India’s Aircraft Investigation Bureau has released its preliminary report on the crash of an Air India aircraft that occurred in June.
Based on the investigation, it was found that the fuel control switches in the cockpit of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner were allegedly turned off, which caused fuel to not reach the engines.
This was also revealed by the black boxes, which included 49 hours of flight data and two hours of cockpit audio recordings.
The aircraft was flying at a speed of 180 knots when both of its engines experienced a “fuel cutoff.”
In the audio recording, the pilot can be heard asking why the switches were turned off, to which the co-pilot denied having done so.
The fuel cutoff switches are located between the two pilots and are equipped with a locking mechanism to prevent accidental activation.
The captain of the flight was a 56-year-old man with 15,000 flight hours in his career, while the co-pilot was a 32-year-old with 3,400 flight hours.
It can be recalled that on June 12, the aircraft took off from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport and was en route to London when it crashed.
Of the total 242 passengers and crew on board—which included 169 Indian nationals, 53 Britons, seven Portuguese, and one Canadian—only one Briton survived.
