On June 12, 2025, we saw an Air India Boeing 787 crash after takeoff from Ahmedabad, killing 260 people. This is the most fatal aviation accident globally in roughly a decade, the most fatal aviation accident in India in over three decades, and it’s also probably the most mysterious since MH370. What would cause a Boeing 787 to essentially fall out of the sky just seconds after takeoff?
Just under a month after the accident, India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) has released its preliminary report into the crash. It confirms what had been reported earlier by Jon Ostrower at The Air Current, though in reality, it raises more questions than answers.
AI171 fuel switches were turned off after takeoff
The AAIB has just released its preliminary report about the crash of Air India flight AI171, roughly 30 days after the accident, in line with international standards. Let me emphasize that this is just the preliminary report, and it’ll likely take months (if not years) until the final report is released.
The preliminary report primarily recaps the facts of the incident, though it contains some really interesting tidbits as well. Long story short, we know the crash happened because both of the engine fuel control switches were turned off just seconds after takeoff. Here are the facts that are contained in the report:
- The plane took off at 1:39PM local time, and achieved its maximum speed of 180 knots just three seconds after takeoff
- “Immediately thereafter,” the Engine 1 and Engine 2 fuel cutoff switches transitioned from “RUN” to “CUTOFF,” one after the other, with a time gap of just one second; moving these switches starves the engines of fuel, so the plane lost power
- “In the cockpit voice recording, one of the pilots is heard asking the other why did he cutoff,” and “the other pilot responded that he did not do so”
- Just 10 seconds after the engines were transitioned from “RUN” to “CUTOFF,” the engines were moved back to the “RUN” position, but at that point, it was too late to recover
This accident has become even more of a mystery
Obviously this preliminary report contains some major clues, though if anything, it only makes this even more of a mystery. What could possibly cause the fuel cutoff switches to be turned off just moments after takeoff? Tens of millions of commercial flights operate globally every year, and the Boeing 787 has been flying for over 15 years, and suffice it to say that something like this hasn’t happened before.
For some additional context, engine fuel control switches are ordinarily only adjusted on the ground, either when the engines are being started up or shut down. They can also be used in the air to shut down an engine, if there’s an engine failure. Switching the fuel control switch from “RUN” to “CUTOFF” immediately stops the fuel from flowing to the engine, causing the engine to immediately shut down, and lose thrust.
The fuel cutoff switches are located underneath the Dreamliner’s throttle handles, and are protected with brackets, to prevent their accidental movement. A metal stop lock mechanism also requires the crew to lift each switch past the stop in order to move it.
It’s anyone’s guess if what happened here was some horrible technological or mechanical failure, or if there were human factors involved. And if there were human factors, was it accidental, or was it intentional?
I find it interesting how the cockpit voice recorder reportedly recorded one of the pilots asking the other why he cut off the engines, and he responded that he didn’t:
- One wonders, did the pilot asking the other pilot why he did the cutoff actually see the cutoff happen, or he just assumed that if the cutoff switches were moved, it must have been the other pilot? Because he didn’t ask “if,” but instead, he asked “why”
- Did the actions of the other pilot support that he actually didn’t touch the switches, or was that just said on the cockpit voice recorder, to create deniability? Historically when pilots have tried to sabotage a plane, they’ve often tried to create deniability on the cockpit voice recorder
We honestly have absolutely no clue what caused this. There’s no answer here that will make the public feel any better, right?
- If one were to intentionally take down a plane, starving the engines of fuel just seconds after takeoff is certainly one way to do it; what a horrifying scenario that will no doubt make the travel public feel uneasy
- Conversely, if this was some technological issue, that’s perhaps even more frightening of a reality, that the engine cutoff switches could’ve just miraculously had their position switched at such a critical phase of flight
Obviously not all details of the investigation are public. However, it’s probably somewhat telling that no emergency safety directives have been issued about the jet, and the possibility of this happening. That suggests that at least as of now, investigators haven’t discovered any potential cause that they view as a repeatable problem.
Bottom line
The preliminary accident report has been released about AI171, the Air India Boeing 787 that crashed in Ahmedabad just moments after takeoff, killing 260 people.
We’ve now learned that just seconds after takeoff, the engine fuel control switches were turned from “RUN” to “CUTOFF,” starving the plane of fuel in its most critical phase of flight. The setting was changed back just 10 seconds later, but at such a critical point in the flight, there was no time to recover.
What caused the fuel control switches to be shut off? That’s a mystery. In the cockpit voice recorder, one of the pilots was heard asking the other pilot why he cut off the engines, but he claimed he didn’t. It’s hard to know what to make of that interaction without more context.
What do you make of this preliminary report into the crash of AI171?
