{"id":176677,"date":"2025-07-11T16:00:11","date_gmt":"2025-07-11T16:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aviacionaldia.com\/?p=176677"},"modified":"2025-07-11T22:16:28","modified_gmt":"2025-07-11T22:16:28","slug":"preliminary-report-fuel-cutoff-switches-activation-caused-air-india-accident","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aviacionaldia.com\/en\/2025\/07\/preliminary-report-fuel-cutoff-switches-activation-caused-air-india-accident.html","title":{"rendered":"Preliminary Report: Fuel Cutoff Switches Activation Caused Air India Accident"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The preliminary report released this Saturday by India\u2019s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau revealed that just three seconds after takeoff, the fuel cutoff switches on Air India\u2019s Boeing 787<\/strong> Dreamliner were activated almost simultaneously, cutting off the supply to the engines and causing an immediate loss of thrust.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The flight, which departed from the Indian city of Ahmedabad bound for London, crashed shortly after takeoff, claiming the lives of 260 people in what is now considered the deadliest aviation accident worldwide in over a decade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Black Box Data: A Critical Sequence of Seconds<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The flight and voice recorders recovered days after the incident show that one of the pilots, startled, asked the other why they had cut the fuel. \u201cThe other pilot responded that they didn\u2019t do it,\u201d the report states. It does not specify which of the two\u2014the captain or the first officer\u2014made each comment, nor who issued the emergency call: \u201cMayday, Mayday, Mayday,\u201d moments before impact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both pilots had extensive experience: collectively, they logged nearly 19,000 flight hours, with over 9,000 of those on the same aircraft model, the 787.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mechanical Failure or Human Error?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

One of the most troubling questions raised by the report is how the switches could have moved from \u201crun\u201d to \u201ccutoff\u201d during the initial climb, a maneuver that almost immediately cuts off fuel supply to the engines. These switches are specifically designed to prevent accidental movement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2192 DGCA Warns Air India Over \u201cSerious and Repeated Violations\u201d in Pilot Scheduling: Pressure Mounts on the Airline<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

U.S. aviation safety expert Anthony Brickhouse emphasized the gravity of the finding: \u201cDid they move on their own, or did someone move them? And if it was a pilot, why would they do it?\u201d His colleague John Cox was unequivocal: \u201cThey cannot be activated accidentally; they can\u2019t be bumped and slide.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although the switches were found in the \u201crun\u201d position at the crash site, the report suggests that both engines showed signs of attempting to restart before the low-altitude impact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No Signs of Onboard Emergency<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The document does not mention any emergency situation that would justify cutting the engines. The procedure to deactivate the fuel supply is reserved for when the aircraft has already parked or in extreme events, such as an engine fire. For now, the report refrains from issuing operational recommendations for Boeing 787-8 operators or the GEnx-1B engines manufactured by GE Aerospace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Regulatory Turbulence: Air India Under Scrutiny<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The accident has raised global alarms about the safety practices of the Indian state-owned airline. The European Union Aviation Safety Agency announced an investigation into Air India Express, the low-cost subsidiary, after an inquiry revealed the company failed to comply on time with a directive to replace parts in the engines of an Airbus A320 and altered records to appear compliant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For its part, India\u2019s Directorate General of Civil Aviation recently warned the airline for operating three Airbus planes with expired inspections on evacuation slides and for \u201cserious violations\u201d in pilot duty times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Transparency in the Investigation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

U.S. National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy had previously urged the Indian government to ensure transparency in the investigative process, noting that public trust depends on accountability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The final report is expected within a year, in accordance with international standards. For now, the global aviation community remains awaiting a definitive explanation of what happened in those critical seconds that forever changed Air India\u2019s history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Aviaci\u00f3n al D\u00eda","author_link":"https:\/\/aviacionaldia.com\/en\/author\/aad"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"The preliminary report released this Saturday by India\u2019s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau revealed that just three seconds after…","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/aviacionaldia.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176677","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/aviacionaldia.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/aviacionaldia.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aviacionaldia.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4316"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aviacionaldia.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=176677"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/aviacionaldia.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176677\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":176691,"href":"https:\/\/aviacionaldia.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176677\/revisions\/176691"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aviacionaldia.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/175452"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/aviacionaldia.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=176677"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aviacionaldia.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=176677"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aviacionaldia.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=176677"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}