Report reveals Air India flight captain turned off fuel switches
(MENAFN) A preliminary black-box analysis has revealed that the captain of the Air India flight which crashed last month, killing 261 people, turned off the aircraft’s fuel switches shortly after takeoff, according to reports citing U.S. investigators.
The Boeing 787 Dreamliner had taken off from Gujarat on June 12 with 242 people aboard. Only one person survived after jumping from the aircraft, while 19 people were also killed on the ground.
According to a news agency, which reviewed early findings from U.S. authorities involved in the probe, the flight’s first officer—Clive Kunder—was piloting the plane when he noticed that Captain Sumeet Sabharwal had moved the fuel switches to the "cutoff" position. Kunder reportedly expressed alarm and confusion, while Sabharwal remained calm.
Investigators said the switches were flipped off one second apart, then turned back on roughly 10 seconds later—just before the aircraft crashed near Ahmedabad airport.
The motivation behind Sabharwal’s actions remains unclear, and India's preliminary report has not provided an official cause of the crash. However, the new findings have prompted some U.S. officials to suggest that the case might warrant a criminal investigation, rather than being treated solely as an aviation safety incident.
Air India CEO Campbell Wilson cautioned employees against jumping to conclusions and emphasized that the investigation is still in progress.
The incident is one of the deadliest in Indian aviation history and has sparked intense scrutiny over cockpit procedures, pilot monitoring, and training protocols.
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