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New Delhi: According to a preliminary investigation into the crash of Air India flight AI171, one pilot asked the other why he had cut off fuel to the engines just seconds before the plane lost power and went down close to Ahmedabad airport. The second pilot allegedly denied this, stating that he “did not do so.”

“One of the pilots can be heard asking the other why he shut off the audio recording from the cockpit. According to the Air India crash’s preliminary investigation, the other pilot replied that he didn’t.

Shortly after takeoff, the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner’s two engines shut down one second apart, according to the report. As a result, the aircraft quickly lost altitude and crashed close to the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport border in Ahmedabad. The source of the fuel cutoff is still being investigated, but investigators have ruled out any exterior damage or bird strikes.

The report states that “the aircraft reached the maximum recorded airspeed of 180 knots IAS at approximately 08:08:42 UTC, and immediately thereafter, the fuel cutoff switches for Engine 1 and Engine 2 went from the ‘RUN’ to the ‘CUTOFF’ position one after the other with a one-second time gap.” As the engines’ fuel supply was cut off, engines N1 and N2 started to drop from their takeoff values.

The Ram Air Turbine (RAT) was seen deploying soon after takeoff on the airport’s CCTV film, suggesting that power was cut off early in the flight. “The Ram Air Turbine (RAT) was seen being deployed during the first rise just after liftoff in the CCTV video that was taken from the airport. There isn’t any noticeable bird activity along the flight route. Before it crossed the airport perimeter wall, the aircraft began to lose altitude,” the report said.

The report also said that a detailed analysis is being conducted on data that was acquired from the front Enhanced Airborne Flight Recorder (EAFR).

Additionally, according to the article, no urgent safety measures have been suggested as of yet for GE GEnx-1B engines or B787-8 aircraft. Nonetheless, investigators will keep looking at additional documents, evidence, and data from pertinent parties.

As part of the inquiry, a 2018 safety alert from the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) about a potential defect in Boeing’s fuel management switches has come to light again. The FAA has previously issued a warning that these switches’ locking mechanism, which guards against unintentional engine shutdown, can disengage. It did not, however, need remedial action.

On December 17, 2018, the FAA released Special Airworthiness Information Bulletin (SAIB) No. NM-18-33 about the possibility of the fuel control switch locking feature disengaging. Based on allegations from Model 737 aircraft owners that the locking function was not enabled when the fuel control switches were fitted, this SAIB was provided. According to the study, “the FAA did not consider the airworthiness concern to be an unsafe condition that would warrant an airworthiness directive (AD).”

“A number of Boeing aircraft models, including component number 4TL837-3D, which is installed in B787-8 aircraft VT-ANB, have a similar fuel control switch design, including the locking function. According to Air India, as the SAIB was consultative rather than required, the recommended inspections were not conducted. The throttle control module of VT-ANB was changed in 2019 and 2023, according to an examination of maintenance documents. Nevertheless, the fuel control switch was not the cause of the replacement. Since 2023, no fuel control switch defects have been observed on VT-ANB,” it said.

Shortly after taking off from Ahmedabad on June 12 of this year, the Air India Boeing 787-8 headed for London crashed. Twenty-one of the twenty-two individuals on board were killed when the plane impacted a dormitory building at BJ Medical College. Vijay Rupani, the former chief minister of Gujarat, was one of the fatalities. It is one of the worst aviation accidents to hit India in recent memory.