A preliminary report into the Air India passenger airplane crash that killed no less than 270 individuals final month has discovered that each engines have been flipped to chop off after takeoff.
The 15-page report launched Friday by India’s Plane Accident Investigation Bureau discovered that the cutoff switches for each engines have been switched, one after one other, inside one second. The swap led to each engines dropping thrust. Investigators have been capable of get knowledge out of the black containers.
“Within the cockpit voice recording, one of many pilots is heard asking the opposite why did he cutoff. The opposite pilot responded that he didn’t accomplish that,” the report reads.
The swap was flipped three seconds into the flight, and the flight itself solely lasted 32 seconds earlier than crashing. The report would not state how the swap was flipped. There had not been any defects reported referring to the gasoline management swap since 2023, in response to the preliminary report.
One of many engines started to regain thrust; nonetheless, the second engine didn’t. This led to one of many pilots transmitting a “MAYDAY” name, in response to the report.
The left engine on the airplane was put in on March 26, and the precise engine was put in on Might 1, in response to the report.
“At this stage of investigation, there are not any beneficial actions to B787-8 and/or GE GEnx-1B engine operators and producers, suggesting that no important fault has been discovered with the airplane or its engines,” the report states, referring to the makers of the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner plane and its GE engines.
“One of many issues I feel it actually factors out is that this was not an issue with the airplane or the engines,” CBS Information aviation security analyst Robert Sumwalt, former chair of the Nationwide Transportation Security Board, mentioned Friday night. “As an alternative, the report signifies someone within the cockpit shut the gasoline off to these engines.”
Sumwalt defined that the swap is often switched as much as begin the engines “to introduce gasoline into the engines,” after which on the completion of a flight. He mentioned the first query shall be whether or not the shutoff was inadvertent or intentional, which the report didn’t tackle.
“I feel that is going to be a extremely huge query proper there,” Sumwalt mentioned. “Did someone intentionally shut off the gasoline, or was it someway or one other, a slip, that they inadvertently shut off the gasoline.”
In response to the report, Air India mentioned in a social media submit on Friday that it “stands in solidarity with the households and people affected by the AI171 accident.”
“We proceed to mourn the loss and are totally dedicated to offering help throughout this tough time,” the airline mentioned. “We acknowledge receipt of the preliminary report launched by the Plane Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) at the moment, 12 July 2025. Air India is working intently with stakeholders, together with regulators. We proceed to completely cooperate with the AAIB and different authorities as their investigation progresses.”
In a press release offered to CBS Information, a Boeing spokesperson mentioned: “Our ideas stay with the family members of the passengers and crew on board Air India Flight 171, in addition to everybody affected on the bottom in Ahmedabad. We proceed to help the investigation and our buyer.”
The Air Present, a information web site that covers the aviation trade, reported earlier this week that the investigation into the crash was zeroing in on the engines and gasoline management switches.
Air India flight AI171 was carrying 242 passengers and crew when it crashed within the western Indian metropolis of Ahmedabad on June 12, shortly after taking off for London’s Gatwick airport. Officers confirmed that one passenger on the flight was the lone survivor. A minimum of 29 individuals on the bottom have been killed.
Air India mentioned these on board included 169 Indian nationals, 53 British nationals, seven Portuguese nationals and one Canadian.
contributed to this report.
