Fuel control switches turned off moments before Air India flight crash, investigation finds

A PRELIMINARY INVESTIGATION into the Air India crash at Ahmedabad Airport in western India last month has found that fuel control switches were turned off moments before impact.

Switches controlling fuel supply to the engines of the plane were moved from the “run” to the “cutoff” position moments before impact, a preliminary investigation report said.

The report, issued by India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau, did not offer any conclusions or apportion blame for the 12 June disaster, but indicated that one pilot asked the other why he cut off fuel, and the second pilot responded that he had not.

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The Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner issued a mayday call shortly before it crashed and burst into a fireball as it hit residential buildings.

There was one survivor out of 242 passengers and crew on board the jet when it crashed and another 24 people were killed on the ground.

India has suffered a series of fatal air crashes, including a 1996 disaster when two jets collided mid-air over New Delhi, killing nearly 350 people.

In 2010, an Air India Express jet crashed and burst into flames at Mangalore airport in southwest India, killing 158 of the 166 passengers and crew on board. 

With reporting from AFP

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