Preliminary report says gas switches had been minimize off earlier than Air India Boeing 787 crash : NPR

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Basit Zargar/AFP by way of Getty A pair of switches that management the gas provide to the engines had been set to "cutoff" moments earlier than the crash of Air India Flight 171, based on a preliminary report from India's Air Accident Investigation Bureau launched early Saturday in India.

A complete of 260 individuals had been killed when the Boeing 787 Dreamliner crashed shortly after it took off from Ahmedabad final month.

Indian investigators decided the jet was correctly configured and lifted off usually. However three seconds after takeoff, the engines' gas switches had been minimize off. It is not clear why.

In keeping with the report, information from the flight recorders present that the 2 gas management switches had been switched from the "run" place to "cutoff" shortly after takeoff. Within the cockpit voice recording, one of many pilots could be heard asking the opposite "why did he cutoff," the report says, whereas "the opposite pilot responded that he didn't achieve this."

Moments later, the report says, the gas switches had been returned to the "run" place. However by then, the airplane had begun to lose thrust and altitude. Each the engines appeared to relight, based on investigators, however solely certainly one of them was capable of start producing thrust.

The report doesn't draw any additional conclusions about why the switches had been flipped, nevertheless it does recommend that investigators are targeted on the actions of the airplane's pilots. The report doesn't current any proof of mechanical failures or of a doable fowl strike, which may have incapacitated each engines on the identical time.

<img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/4703x3172+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F97%2F4c%2F67ef534249d7bea3c15e2bf7e89f%2Fgettyimages-2220237069.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/4703x3172+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F97%2F4c%2F67ef534249d7bea3c15e2bf7e89f%2Fgettyimages-2220237069.jpg" class="img" alt="Relatives and neighbors of Akash Patni, a 14-year-old tea vendor who died in Air India Boeing 787 Crash, mourn as they wait for the dead body at his residence, on June 15, 2025 in Ahmedabad, India. The Boeing 787 Dreamliner crashed shortly after takeoff, killing 241 of the 242 people on board. The plane crashed on June 12, 2025, after the pilot issued a mayday call to air traffic control." loading="lazy"/> Family and neighbors of Akash Patni, a 14-year-old tea vendor who died in Air India Boeing 787 Crash, mourn as they look ahead to the physique at his residence, on June 15, 2025 in Ahmedabad, India. The Boeing 787 Dreamliner crashed shortly after takeoff, killing 241 of the 242 individuals on board. The airplane crashed on June 12, 2025, after the pilot issued a mayday name to air site visitors management. Ritesh Shukla/Getty Pictures disguise caption

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Ritesh Shukla/Getty Pictures The primary officer was the pilot flying on the time of the crash, based on investigators. The report means that there was nothing out of the bizarre about its takeoff — till the gas management switches had been flipped off.

There have been 242 passengers and crew on board the London-bound flight when it crashed right into a medical faculty and burst into flames. Just one passenger — sitting in seat 11A — was capable of stroll away from the burning rubble. Nineteen individuals died on the bottom.