The focus on the fuel switches on Air India Flight 171 raised questions about the pilots’ actions.
Seconds after takeoff and moments before an Air India flight crashed last month, the fuel was cut off to both engines of the plane, investigators said early on Saturday, in a preliminary assessment of information from the aircraft’s voice and data recorder.
The narrowed focus on the fuel switches on Air India Flight 171 raised questions about the pilots’ actions and appeared to rule out mechanical failure or design flaws. The report said “there are no recommended actions” to the aircraft and engine manufacturers, Boeing and General Electric.
“In the cockpit voice recording, one of the pilots is heard asking the other why did he cut off” the fuel, said the report, by India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau. “The other pilot responded that he did not do so.”
The London-bound Boeing 787 Dreamliner went down on June 12, about 30 seconds after takeoff from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad. All but one of the 242 people aboard were killed.
The plane rammed into the dining hall of a medical college before exploding in flames. Altogether, more than 270 people were killed, including dozens on the ground, officials said. It was India’s worst aviation disaster since 1996.
The supply of fuel to the engine is controlled by two switches in the flight deck. Starting about 10 seconds after the fuel was cut off on Flight 171, the data recorder shows, the switches were moved to turn the fuel back on. But the plane could not gain power quickly enough to stop its descent.
