A preliminary report shows that the fuel supply to both engines of the Air India plane, which crashed last month and killed 260 people, was cut off just seconds after takeoff.
Air India flight AI171, which was en route to London, crashed on June 12th in a densely populated residential area in the Indian city of Ahmedabad, killing 241 of the 242 passengers and crew on board, as well as 19 people on the ground. This is the deadliest aviation accident in India in nearly three decades.
According to the preliminary report by India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau, immediately after takeoff, both cockpit switches that control fuel flow to the engines were moved to the “off” position. Moving these switches shuts off the engines almost instantly.
Based on information collected from the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder, which were recovered after the crash, the report states that a voice on the cockpit recording can be heard asking, “Why did you turn it off?” referring to the fuel switch.
The other pilot responded that he hadn’t done it. A few seconds later, the plane began losing altitude, and an emergency message was sent from the cockpit to air traffic control, just before the aircraft crashed outside the airport perimeter.
According to the report, the fuel switches were moved to the “off” position, one after the other. A few seconds later, the switches were returned to the “on” position, restoring fuel flow, and one of the engines managed to restart, but this was not enough to stop the loss of speed and altitude.
The report does not state which pilot made which statement, nor which of them sent the “mayday, mayday, mayday” call before the plane crashed.
The commanding pilot of the Air India flight was Sumeet Sabharwal (56), who had a total of 15.638 flight hours and, according to Indian government data, was also an instructor with Air India. His co-pilot was Clive Kunder (32), with a total of 3.403 flight hours.
The preliminary findings do not indicate how the fuel switches could have been moved to the “off” position and thereby shut off the engines. These switches are equipped with safety mechanisms, including a locking system, that are supposed to prevent accidental movement.
It could be months before investigators release the final report on the cause of the crash. According to Indian aviation regulations, a preliminary report must be released within 30 days of the incident.
Air India acknowledged the report and stated it is cooperating with Indian authorities, but declined to provide additional comments. Boeing said it continues to support the investigation.
