Air India mystery deepens as families demand answers

Early findings of an investigation into the Air India crash last month have revealed the plane's fuel switches were cut off after take-off, leaving victim's families with more questions and seeking "justice and answers".

- ROSIE SHEAD, REBECCA WHITTAKER

The preliminary report from India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), published on Friday, said both of the plane's fuel switches were moved to the "cut-off" position "immediately" after take-off, stopping fuel supply to the engine.

It included a harrowing transcript of a cockpit conversation between the pilots where one asks the other why he cut-off the fuel, before the other responded to say he did not. Experts have since said it is not easy to "accidentally" cut off fuel switches.

The findings have left some families of victims questioning how the tragedy took place, and if it was avoidable. Badasab Syed, 59, who lost his brother, 49-year-old IT professional Inayat Syed, his sister-in-law, and their two children in the crash, said he has just been left with more questions.

He told the BBC: "The report mentions the pilots discussing who turned off fuel and a possible issue with the fuel control switch. We don't know what that means? Was it avoidable?" The London Gatwick-bound flight crashed just moments after taking off from Ahmedabad airport on 12 June killing all but one of the 242 people on board the plane and about 19 on the ground.

The fuel switches are used to start the jet engines, shut them down or reset them in emergencies. Experts say they are the kind used on every flight, and designed so that this cannot easily "accidentally" happen.

After being cut-off, they were returned to their normal inflight position, which triggered an automatic engine relight and a thrust recovery procedure.