On June 12, an Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner bound for London crashed shortly after takeoff from Ahmedabad, killing 260 people in one of India’s deadliest aviation disasters.
A preliminary report by India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau reveals that both engines’ fuel control switches were moved from 'RUN' to 'CUTOFF' within a second of each other just as the aircraft reached its top recorded speed. Moments later, the pilots declared a mayday.
- Fuel control switches transitioned to 'CUTOFF' one after another
- Pilots questioned why fuel was cut off even as engines failed
- Switches returned to 'RUN', briefly restoring power before loss of control
- One pilot called “Mayday Mayday Mayday”, then the plane began its fatal descent
The report notes that a 2018 FAA bulletin warned about a potential disengagement of the fuel control switch locking feature. Air India treated the advisory as non-mandatory and did not carry out the suggested inspections. So far, investigators have not identified any inherent design flaw in Boeing’s airframe or GE’s GEnx engines.
International experts from the U.S. FAA and the UK’s AAIB are assisting in the ongoing probe. Of the 242 people on board (230 passengers and 12 crew), only one passenger—a British national—survived. The passengers included 169 Indians, 53 Britons, seven Portuguese and one Canadian. Dozens of local residents were also injured when debris struck the ground.
As authorities continue to sift through cockpit recordings, technical data and eyewitness accounts, families and safety experts await the final report that could reshape cockpit design and inspection protocols worldwide.
Reference(s):
Probe: Fuel to Air India engines cut off moments before deadly crash
cgtn.com
