AI crash report points to fuel flow cut off; confusion among pilots

Seconds before Air India flight 171 crashed while ascending from Ahmedabad, the fuel control switches of both its engines were cut off, a preliminary investigation report said on Saturday, suggesting a catastrophic pilot error in the cockpit of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.
The Airlines Pilots Association of India disagreed with the report, saying the investigation is “shrouded in secrecy,” appears to be biased against the pilot and has come to a conclusion hastily.
A 15-page preliminary investigation report into the disaster revealed fuel-control switches of the two engines moved from the “run” to the “cutoff” position, within the space of one second, leading to immediate loss of altitude.
In the cockpit voice recording, one pilot is heard asking the other why he cut off the fuel. The other denied having done so.
The report by Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AIIB), released early on Saturday, neither concluded any reason for the switches moving nor apportioned explicit blame for the crash.
It also did not identify the pilots in the voice recording. But it also said no fault was found in the aircraft, leaving only the possibility of pilot error as the cause.
It also did not identify the pilots in the voice recording. But it also said no fault was found in the aircraft, leaving only the possibility of pilot error as the cause.
At the controls was First Officer Clive Kunder, 32, while Sumeet Sabharwal, a veteran with 30 years of experience at Air India, was the senior cockpit occupant in command monitoring the flight.
The report, however, referenced a 2018 airworthiness bulletin by the US Federal Aviation Administration that said fuel switches had been installed on Boeing 737s, a smaller model, “with the locking feature disengaged”. The locking mechanism was similar on various Boeing aeroplane models, including certain 787s, it said.
Air India did not carry out inspections recommended in the 2018 FAA advisory on fuel control switch safety, as the bulletin was classified as “non-mandatory”, the report said.
It wasn’t immediately clear if this had any link to the accident.
The report provided the first detailed account of the fateful 32 seconds between takeoff in Ahmedabad and the crash into a medical college hostel just outside the airport perimeter, killing all but one of the 242 onboard and another 19 on the ground in the deadliest aviation accident in a decade.
The report did not provide any clues to why and by whom the two fuel switches were moved to a cut-off position as the plane nosed into the air, starving the two engines of the thrust needed for the lift. It ruled out any bird hit or fuel contamination.