A preliminary report on the Air India crash that claimed at least 270 lives last month reveals a potential cause: the near-simultaneous activation of the plane's engine fuel cutoff switches.
that killed over 260 people showed that seconds after takeoff, the Boeing 787 plane's engine fuel control switches were switched off briefly, starving them of fuel. According to the report, the flight lasted around 30 seconds between takeoff and crash. It said that once the aircraft achieved its top recorded speed, “the Engine 1 and Engine 2 fuel cutoff switches transitioned from RUN to CUTOFF position one after another" within a second. The report did not say how the switches could have flipped to the cutoff position during the flight.
At 11:17 am IST, Air India Dreamliner VT-ANB landed in Ahmedabad from New Delhi operating as flight AI423.
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| 11:17 am | Air India Dreamliner VT-ANB landed in Ahmedabad from New Delhi as flight AI423. |
| 1:18:38 pm | Aircraft departed from Bay 34 at Ahmedabad airport. |
| 1:25 pm | Aircraft requested taxi clearance, which was granted by air traffic control. |
| 1:26 pm | Aircraft taxied to Runway 23 via Taxiway R4, backtracked, and lined up for take-off. |
| 1:32 pm | Aircraft was transferred from ground control to tower control. |
| 1:37 pm | Take-off clearance was issued by air traffic control. |
| 1:37:37 pm | Aircraft began its take-off roll. |
| 1:38:39 pm | Aircraft lifted off; sensors confirmed transition to air mode, consistent with liftoff. |
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| 1:38:42 pm | Aircraft reached maximum airspeed of 180 knots. Immediately after, Engine 1 and Engine 2 fuel cutoff switches moved from RUN to CUTOFF one second apart. |
| Engine N1 and N2 values began to drop as fuel supply was cut. In the cockpit voice recording, one pilot asked, “Why did you cut off?” The other responded, “I didn’t.” |
| CCTV footage showed Ram Air Turbine (RAT) deploying during initial climb. The aircraft began losing altitude before clearing the airport perimeter wall. |
| Both engines' values dropped below minimum idle speed; RAT hydraulic pump began supplying hydraulic power. |
| Engine 1 fuel cutoff switch moved from CUTOFF to RUN. |
| Engine 2 fuel cutoff switch transitioned from CUTOFF to RUN. |
| When switched to RUN inflight, FADEC systems attempted engine relight and thrust recovery. Engine 1 showed signs of recovery, but Engine 2 failed to stabilize despite multiple fuel reintroductions. |
| A pilot transmitted: “MAYDAY MAYDAY MAYDAY.” |
| 1:39:11 | Data recording stopped. |
In the flight’s final moment, one pilot was heard on the cockpit voice recorder asking the other why he cut off the fuel. “The other pilot responded that he did not do so,” the report said.
The plane’s black boxes — combined cockpit voice recorders and flight data recorders — were recovered in the days following the crash and later downloaded in India.
Also Read: Air India plane crash report out; Both engines 'cut off' mid-air '01 second apart'"The Flight AI171 had arrived in Ahmedabad earlier that day as AI423 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," said the report.
