Union civil aviation minister Ram Mohan Naidu on Monday said the investigation is still ongoing into the Air India flight crash in Ahmedabad, which occurred on June 12 and resulted in the deaths of 260 people.
The minister highlighted the complexity of the investigation, noting that it requires examining various aspects such as voice recorders, flight data recorders, and wreckage analysis, which will take an additional five or more months to complete.
"The investigation is still ongoing. There are multiple angles that need to be looked into. The AAIB has prepared the preliminary report with commitment and accountability. The final report on the incident may take at least four to five more months," said Naidu.
"AAIB is leading the investigation. They have done a commendable job. But until we see the final report we cannot tell what exactly happened," he further said.
The initial 15 page Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) report revealed a sequence of events: three seconds after take-off from Ahmedabad, fuel supply to both engines of the Boeing 787-8 aircraft, operating as Air India Flight 171, was cut off. The aircraft's fuel control switches flipped from the “RUN” to “CUTOFF” position within a second of each other.
The preliminary report stopped short of establishing whether the switch toggles were inadvertent or deliberate, leaving a critical question unanswered.
The cockpit voice recorder captured a brief exchange between the pilots. One pilot reportedly asked the other, “Why did you cut off the fuel?”, to which the second pilot replied, “I didn’t.”
According to US officials who examined evidence from the crash and were quoted by the Wall Street Journal, the cockpit voice recording suggested it was Captain Sumeet Sabharwal who may have moved the fuel control switches to “cutoff” after takeoff, an action that cut power to both engines.
The switches were turned back on within seconds, but it was too late to regain full thrust.
Air India Flight 171 took off from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in Ahmedabad for London Gatwick Airport, carrying 230 passengers, 10 cabin crew and two pilots.
About 40 seconds after taking off, both engines of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner lost power during the initial climb.
The plane then crashed into the BJ Medical College Hostel in a populated suburb 1.85km (1.15 miles) from the runway.
The aircraft broke apart on impact, causing a fire that destroyed parts of five buildings. All the passengers on the plane died except – Vishwaskumar Ramesh, a 40-year-old British national of Indian origin.
Some 19 people on the ground were killed as well, and 67 were injured.
