Ahmedabad plane crash probe: New details shift focus to senior pilot

The focus in the Air India Flight 171 crash from Ahmedabad to Gatwick, London, has now shifted to the pilots after the cockpit recording recovered from the black box indicates that it was the captain who turned off the fuel switches to the plane's engine, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday (IST).

The report cited sources familiar with the US officials' early assessment of evidence discovered in the investigation of the crash.

Air India crash claimed over 260 lives

On June 12, an Air India flight from Ahmedabad to Gatwick, London, crashed into a medical college in the Meghani Nagar area of Ahmedabad shortly after takeoff. The crash, considered to be one of the worst tragedies in the country, claimed the lives of more than 260 people, including 241 out of 242 people on board and several people on the ground. The sole survivor was an Indian-origin British national, Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, who sat on seat 11A, adjacent to the emergency exit. Ramesh managed to escape with injuries through the broken emergency exit.

Preliminary report in Air India crash released

The preliminary report of India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), which was released on July 12, suggested that the fuel switches to the aircraft's engines were turned off within a second of take-off. The action then reportedly led to confusion in the cockpit before the aircraft crashed into a hostel for medical students.

According to the Wall Street Journal report, the first officer flying the Boeing 787 Dreamliner asked the more experienced captain why he had moved the switches to the "cutoff" position after the plane had climbed off the runway.

While the first officer expressed surprise and panic, the more experienced captain remained calm. The preliminary report by AAIB suggested the exchange, but did not mention which pilot said what. According to the AAIB's preliminary report, one pilot asked the other about moving the switches, while the other denied doing so.

Citing sources, the Wall Street Journal report added that it was the captain who turned off the switches; however, AAIB's finding did not clarify whether turning off the switches might have been deliberate or accidental.

Air India finds no issues with Boeing 787 fuel control switch locks

After the AAIB released a preliminary report, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), on July 14, directed all airlines operating Boeing 737 and 787 aircraft to inspect the locking mechanism of fuel control switches and submit their findings by July 21.

On Wednesday, Air India informed the pilots that its precautionary inspections of the fuel control switch locking system on all Boeing 787 aircraft had been completed, adding that no issues were found and the throttle control modules had already been replaced, as per Boeing's maintenance schedule.