Air India cockpit recording suggests captain cut fuel to engines before crash, source says
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Diverging Reports Breakdown
Cockpit Audio Hints at Captain Cutting Fuel in Air India Crash
A cockpit voice recording from the Air India flight that crashed last month supports the idea that the captain turned off the plane’s fuel supply, according to a source familiar with early findings by US officials. The crash happened on June 12 in Ahmedabad, India, killing 260 people. A source told Reuters that the first officer, who was flying the Boeing 787, asked the captain why he had moved the fuel switches into a position that stopped fuel from reaching the engines. The source, who chose to remain anonymous because the case is still being investigated, said this was based on a US assessment. However, the information isn’t in a formal report yet, and the investigation is ongoing.
The crash happened on June 12 in Ahmedabad, India, killing 260 people. A source told Reuters that the first officer, who was flying the Boeing 787, asked the captain why he had moved the fuel switches into a position that stopped fuel from reaching the engines. The first officer also requested that the captain restore the fuel flow.
The source, who chose to remain anonymous because the case is still being investigated, said this was based on a US assessment. However, the information isn’t in a formal report yet, and the investigation is ongoing.
There was no video recording from the cockpit that clearly shows who flipped the fuel switches. However, the cockpit dialogue points toward the captain, based on the early review.
The Wall Street Journal was the first to report this on Wednesday about what is now considered the world’s deadliest aviation accident in the last ten years.
India’s AAIB Denies Premature Conclusions
India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), which is in charge of the investigation, stated on Thursday: “Certain sections of the international media are repeatedly attempting to conclude selective and unverified reporting.”
They added that the investigation is still in progress, and it is too early to decide anything for sure.
Most air crashes happen due to multiple factors. As per international rules, a final report is expected within a year of the incident.
The AAIB’s initial report, released on Saturday, said that one pilot asked the other why the fuel had been cut, and the other replied that he didn’t do it.
The report did not confirm which of the two, Captain Sumeet Sabharwal or First Officer Clive Kunder, said which line. Captain Sabharwal had a total flying experience of 15,638 hours, and First Officer Kunder had 3,403 hours of flying time.
According to the report, the fuel switches were turned from “run” to “cutoff” just seconds after takeoff, one after the other. But it didn’t mention how or why they were switched.
Right after the plane lifted off, security camera footage showed that a backup energy device, the ram air turbine, was deployed, a sign that the engines had lost power.
The plane lost thrust and reached a height of 650 feet before it began to descend.
Though the fuel switches were quickly turned back to “run” and the aircraft tried to restart the engines automatically, the jet was already too low and too slow to recover, aviation safety expert John Nance told Reuters.
The report said the aircraft hit trees and a chimney before crashing into a medical college building. Nineteen people on the ground and 241 out of 242 people onboard were killed in the fireball.
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Air India cockpit recording suggests captain cut fuel to engines before crash, source says
A cockpit recording of dialogue between the two pilots of the Air India flight that crashed last month supports the view that the captain cut the flow of fuel to the plane’s engines. The cause of the June 12 crash in Ahmedabad, India, that killed 260 people remains under investigation. India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) said in a statement on Thursday that “certain sections of the international media are repeatedly attempting to draw conclusions through selective and unverified reporting” The AAIB’s preliminary report said the fuel switches had switched from “run” to “cutoff” a second apart just after takeoff, but it did not say how they were moved. Almost immediately after the plane lifted off the ground, closed-circuit TV footage showed a backup energy source called a ram air turbine had deployed, indicating a loss of power from the engines, according to the Federal Aviation Administration report. The plane clipped some trees and a chimney before crashing in a fireball into a building on a nearby medical college campus, the report said.
Item 1 of 2 A police officer stands in front of the wreckage of an Air India aircraft, bound for London’s Gatwick Airport, which crashed during take-off from an airport in Ahmedabad, India June 12, 2025. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi/File Photo
Summary
Companies US officials have made early assessment of evidence -source
First officer asked captain why he moved fuel switches and to return them to original position -source
Air India CEO noted preliminary report found no mechanical or maintenance faults
WASHINGTON/SEATTLE, July 17 (Reuters) – A cockpit recording of dialogue between the two pilots of the Air India flight that crashed last month supports the view that the captain cut the flow of fuel to the plane’s engines, said a source briefed on U.S. officials’ early assessment of evidence.
The first officer was at the controls of the Boeing (BA.N) , opens new tab 787 and asked the captain why he moved the fuel switches into a position that starved the engines of fuel and requested that he restore the fuel flow, the source told Reuters on condition of anonymity because the matter remains under investigation.
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The U.S. assessment is not contained in a formal document, said the source, who emphasized the cause of the June 12 crash in Ahmedabad, India, that killed 260 people remains under investigation.
There was no cockpit video recording definitively showing which pilot flipped the switches, but the weight of evidence from the conversation points to the captain, according to the early assessment.
The Wall Street Journal first reported similar information on Wednesday about the world’s deadliest aviation accident in a decade.
India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), which is leading the investigation into the crash, said in a statement on Thursday that “certain sections of the international media are repeatedly attempting to draw conclusions through selective and unverified reporting.” It added the investigation was ongoing and it remained too early to draw definitive conclusions.
Most air crashes are caused by multiple factors, and under international rules, a final report is expected within a year of an accident.
preliminary report released by the AAIB on Saturday said one pilot was heard on the cockpit voice recorder asking the other why he cut off the fuel and “the other pilot responded that he did not do so.”
Investigators did not identify which remarks were made by Captain Sumeet Sabharwal and which by First Officer Clive Kunder, who had total flying experience of 15,638 hours and 3,403 hours, respectively.
The AAIB’s preliminary report said the fuel switches had switched from “run” to “cutoff” a second apart just after takeoff, but it did not say how they were moved.
Almost immediately after the plane lifted off the ground, closed-circuit TV footage showed a backup energy source called a ram air turbine had deployed, indicating a loss of power from the engines.
The London-bound plane began to lose thrust, and after reaching a height of 650 feet, the jet started to sink.
The fuel switches for both engines were turned back to “run”, and the airplane automatically tried restarting the engines, the report said.
But the plane was too low and too slow to be able to recover, aviation safety expert John Nance told Reuters.
The plane clipped some trees and a chimney before crashing in a fireball into a building on a nearby medical college campus, the report said, killing 19 people on the ground and 241 of the 242 on board the 787.
NO SAFETY RECOMMENDATIONS
In an internal memo on Monday, Air India CEO Campbell Wilson said the preliminary report found no mechanical or maintenance faults and that all required maintenance had been carried out.
The AAIB’s preliminary report had no safety recommendations for Boeing or engine manufacturer GE (GE.N) , opens new tab
After the report was released, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration and Boeing privately issued notifications that the fuel switch locks on Boeing planes are safe, a document seen by Reuters showed and four sources with knowledge of the matter said.
The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board has been assisting with the Air India investigation and its Chair Jennifer Homendy has been fully briefed on all aspects, a board spokesperson said. That includes the cockpit voice recording and details from the flight data recorder that the NTSB team assisted the AAIB in reading out, the spokesperson added.
“The safety of international air travel depends on learning as much as we can from these rare events so that industry and regulators can improve aviation safety,” Homendy said in a statement. “And if there are no immediate safety issues discovered, we need to know that as well.”
The circumstantial evidence increasingly indicates that a crew member flipped the engine fuel switches, Nance said, given there was “no other rational explanation” that was consistent with the information released to date.
Nonetheless, investigators “still have to dig into all the factors” and rule out other possible contributing factors which would take time, he said.
The Air India crash has rekindled debate over adding flight deck cameras, known as cockpit image recorders, on airliners.
Nance said investigators likely would have benefited greatly from having video footage of the cockpit during the Air India flight.
Reporting by David Shepardson in Washington and Dan Catchpole in Seattle; Additional reporting by Anusha Shah in Bengaluru; Editing by Jamie Freed and Raju Gopalakrishnan
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Federation of Indian Pilots slaps legal notice on Reuters and WSJ over reports on Air India crash
The Federation of Indian Pilots (FIP), which represents 5,000-plus professional pilots and some aviation professionals, on Friday evening sent legal notices to both Reuters and the Wall Street Journal. The notice referred to a Reuters article on July 17 headlined ‘Air India cockpit recording suggests captain cut fuel to engines before crash, source says’
The notice referred to a Reuters article on July 17 headlined ‘Air India cockpit recording suggests captain cut fuel to engines before crash, source says’. The article had credited WSJ for first reporting that the senior pilot was responsible for the crash. The WSJ report earlier in the day, was titled, ‘New details in Air India crash probe shift focus to senior pilot’.
Referring to the Reuters report, the notice says, “It attributes speculative and unverified conclusions concerning the conduct of the pilots operating Flight 171. The article appears to rely on unverified sources and secondary reporting, and makes assertions that are neither substantiated by the official investigation nor endorsed by any competent authority.”
The FIP also pointed out that the Aircraft Accidents Investigation Bureau (AIIB) had on Thursday cautioned international media for such selective reporting. “Such actions are irresponsible, especially while the investigation remains ongoing,” it said.
India investigators say too early to draw conclusions on Air India crash cause
India’s aircraft accident investigation body says it is too early to reach any “definite conclusions” The Air India Boeing plane crash last month that killed 260 people. The Wall Street Journal reported that a cockpit recording of dialogue between the two pilots of the flight indicated that the captain cut the flow of fuel to the plane’s engines. The AAIB’s preliminary report on the crash on Saturday said one pilot was heard on the cockpit voice recorder asking the other why he cut off the fuel.
“We urge both the public and the media to refrain from spreading premature narratives that risk undermining the integrity of the investigative process,” Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) chief GVG Yugandhar said, adding that the investigation is still not complete.
Earlier on Thursday, the Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with U.S. officials’ early assessment of evidence, reported that a cockpit recording of dialogue between the two pilots of the flight indicated that the captain cut the flow of fuel to the plane’s engines.
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Reuters could not independently verify the Wall Street Journal’s report.
The AAIB’s preliminary report on the crash on Saturday said one pilot was heard on the cockpit voice recorder asking the other why he cut off the fuel and “the other pilot responded that he did not do so.” It did not identify who made those remarks.
The two pilots in the flight deck were Captain Sumeet Sabharwal and First Officer Clive Kunder, who had total flying experience of 15,638 hours and 3,403 hours, respectively.
Kunder, who was flying the plane, asked Sabharwal why he moved the fuel switches to the “cutoff” position seconds after lifting off the runway, according to the Journal report.
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The newspaper did not say if there was any evidence that Sabharwal did move the switches, beyond the verbal exchange it cited. But it quoted U.S. pilots who have read the Indian authorities’ report as saying that Kunder, the pilot actively flying, likely would have had his hands full pulling back on the Dreamliner’s controls at that stage of the flight.
(Reporting by Abhijith Ganapavaram, Editing by Mark Potter, William Maclean)