Air India crash mystery deepens as report says fuel cut out for 10 seconds

As cockpit recording reveals one pilot denied turning switches off, safety expert hints at risk of software failure

- James Tapper

Air India flight 171 crashed after fuel to its two engines was cut off for 10 seconds, according to an interim report into the disaster that killed 260 people in Ahmedabad last month.

But the reason why the fuel was cut remains a mystery. Was it a mechanical or computer failure, or was it done by one of the two pilots, either by accident or deliberately?

According to the report from India's Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB), in a cockpit voice recording, one of the pilots asked the other why he had cut off the fuel. “The other pilot responded that he did not do so,” the report said.

The AAIB interim report was released early yesterday and gives a second-by-second account of the final moments of the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner on its journey from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick on 12 June. The branch is legally obliged to issue a report within 30 days of the crash.

Investigators in India are continuing to gather evidence and will eventually issue a full report, although that could take a year or longer.

The plane, with 230 passengers and 12 crew on board, started gathering speed along the runway at 8:07am and its nose began lifting 58 seconds later. Three seconds after the plane was in the air, the flight data recorder shows that the switches controlling fuel supply to the engines moved to the cutoff position.