NEW DELHI, July 13: Investigators probing the crash of Air India Flight 171, which killed 260 people in June, have uncovered a disturbing detail in the preliminary report: both of the aircraft's fuel-control switches were inexplicably moved to the "cut-off" position seconds after take-off, starving the engines and causing total power loss. This action, normally reserved for post-landing procedures, triggered a chain of events that led to one of India’s most puzzling aviation disasters.

The Boeing 787 Dreamliner, a 12-year-old aircraft, had just departed from Ahmedabad when it lost power and plummeted into a crowded neighborhood, remaining airborne for less than a minute. The cockpit voice recorder captured a pilot questioning the other with, “Why did you do the cut-off?”, to which the other replied he hadn’t. It remains unclear who made the statement. At the time, the co-pilot was flying the aircraft while the captain was monitoring.

After the switches were returned to their flight position, the engines began to relight. However, only one had regained thrust before the crash. Investigators are now analyzing wreckage and cockpit recordings to determine what caused the switches to be moved to "cut-off" just after take-off.

The report, compiled by Indian authorities with assistance from Boeing, General Electric, Air India, and experts from the US and UK, outlines that the lever-lock fuel switches on the aircraft are designed to be nearly impossible to activate accidentally. These switches are guarded and require a lift-and-turn action to engage. Experts say the likelihood of both switches being pulled by accident is extremely low.

The mysterious dual switch-off has led to speculation about whether it was an intentional act, a case of confusion, or a potential technical malfunction. Shawn Pruchnicki, a former airline investigator and aviation expert at Ohio State University, noted that such an action typically requires an underlying issue, yet no abnormality was reported by the pilots before the engines lost power.

Peter Goelz, former managing director of the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), expressed concern over the cockpit voice recording, which so far has revealed only a single cryptic line of dialogue. He stressed the importance of full voice identification and a complete transcript, noting that investigators still don’t know which pilot moved the switches.

The case has reignited calls for cockpit video recorders, which could have clearly shown whose hand was on the switches at the time. Goelz emphasized that a visual recording could help answer critical questions that audio alone cannot.

The investigation also references a 2018 advisory from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which warned that some Boeing 737 aircraft may have fuel control switches installed with disengaged locking mechanisms. Though not deemed unsafe, the advisory recommended inspections. Air India, operating the same switch design in its Boeing 787-8 aircraft, including the ill-fated VT-ANB, did not carry out these checks as they were not mandatory.

Pruchnicki questioned whether a fault in the switch could allow it to disengage with a single action, though other experts, including Goelz, cautioned against drawing conclusions too quickly, noting a lack of pilot complaints on the issue.

Another potential concern under review is whether the aircraft’s electronic control unit could have triggered the switches electronically. Former Indian AAIB investigator Capt. Kishore Chinta raised this possibility, suggesting the switches may have been tripped without pilot involvement.

The report confirmed that fuel samples taken from the aircraft were satisfactory, ruling out contamination, and noted no immediate advisories were issued for the Boeing 787 or its General Electric GEnx-1B engines. However, the aircraft’s Ram Air Turbine (RAT) had deployed—a sign of total engine failure. This backup power source is triggered automatically when both engines shut down or all three hydraulic systems lose pressure.

Another clue to the crash’s rapid progression lies in the aircraft’s landing gear, which was found down. A Boeing 787 pilot explained that retracting the gear typically completes within eight seconds of take-off, but given the quick onset of engine failure, the pilot likely had no time to initiate retraction.

Investigators believe the crew attempted to recover the flight, with both engines switched back to "run" shortly after the cut-off, but the timing was insufficient. The left engine was relit first, followed by the right, which had not regained full power before the crash.

For families of the victims, the report offers more questions than answers. Imtiyaz Ali, who lost four relatives in the crash, said the preliminary findings lacked clarity. “It reads like a product description,” he said. “Besides the last cockpit exchange, there’s nothing definitive about what caused this.”

Ali and others hope that more information will be released in the coming months. “This matters to us,” he said. “We want to know what happened—not that it will change anything now—but at least we’ll have answers.”