A cockpit recording of the crashed Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner shows that the captain cut fuel to the engines shortly after takeoff from Ahmedabad airport on June 12. This was reported by Reuters, citing The Wall Street Journal and sources familiar with the initial assessment of US investigators.
The crash killed 260 people - 241 passengers and crew, as well as 19 people on the ground. The sole surviving passenger is a British citizen.
According to the cited report, seconds after takeoff, the first officer of the flight asked the captain why he had set the fuel switches to the “off” position. Both pilots had considerable flying experience – Captain Sumet Sabharwal with 15,638 flying hours, and First Officer Clive Kander with 3,403 hours.
The preliminary report of the Indian Air Accident Investigation Branch, released on Saturday, confirmed that the fuel switches of both engines were turned off almost simultaneously – with an interval of one second – immediately after takeoff. However, the document did not provide further details about the circumstances.
At this stage, neither the Indian aviation authorities, nor the Ministry of Civil Aviation, the airline Air India or the pilots' unions have given an official comment on the case. Manufacturer Boeing also declined to comment.
The investigation is ongoing, with the final report expected to shed more light on the crew's actions and the causes of the tragic incident.