The preliminary report on Air India flight 171 highlights pilot actions affecting engine thrust but draws no conclusions, continuing the investigation.

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The recent preliminary report on Air India flight 171, which tragically resulted in the loss of 260 lives, highlights critical details about the pilots’ actions. Released on 2025-07-12 00:26:00, the report draws attention to the cockpit dynamics just before the disaster.

6 Key Takeaways Preliminary report on Air India flight 171

Focus on pilots’ actions during flight

Fuel control switches moved to cutoff position

Cockpit voice recording reveals pilot confusion

One engine regaining thrust at crash time

No significant faults found in aircraft systems

According to the findings from India’s Air Accident Investigation Bureau, both fuel control switches were moved to the cutoff position shortly after takeoff, leading to a loss of engine thrust. This incident raises crucial questions about pilot decision-making and operational protocols in aviation.

Fast Answer: The preliminary report emphasizes pilot actions in the Air India flight 171 crash, revealing critical insights into aviation safety and operational procedures.

This investigation underscores the importance of understanding pilot actions during emergencies. Could better training or clearer protocols have changed the outcome? The following points highlight key takeaways:

The report indicates no significant faults with the aircraft or engines.

Both pilots’ actions are under scrutiny, with cockpit recordings revealing communication breakdowns.

One engine was regaining thrust as the aircraft crashed, indicating a potential for recovery.

Ongoing investigations may lead to changes in training and safety protocols.

This incident serves as a vital reminder of the complexities of aviation safety and the need for continuous improvement in pilot training globally.

As investigations continue, the aviation industry must reflect on these findings to enhance safety measures and prevent future tragedies. Are we doing enough to ensure the safety of air travel?

The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau released its preliminary report into the Air India flight 171 crash shortly after midnight on Saturday, revealing dramatic cockpit voice recordings that reveal one pilot realising the fuel had been cut off to both engines during takeoff, with his colleague denying he had not initiated the action. Tail of an Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner plane that crashed is seen stuck on a building after the incident in Ahmedabad.(REUTERS File)

The 15-page report, published exactly one month after the disaster that killed 260 people, provides the first official account of the final moments of India’s worst aviation accident in decades and raises new questions about what caused the simultaneous dual engine failure.

“Why did you cutoff,” one pilot was heard asking the other on the cockpit voice recording. “I did not do so,” the other pilot responded, according to the AAIB report.

The exchange suggests one pilot had noticed the fuel cutoff and was seeking clarification, with his colleague confirming he had not performed the action—pointing to the mystery of what caused both engines to lose fuel simultaneously.

Critical timeline revealed

The report provides a precise timeline showing that at 08:08:42 UTC, the aircraft reached its maximum recorded speed of 180 knots before both engine fuel cutoff switches “transitioned from RUN to CUTOFF position one after another with a time gap of 01 sec.”

Crucially, the pilots attempted to restore fuel flow within seconds, with Engine 1’s fuel switch moved back to “RUN” at 08:08:52 UTC and Engine 2’s switch restored at 08:08:56 UTC. Both engines began relight sequences, with Engine 1 showing signs of recovery, but insufficient time and altitude prevented successful restart before the aircraft crashed at 08:09:11 UTC.

The Ram Air Turbine—an emergency backup power source—was deployed and captured on airport CCTV footage, confirming the complete failure of both engines.

Other key findings include:

Flap handle found in correct 5-degree takeoff position

Landing gear lever in “DOWN” position

Thrust levers found near idle but flight data shows they remained forward until impact

Good weather conditions with light winds

Aircraft weight within normal limits

No evidence of bird strike

No fleet-wide safety concerns

Importantly, the report states there are “no recommended actions to B787-8 and/or GE GEnx-1B engine operators and manufacturers” at this stage, suggesting investigators have not identified systemic issues that would affect the global fleet of over 1,100 Dreamliners in service.

The report notes that fuel samples from airport bowsers tested satisfactory, though very limited fuel samples were recovered from the aircraft and are still being analysed.

The report says that in 2018, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) had issued a special safety bulletin regarding potential issues with the locking mechanism on engine fuel control switches in Boeing 737 aircraft. This locking feature prevents the switches from being moved unintentionally.

However, the FAA did not classify it as a major safety concern and did not make inspections mandatory. Similar switches are used in the Boeing 787-8, including the crashed VT-ANB.

The report says Air India informed the investigators it did not carry out the suggested inspection, as the FAA’s guidance was advisory. Maintenance records show that the aircraft’s throttle control module was replaced in 2019 and 2023, but not due to fuel switch concerns. No defects have been reported with the fuel control switch since 2023, the AAIB report said.

The preliminary report stops short of determining the cause of what it describes as the “transition” of fuel switches that led to the catastrophic dual engine failure. The investigation continues with analysis of additional evidence, including detailed examination of postmortem reports and statements from the sole survivor.

The investigation was led by AAIB chief GVG Yugandhar, comprising Investigator-in-Charge Sanjay Kumar Singh, Chief Investigator Jasbir Singh Larhga, and three other investigators. The team has been assisted by subject matter experts, including pilots, engineers, an aviation medicine specialist, an aviation psychologist, and flight recorder specialists.

The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) has revealed in its preliminary report that cockpit voice recordings from the June 12 Air India crash in Ahmedabad captured a brief but critical exchange between the two pilots during the engine failure sequence. AAIB released initial findings in its probe into the Air India crash in Ahmedabad that killed 260 people.(REUTERS File)

According to the 15-page report, one pilot was heard asking, “Why did you cut off fuel?” to which the other replied, “I did not do so.” The exchange took place moments after both engine fuel cutoff switches transitioned from ‘Run’ to ‘Cutoff’ at 13:38:42 IST (08:08:42 UTC), just as the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner reached a maximum speed of 180 knots indicated airspeed.

The report outlines a chain of technical events that unfolded in the final moments before the aircraft, operating as flight AI 171 to London Gatwick, crashed into the hostel complex of B J Medical College shortly after take-off from Ahmedabad airport.

The crash killed 260 people, including 241 passengers and crew onboard and 19 on the ground, making it India’s deadliest aviation accident in decades. One passenger survived.

Engine 1’s switch was moved back to ‘Run’ at 13:38:52 IST (08:08:52 UTC), followed by Engine 2 at 13:38:56 IST (08:08:56 UTC). The Engine and Aircraft Flight Recorder (EAFR) showed a rise in Exhaust Gas Temperature (EGT) for both engines, suggesting relight activity.

Engine 1’s core deceleration halted and began recovering. However, engine 2 failed to stabilise despite repeated fuel reintroduction attempts. Both engines’ N2 values, a key indicator of core rotor speed, had fallen below the minimum idle level.

Both engines recovered and kept for examination, says AAIB

“Both engines were retrieved from the wreckage site and quarantined at a hangar in the airport,” the AAIB said. “Components of interest for further examinations have been identified and quarantined,” it added.

The AAIB added that wreckage site operations, including drone photography and videography, have been completed, and the wreckage was moved to a secure location.

The aft section of the EAFR was found to be substantially damaged in the crash and could not be downloaded using conventional methods, the agency noted.

No safety recommendations have been issued yet for Boeing 787-8 aircraft or GE GEnx-1B engine operators and manufacturers. “Additional evidence is being sought from stakeholders and will be examined,” the report added.

The ministry of civil aviation had earlier released a status report on the crash on June 26. The final AAIB report will be issued following further analysis.

Fuel to the engines of the Air India plane that crashed last month appears to have cut off shortly after take-off, a preliminary report has found.

According to the report by India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), switches in the Boeing 787 Dreamliner’s cockpit that controlled fuel moved to a “CUTOFF” position.

It said: “Engine 1 and Engine 2 fuel cutoff switches transitioned from RUN to CUTOFF position one after another with a time gap of one second.

“The Engine N1 and N2 began to decrease from their take-off values as the fuel supply to the engines was cut off.”

Image: The crash site. Pic: AAIB

There was then confusion in the cockpit. In the voice recording, one of the pilots is heard asking the other why he “cut off”. The other pilot responds that he did not do so.

The 15-page report did not identify which comments were made by the flight’s captain and which were made by the first officer. One of the pilots made a “mayday, mayday, mayday” call just before the crash.

Both pilots were experienced, with around 19,000 flying hours between them, including more than 9,000 on the 787.

Flipping to cutoff almost immediately cuts the engines, and is most often used to turn the engines off once a plane has arrived at its airport gate and in certain emergency situations, such as an engine fire – though both switches together are rarely used simultaneously.

The report does not indicate there was any emergency requiring an engine cutoff. It also does not give a conclusion as to how the switches moved.

Tim Atkinson, a pilot and aviation consultant, told Sky News’ Gillian Joseph “there are very few situations or circumstances which would explain this”.

He explained: “One would be an utterly extraordinary human error, an unintentional act, and the other – I’m very sorry to say – would be an intentional act. And that’s not a suggestion or allegation, it’s simply an analysis of the small amount of information that we have at hand at this moment.”

One of the engines was able to be restarted, but could not reverse the plane’s deceleration, the report found.

India’s AAIB said in its report: “At this stage of investigation, there are no recommended actions to Boeing 787-8 and/or GE GEnx-1B engine operators and manufacturers.”

Image: A diagram in the report shows how the plane crashed into a building. Pic: AAIB

No significant bird activity was observed in the vicinity of the plane’s flight path, the report said. The aircraft started to lose altitude before crossing the airport perimeter wall, it added.

The plane plummeted into a busy area, killing 241 passengers and 19 others on the ground while incinerating everything around it.

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The plane’s two black boxes, which combined cockpit voice recorders and flight data recorders, were recovered in the days after the crash.

They provide vital data such as altitude, airspeed and final pilot conversations, which can help narrow down the possible causes behind a crash.

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The AAIB’s report is based on the initial findings of the probe, marking 30 days since the crash. It said the investigation is continuing. A final report is expected within a year.

Indian investigators looking into the crash of Air India Flight 171 said that both engines stopped receiving fuel shortly after takeoff in a preliminary report regarding the nation’s worst airline crash in decades. The new information from India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau about the June 12 crash indicate that the switches controlling fuel to both engines entered the cutoff position early into the flight, causing the plane to lose thrust.

The Boeing 787 took off from Ahmedabad airport in western India before crashing into a dormitory at a medical college, causing a massive fireball. All but one of the 242 people on the plane were killed, as were 19 people on the ground. One passenger made a miraculous escape from the jet.

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Audio from the cockpit suggests both pilots were confused over the change to the switch setting. “In the cockpit voice recording, one of the pilots is heard asking the other why did he cutoff,” write the report’s authors. “The other pilot responded that he did not do so.”

The switches have safeguards designed to stop them being inadvertently moved.

“Each switch has a mechanical lock where you have to lift the switch up and then move it, so it’s highly unlikely for switches like this to be inadvertently moved absent some mechanical failure,” said Jeff Guzzetti, the former director of the Federal Aviation Administration’s Accident Investigation Division.

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It is also unusual that both switches inadvertently moved to the cutoff position “one right after another, one second apart,” Guzzetti added. Guzzetti did not rule out the possibility the switches may have been intentionally moved, citing the need to also investigate the pilots’ background.

“There’s a one in a million or billion chance that the gods of electronics got together and screwed this thing up,” said Ross “Rusty” Aimer, an aviation consultant and retired United Airlines pilot, referring to the possibility that the switches malfunctioned independent of the pilots’ actions.

The switches were flipped back into the run position, standard procedure for restarting the engines. But so early in the flight, restarting the engines wouldn’t have the desired effect, Aimer said.

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“At that altitude, there’s no chance in hell that they can relight that in time to gain speed and power and altitude,” Aimer said. The airliner reached an altitude of only several hundred feet before crashing.

The preliminary report was released around 1 a.m. local time Saturday. The investigation is still in its early stages, and is not likely to be complete for more than a year.

The airliner was bound for London’s Gatwick Airport. The plane appeared to roll down the runway and take off normally, according to experts who have reviewed videos from the scene. But after only a few seconds in the air, the jet stopped climbing. The pilots transmitted a mayday call 23 seconds after the first switch flipped into the cutoff position, according to the report.

An Air India plane headed to London with 242 people on board crashed on June 12, minutes after taking off from India’s western city of Ahmedabad. (Video: Zoeann Murphy/The Washington Post)

The plane’s landing gear remained down and video and audio suggests an emergency device known as a ram air turbine, or RAT, had deployed on the plane, experts have said, potentially evidence of a rare double engine failure. The device drops from the bottom of an aircraft, spinning as it moves through the air to provide emergency power.

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But in the weeks since the crash it has remained unclear what might have ultimately caused the crash. Aviation news site the Air Current reported this week that investigators were focusing on the movement of fuel switches on the flight deck, citing people familiar with the investigation. The switches are typically used to control the flow of fuel when starting and stopping the engine, but they can also be used if an engine needs to be restarted in flight.

The findings issued Friday are required under international standards governing crash investigations. But they are a summary of facts available to investigators and do not include conclusions about why the crash happened.

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Judging from the preliminary report, the accident was likely caused by human error, Aimer said. “From everything I see, this was a terrible mistake someone made,” though he added that he would wait for a final report to render judgment.

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The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board is leading a team of Americans aiding the investigation, but responsibility for releasing information remains with Indian officials.

Authorities typically provide regular briefings to the public immediately after serious crashes, but in the case of the Air India crash, little official information had been shared. That left a void filled, in some cases, by misinformation and stoked concern among international safety experts that the lack of transparency would make it difficult for other airlines to know whether there were any broader safety risks that needed to be urgently addressed.

“Every standard operating procedure, every law, every regulation in aviation is written in blood,” Aimer said. “In other words, we’ve made these mistakes in the past and hopefully we’ve learned something.”

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The investigation got off to a slow start. The plane’s black boxes, which record conversations between the pilots and log data from the jet’s systems, were recovered from the wreckage in the days after the crash. But investigators did not begin to analyze data from them until June 24 at a lab in Delhi. The information in the boxes will be vital to investigators as they piece together what went wrong.

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The report’s authors note that they make no recommendations to Boeing, the manufacturer of the plane, or General Electric, the maker of the engine. As Boeing and General Electric are American companies, NTSB also appointed representatives from the two manufacturing firms and the FAA to assist the investigation, the report said.

The crash was the first involving a 787, a fuel-efficient Boeing jet first put into service in 2011. The new planes were briefly grounded in 2013 because of a battery fire, but have had a good safety record in the years since.

CCTV footage on social media shows Air India Flight 171 on the runway in Ahmedabad and crashing shortly after takeoff. (Video: Reuters)

Indian aviation authorities began a broader review in the immediate aftermath of the crash and stepped up their oversight of the nation’s airlines. They found cases of improper maintenance procedures and a flight with worn tires. But they did not find any evidence of broader risks to Air India’s 787 fleet.

“This preliminary report answers some questions, but it poses other questions,” Guzzetti said.