India, July 13 -- Marco Chan, senior lecturer at Buckinghamshire New University and former pilot, has said that the preliminary report into the crash of the Air India Ahmedabad to London flight on June 12 points towards "a chip malfunction".

In an interview with Reuters Video, Chan said that he believes the crash was caused by a chip malfunction. He also referred to a previously issued service bulletin from the engine manufacturer advising maintenance of a flawed chip to prevent signal loss.

"I believe the FAA has - together with GE, General Electric, the engine manufacturer - has issued a service bulletin, i.e. I believe it was about 11,000 cycles, they will have to replace the chip. And if it is not replaced or maintenance isn't done ...