NEW DELHI, India – A preliminary report into last month’s tragic Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner crash has unveiled critical cockpit confusion surrounding the aircraft’s engine fuel cutoff switches, moments before the plane plunged to the ground in Ahmedabad, killing 260 people. The report, released by India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), sheds light on a perplexing sequence of events that led to the sudden loss of thrust shortly after takeoff.
According to the findings, the aircraft’s engine fuel cutoff switches transitioned from “RUN” to “CUTOFF” position almost simultaneously, within a second of each other, starving both engines of fuel. The cockpit voice recorder captured a chilling exchange, with one pilot asking, “Why did you cutoff?” and the other responding, “I didn’t do so.” This suggests a profound lack of clarity in the flight deck regarding the critical control inputs.
The preliminary report indicates that while the switches were subsequently moved back to the “RUN” position, and efforts were made to relight the engines, the low altitude and insufficient time prevented a full recovery, leading to the catastrophic crash. The Boeing 787, bound for London, lost power rapidly, with CCTV footage showing the deployment of a backup ram air turbine, a sign of engine failure.
While the report does not explicitly state how the fuel switches came to be in the “CUTOFF” position, aviation experts are questioning the integrity of cockpit procedures and potential technical anomalies, though the report does not assign responsibility to Boeing or engine manufacturer GE at this stage. It also references a 2018 FAA safety bulletin regarding potential disengagement of the fuel control switch locking feature on similar Boeing models, which, while advisory, was not deemed an unsafe condition warranting a mandatory directive.
The investigation is ongoing, with authorities emphasizing that these are preliminary findings. The black boxes, containing both cockpit voice recordings and flight data, have been recovered and analyzed, providing crucial insights into the flight’s final moments. This tragic incident, one of India’s worst aviation disasters in a decade, underscores the paramount importance of precise cockpit communication and robust safety protocols in commercial aviation.
