Air India Crash Preliminary Report Reveals Twin Engine Shutdown Mid Air Due To Fuel Supply Cut

The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau released a preliminary report of the investigation into the Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad on June 12 in the wee hours of Saturday. One of the key findings of the report was that the twin engines of the ill-fated flight shut down seconds after take-off as fuel supply was cut off, with neither pilot acknowledging turning off the switches.

According to the 15-page report, the aircraft hit its top recorded airspeed of 180 knots. Moments later, the fuel cut off switches—responsible for controlling fuel flow to the engines—moved from the 'RUN' position to 'CUTOFF' one after another, with a gap of one second.

There was also apparent confusion about the situation between pilots in the cockpit.

"Why did you cut off?" One of the pilots was heard asking the other in the cockpit voice recording. The other pilot responded that he did not do so.

About 10 seconds later, both fuel-cutoff switches were turned back on. But the engines couldn’t fully restart and regain thrust fast enough, causing the aircraft to rapidly descend. The plane, which was enroute to London Gatwick with 230 passengers onboard, crashed right outside the airport perimeter just 32 seconds after takeoff, killing all but one.

Immediately after the plane lifted off the ground, the Ram Air Turbine — a backup powder device — was deployed, indicating a total loss of power and thrust in the aircraft, as per the CCTV footage obtained by the investigators from the airport.

Flight data indicates that an automatic relight was attempted and successfully carried out for Engine 1. However, Engine 2 failed to recover despite multiple attempts to reintroduce fuel.

The preliminary report outlines the sequence of events that led to the crash. The aircraft began rolling from Runway 23 at 1:37 PM. It reached take-off speed and lifted off at 1:38 PM. But seconds later, both the engines abruptly lost power. An emergency “Mayday” call was transmitted at 1:39 PM. It travelled only 0.9 nautical miles from the runway before crashing into BJ Medical College Hostel. This marks the first fatal accident involving a Boeing 787 Dreamliner.

Investigators also confirmed an in-flight cutoff after determining that the flap handles at 5-degree position and landing gear position which was 'DOWN' were consistent with a normal take off setting. However, the thrust levers were found in idle position post-crash despite being set at takeoff thrust.

Flight AI171, a Boeing Dreamliner, arrived in Ahmedabad earlier that day from Delhi. The previous crew had logged a defect report related to a stabilizer sensor (“STAB POS XDCR”). Air India’s on-duty maintenance engineer conducted troubleshooting, and the aircraft was cleared for flight.

Further, the report revealed that no significant bird activity was observed near flight path.

The investigating body, however, noted that the Federal Aviation Authority had issued an advisory in 2018, about “potential disengagement” of a fuel-control switch locking feature on 737s, a different and smaller model of Boeing airplanes. The locking mechanism was similar on various Boeing models, including certain 787s, the report stated.

However, Air India didn't inspect its planes because the FAA advisory was not mandatory.

Among other findings, the report confirmed that the pilots were medically fit and rested and had adequate experience flying that type of aircraft.

Fuel also tested clean — no contamination found from refuelling sources.

So far, no safety warnings or groundings have been issued for Boeing 787s or GE GEnx-1B engines. The investigation continues as authorities examine black box data, post-mortem findings, more evidence and information from cockpit audio. Additional information is being gathered from initial leads.