A preliminary report for last month’s Air India crash that killed 241 people on board — with a sole survivor miraculously walking away — found that the plane’s engine fuel cutoff switch was flipped just three seconds after taking off.
It is unclear how or why the switch was flipped, which ceased all fuel to the engines and quickly forced the London-bound Boeing 787 Dreamliner to lose its thrust and crash, killing another 19 people on the ground on June 12.
“The Engine N1 and N2 began to decrease from their take-off values as the fuel supply to the engines was cut off,” the report said.
The Air India Flight 171 pilots may have been responsible for the devastating crash, as it is difficult, if not impossible, to accidentally flip the switch, The US Sun reported.
The cutoff switches are most often used to turn both engines off at once, either when a plane reaches the airport gate or during emergencies requiring a shutdown.
The report, headed by India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau, didn’t indicate any findings pointing toward any emergency before the crash that would require a fuel cutoff.
Another 19 people were killed on the ground after the aircraft slammed into a medical college in Ahmedabad, India.
Cockpit audio cited in the report noted that one pilot could be heard asking another why he cut off the fuel. The pilot in question said that “he did not do so.”
Soon after, one pilot reported a frantic mayday distress before the plane crashed. The report did not specify which pilot made the call.
An investigation at the crash site determined that the fuel cutoff switches were found in the run position, indicating that both engines relighted moments before the crash.
The seasoned jet pilots, a captain and first officer, had a combined 19,000 flying hours.
The continued investigation will likely center on how the switches moved in a way that doesn’t align with the typical operations, US aviation expert Anthony Brickhouse suggested.
“Did they move on their own or did they move because of the pilots? And if they were moved because of a pilot, why?” Brickhouse said.
Both black boxes for the doomed flight, which include the cockpit voice recorders and flight data, were recovered from the rubble a few days after the crash.
Going forward, the boxes will be used to help determine other possible factors that contributed to the crash.
British national Vishwash Kumar Ramesh was the sole survivor of the Air India crash, which also killed one of his brothers who had been sitting just a few seats away.
The bruised 40-year-old was spotted limping away from the wreckage, still clutching his boarding pass.
“When I opened my eyes, I realized I was alive,” he said from his hospital bed the day after the tragedy.
