Air India crash probe: Fuel switch in focus; it's 'designed to be intentionally moved,' report cites expert

India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) on Saturday (July 12) released a 15-page preliminary report on the tragic crash of AI171, a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner bound for London from Ahmedabad.

The report covers the 98 seconds from the plane’s takeoff roll to its crash just beyond the airport’s boundary wall, which killed 241 of the 242 people on board, leaving only one survivor.

According to the report, the fuel control switches in the cockpit were flipped, cutting off fuel to the engines.

The report said the aircraft had reached the speed of 180 knots when both engines’ fuel cutoff switches were “transitioned from RUN to CUTOFF position one after another with a time gap of 01 sec.”

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“In the cockpit voice recording, one of the pilots is heard asking the other why did he cutoff. The other pilot responded that he did not do so,” the report reads.

Investigators accessed critical data from the plane’s “black box” recorders, including 49 hours of flight data and two hours of cockpit audio from the crash.

The switches were later flipped back to their correct position, and the engines were starting to power up again when the plane went down.

Possibility of accidental cutoff extremely unlikely

On the 787, these fuel cutoff switches sit between the pilots’ seats, right behind the throttle levers.

They’re flanked by a metal bar and have a lock to prevent accidental toggling.

CNN quoted safety analyst David Soucie as saying that these fuel switches are “designed to be intentionally moved.”

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“Throughout the years, those switches have been improved to make sure that they cannot be accidentally moved and that they’re not automatic. They don’t move themselves in any manner,” Soucie said.

Airport footage also showed the Ram Air Turbine, an emergency power system, deploying during the plane’s initial climb. The aircraft began losing altitude before it crossed the airport’s perimeter wall and crashed.

Meanwhile, Air India has acknowledged that it received the report and said it will continue cooperating with authorities in the investigation.

“Air India stands in solidarity with the families and those affected by the AI171 accident,” the airline posted on X. “We continue to mourn the loss and are fully committed to providing support during this difficult time.”