OpenAI, autonomous driving systems, and across the broader machine learning ecosystem.

He led PyTorch for eight years, taking it from nothing to nearly 90% adoption in AI research. He rose to the position of VP at Meta before leaving to join Thinking Machines Lab as its CTO.

Every 'no' brings you closer to the right 'yes'.

FYI check :-
https://t.co/uxsgp5FkWP

[Hasitha Liyanage @h_liyan]

A former manager of mine (he too is Sinhalese) recounted how he was walking home from school that day, and saw a Tamil family run into a church, only to be dragged back out by the mob, pushed back into their Volkswagen car and burnt alive.

[Rachel Chitra (David) @rachelchitra]

Okay actually the details are more grim. It resulted in the death of two press employees and one security guard at the Dinakaran office -- because the newspaper had published a report on who would be the heir to M Karunanidhi's political legacy

https://t.co/4w2bIMpk9Q

[Rachel Chitra (David) @rachelchitra]

Back in the day - in the 2000s -- I remember supporters of MK Azhagiri burning down the offices of a media house in Madurai...and If I remember it resulted in the death of a security guard...

Over the years -- even though I've not followed TN poltics with the depth others have; I've noticed that the MK Azhagiri faction was more brutal than the MK Stalin faction....

No surprise then that his daughter behaves in this way. And thinks she can get away with it.

[PttvOnlinenews @PttvNewsX]

வங்கி மேலாளரை தாக்கிய மு.க.அழகிரியின் மகள்

#MKAlagiri | #Chennai

[R SIVARAMAN @SIVARAMAN74]

Kayalvizhi Azhagiri, daughter of former Union Minister M.K.Azhagiri was booked for abusing, assaulting and threatening a branch manager of SBI in Adyar @THChennai

[Rachel Chitra (David) @rachelchitra]

Last-Mile Delivery😅goes back to its roots. @zomato @deepigoyal your solution for ethanol-petrol mix is it? Saddling up?

[News18 Tamil Nadu @News18TamilNadu]

#WATCH | பாலவாக்கம் பகுதியில் குதிரையில் சென்று உணவு டெலிவரி செய்த ஜொமாட்டோ ஊழியர்.. இணையத்தில் வைரலாகும் வீடியோ

#Palavakkam #FoodDelivery #News18TamilNadu

[NDTV @ndtv]

On Camera, Ex-Union Minister's Daughter Slaps SBI Branch Manager In Chennai
Read more: https://t.co/Olg38adgA8

[Creature of Wildlife @wildlife_clicks]

One of the most fascinating moments I’ve ever witnessed in Tadoba. 🐅🦌

A tiger was walking calmly towards our gypsy, still at a good distance. We watched him continuously for almost 5 minutes.

Then something incredible happened…

Instead of running away, a group of deer started following the tiger from a safe distance. The tiger even turned back 2–3 times to look at them before continuing on its way.

My understanding is that once a tiger has been detected, it loses its biggest advantage stealth. By keeping the predator in sight, the deer may be ensuring it can’t disappear into cover and launch a surprise attack. A known danger can sometimes be less risky than an unseen one.

But I’m curious…

Why do you think the deer were following the tiger?

Was the tiger already full after a successful hunt?
Were the deer intentionally keeping track of the predator?
Or is there another behavioral explanation?

I’d love to hear the thoughts of wildlife experts and fellow safari enthusiasts.

#Tadoba #Tiger

[The Associated Press @AP]

Punch, the baby Japanese macaque that captured hearts around the world after going viral earlier this year, turns 1 on Sunday.

[Rachel Chitra (David) @rachelchitra]

@manishasinghal Here's the video 😁. Enjoy Madi!!

[Srivatsa @srivatsayb]

Nirmala comes out of hiding and explains how Paper Leaks are beneficial.

[Rachel Chitra (David) @rachelchitra]

Our FM actually has same logic for rupee😅.... Rupee keeps crashing. Every other Asian currency looks better in comparison. And yet ma'am says our "economy has improved & we've done well."

[🚨Indian Gems @IndianGems_]

"Paper leaks helped some students who prepared even more. Their performance has improved, and they have done well."

— Nirmala Sitharaman, FM of India

[Rachel Chitra (David) @rachelchitra]

@manishasinghal Lol 😅 .... truth stranger than fiction with our FM

[Rachel Chitra (David) @rachelchitra]

@tigertwting Aww 🥰 the poor little woolly kitty

[mustafa yazıcı @myzccc]

Gazze hastanelerinde gönüllü olarak görev yapan Japon hemşire, Japonya'ya döndükten sonra basın toplantısı yaptı:

"Gazze halkı neyi yanlış yaptı? Hayatın ağırlığı herkese eşit değil mi? Bu dünya bir türlü adil olamadı.

Bütün dünya onlara saldırıyor, birey olarak hiçbir hakları yok… Hem topraklarını işgal ediyorsunuz hem de onları öldürüyorsunuz.

Belki bu sözler bile dünyaya ulaşmayacak, hatta görmezden gelinecek… Filistin halkı varoluş mücadelesi veriyor…

Gazze halkının sesini dünyaya duyurmaya çalışacağım…”

[Arun@வக்கீல் @Arunvakkil]

NEET a scam can never be regularised… #BANNEET…

[NDTV @ndtv]

"No Evidence": CBI Cleanchit To 'Kingpin' Of NEET-UG 2024 Paper Leak
https://t.co/E39ZWwbaD7