The Air India Dreamliner that crashed in Ahmedabad just 30 seconds after takeoff lost power because fuel was shut off to both engines—an unexplained event that left the pilots scrambling to recover but unable to prevent catastrophe, a government report has found.
In its preliminary investigation, released a month after the June 12 crash, the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) said both fuel control switches were moved to the “cutoff” position immediately after liftoff, causing the engines to shut down almost instantly.
Though the pilots managed to restart the engines, only one returned to full power and it was too late for the plane to gain altitude.
About a brief but crucial exchange captured on the cockpit voice recorder the report says "one of the pilots is heard asking the other why did he cutoff." "The other pilot responded that he did not do so."
Aviation experts point out that the cutoff switches have safeguards that prevent them being turned off by mistake.
According to the AAIB, both switches were moved from “run” to “cutoff” within a single second, cutting off the fuel supply and shutting down both engines. About 10 seconds later, the crew moved the switches back to the “run” position.
A “mayday” call was transmitted just moments before the aircraft hit the ground.
Both airline pilots – Captain Sumeet Sabharwal and First Officer Clive Kunder – were experienced, with about 19,000 flying hours between them. The co-pilot was flying the aircraft while the captain was monitoring.
The 15-page report offers the first official explanation for the ill-fated flight but leaves many questions.
The crash which was one of India’s deadliest aviation disasters in decades: all but one of the 242 passengers and crew aboard the London-bound Boeing 787 were killed, along with 19 people on the ground. The aircraft grazed treetops before smashing into a medical student hostel just outside the airport perimeter.
“If you move those switches from run to cutoff, those engines will stop running in literally seconds,” John Cox, a former pilot and CEO of aviation safety consultancy Safety Operating Systems, told Bloomberg on Friday.
An emergency restart was attempted. Engine 1 briefly restarted, but Engine 2 failed to recover despite repeated efforts. With the aircraft low, heavy with fuel, and rapidly losing airspeed, the crew had neither the time nor altitude to recover.
Aviation experts note that toggling the fuel switches off and then on again is part of standard emergency procedures when engines stall – but altitude and airspeed are critica to the success of the manoeuvre..
The Ram Air Turbine – a last-resort backup power source – deployed immediately, signalling total electrical failure. Flight data showed the flap and landing gear levers were still in the takeoff position, while the thrust levers were found in idle after the crash, suggesting complete power loss in flight. The AAIB found no signs of bird activity and no mechanical failure in either engine.
While investigators have not yet determined whether the switches were moved by mistake, malfunction, or as part of a failed restart, the incident bears similarity to a 1980s case in which a Delta pilot accidentally shut off both engines on a Boeing 767 but survived because he was cruising at a high altitude.
But the fuel control switches at the centre of the investigation are designed with safeguards to prevent accidental activation. “Each switch has a mechanical lock where you have to lift the switch up and then move it, so it’s highly unlikely for switches like this to be inadvertently moved absent some mechanical failure,” said Jeff Guzzetti, former director of the Federal Aviation Administration’s accident investigation unit, told the Washington Post.
However, the AAIB report does highlight a 2018 FAA airworthiness bulletin warning that fuel switches on Boeing 737 and 787 aircraft could inadvertently move to the cutoff position without the locking mechanism engaging. The Air India plane had never been inspected for that fault, as the check was not mandatory.
After the engines lost power, the switches were flipped back into the run position—standard protocol during an engine restart. But given the aircraft’s extremely low altitude, the effort came too late. “At that altitude, there’s no chance in hell that they can relight that in time to gain speed and altitude,” Ross "Rusty" Aimer, an aviation consultant and retired United Airlines pilot said.
CCTV footage of the takeoff shows a seemingly routine climb before the aircraft suddenly dropped near-vertically into the hostel, sparking an inferno. The AAIB, supported by the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board and Boeing, has not assigned blame but says the focus has now “narrowed squarely” to the fuel control switches.
Regulators have issued no airworthiness directives, and both Boeing and GE Aerospace have declined to comment. The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner itself has faced past scrutiny, including battery fires that led to a global grounding in 2013. “At this stage of investigation, there are no recommended actions to B787-8 and/or GE GEnx-1B engine operators and manufacturers,” the AAIB report said.
Boeing’s reputation has been hit by a series of safety and manufacturing failures, including a mid-air blowout of a door panel on a 737 Max in January, prompting a production freeze and U.S. Congressional inquiries into quality control.
Ironically, Boeing posted its best delivery numbers in 18 months just weeks after the Ahmedabad crash – with 60 aircraft delivered in June and 30 new orders for the same 787 model involved in the tragedy.
The AAIB report includes images of the scorched cockpit, including melted thrust levers and control systems. It also confirms that both the cockpit voice and flight data recorders were recovered and are being analysed for further insight into the accident sequence.
The investigation is ongoing. Authorities are reviewing flight data, cockpit audio, maintenance records, and the pilots’ training histories. A final conclusion about the cause of the crash could be more than a year away.
The disaster is a heavy setback for Air India, which had recently launched a major overhaul under the Tata Group, which bought the ailing carrier from the government in 2022.