Fuel Was Cut Off During Take-Off, Says Report on Air India Crash

Experts Divided on Whether Cause Was Aircraft Design Flaw or Human Error

- Rohini Mohan

BENGALURU — The fuel control switch went off within three seconds of take-off, leading both engines to shut down moments before the Air India Boeing 787 London-bound flight crashed in Ahmedabad, said a preliminary report by the Indian government.

The 15-page report was released by India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau late on July 11, detailing findings from its probe into the plane crash on June 12 that killed 260 people — 229 passengers, 12 crew members, and 19 individuals on the ground.

Only one passenger miraculously survived.

The crux of the preliminary report is its revelation that "the Engine 1 and Engine 2 fuel cut-off switches transitioned from RUN to CUTOFF position one after another with a time gap of 01 second".

In the cockpit voice recording, the report says, "one of the pilots is heard asking the other why did he cut off. The other pilot responded that he did not do so".

Within 32 seconds of taking off, the plane had crashed into buildings just outside the Sardar Vallabhai Patel airport, including a medical college hostel.

These details were retrieved from an Enhanced Airborne Flight Recorder, commonly known as the black box, in the forward section of the plane. The rear black box was substantially damaged, and no data could be downloaded.

The report lists damage to the aircraft parts and data from flight recorders. It does not ascertain reasons for the crash, or who is responsible for it.

The possibility of one of the pilots inadvertently hitting the off switch is remote, said Mr Hemanth DP, chief executive of the Hyderabad-based Asia Pacific Flight Training Academy.

The lock safety mechanism of "lift and twist" is built into the Boeing's fuel controls so that pilots cannot just switch off the fuel to the engine by mistake, he explained.