Victims’ families are stunned after a report found fuel supply to the engines of the Air India plane that crashed last month was cut off just seconds after the flight took off.
Exactly a month back, the London Gatwick-bound flight came down in a residential area of Ahmedabad on 12 June, killing a total of 260 people.
Now, a preliminary report published by India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau, which is part of the ongoing probe into what caused the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner to come down, has found that fuel control switches were moved to “cut-off” position as the aircraft rose from take-off.
The 15-page document also includes a conversation between the pilots on the fuel controls before the crash. “In the cockpit voice recording, one of the pilots is heard asking the other why did he cut-off. The other pilot responded that he did not do so,” it stated.
Following the report’s release, Badasab Syed, 59 – who lost his brother, 49-year-old IT professional Inayat Syed, his sister-in-law, and their two children in the tragedy – told the BBC he has just been left with more questions, as he asked whether the tragedy was “avoidable”.
Of the 242 people onboard flight AI171 to London Gatwick, 241 were killed, including 53 British nationals. The flight crashed into a hostel complex at Byramjee Jeejeebhoy Medical College, killing several students and residents on the ground. Only one passenger – a British-Indian man seated in 11A – survived.
Recap: UK government pledges to review report into tragedy
The UK government has said it will review India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau’s report into the tragedy.
On board the Air India flight bound for London Gatwick were 53 British nationals.
A Department for Transport spokesperson told the BBC: “This was a tragic accident, and our thoughts remain with the victims and their families.”
They continued: “The UK welcomes the publication of the Indian Authorities’ preliminary report, and will review this in detail and consider if any action is required.”
Rebecca Whittaker12 July 2025 22:00
Why the Air India crash report leaves devastated families with more questions
Rebecca Whittaker12 July 2025 21:45
Crash victim’s families say they ‘can’t be at peace’ without knowing the truth
The granddaughter of a victim of the Air India flight crash has said she “can’t be at peace” without those responsible being held accountable.
Although Ria Patel from Buckinghamshire feels the report brings them closer to understanding what happened, she told the BBC: “I want to be able to have closure.”
Her grandmother Manju Mahesh Patel, 79, had been staying in Ahmedabad carrying out charity work at a temple before boarding the London Gatwick bound flight.
Following the report into the crash Ms Patel said: “I feel like I can’t really be at peace with what’s happened, unless I understand where the accountability lies.”
Rebecca Whittaker12 July 2025 21:30
Recap: Not easy to ‘accidentally’ cut off fuel switches, expert says on Air India crash
The fuel switches that were cut off before the Air India plane crash are the kind used on every flight, and designed so that this cannot easily “accidentally” happen, an aviation expert has said.
The fuel switches are used at the end of every flight and in emergency scenarios such as a fire, director of aerospace and aviation at Cranfield University, Professor Graham Braithwaite said, adding that pilots would generally run through a checklist before turning them off.
He said: “For obvious reasons, the two switches are a distance apart, so not a huge distance, but enough that you couldn’t accidentally switch two when you’re trying to switch one.
“So it’s not like the lights in your house, where they’re right next to each other, so there is some space between them.
“They’re in that centre console, so that’s in between the two pilots, so they can each reach them with the same ease.”
Rebecca Whittaker12 July 2025 21:00
Air India flight ‘was doomed’ without sufficient power, says travel expert Simon Calder
After studying the preliminary report on the Air India crash, The Independent’s travel correspondent Simon Calder picks out three elements of the 32-second flight.
Rebecca Whittaker12 July 2025 20:30
Watch: UK student missed doomed Air India flight by minutes
Rebecca Whittaker12 July 2025 20:00
Explained: How fuel control switches may have caused the crash
The report from the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau found three seconds after take-off, the air India plane was climbing and accelerating with an airspeed of 180 knots (207mph), in line with normal performance.
But then the Engine 1 and Engine 2 fuel cutoff switches transitioned from “RUN to CUTOFF position one after another.”
These switches are used to start the jet engines, shut them down or reset them in emergencies.
That caused both engines to be starved of fuel at the moment when power was most needed.
It took 10 seconds for one engine and 14 seconds for the other for the switches to be returned to the normal position – “transitioned from CUTOFF to RUN”.
If the switches were off, it could explain why the jet’s emergency power generator – known as a ram air turbine, or RAT – had been activated just before the plane crashed.
“In the cockpit voice recording, one of the pilots is heard asking the other why did he cutoff? The other pilot responded that he did not do so,” the report noted.
Rebecca Whittaker12 July 2025 19:30
What is a ‘black box’ and what can it tell us about the Air India plane crash
The cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder are tools that help investigators reconstruct the events that led up to a plane crash.
They’re orange in colour to make them easier to find in wreckage, sometimes at great ocean depths. They’re usually installed in a plane’s tail section, which is considered the most survivable part of the aircraft.
Rebecca Whittaker12 July 2025 19:00
Pictured: Memorial held for the deceased crew members
Rebecca Whittaker12 July 2025 18:30
No actions recommended for Boeing in preliminary report
No actions have been recommended for Boeing in the preliminary report which although drew no conclusions did find the fuel switches were in the cut off position before the plane crashed.
India’s civil aviation minister, Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu, said the report’s findings were preliminary and one should not “jump into any conclusions on this.”
“Let us wait for the final report,” Naidu added.
“Our deepest condolences go out to the loved ones of the passengers and crew on board AirIndia Flight 171, as well as everyone affected in Ahmedabad,” a statement from Boeing said.
Rebecca Whittaker12 July 2025 18:00
