NEW DELHI (AP) 鈥 Fuel control switches for the engines of an Air India flight that crashed last month were moved from the 鈥渞un鈥 to the 鈥渃utoff鈥 position moments before impact, starving both engines of fuel, a preliminary investigation report said early Saturday.
The report, issued by also indicated that both pilots were confused over the change to the switch setting, which caused a loss of engine thrust shortly after takeoff.
The Air India flight 鈥 a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner 鈥 crashed on June 12 and killed at least 260 people, including 19 on the ground, in the northwestern city of Ahmedabad. Only one passenger survived the crash, which is one of
The plane was carrying 230 passengers 鈥 169 Indians, 53 British, seven Portuguese and a 好色tv 鈥 along with 12 crew members.
According to the report, the flight lasted around 30 seconds between takeoff and crash. It said that once the aircraft achieved its top recorded speed, 鈥渢he Engine 1 and Engine 2 fuel cutoff switches transitioned from RUN to CUTOFF position one after another" within a second. The report did not say how the switches could have flipped to the cutoff position during the flight.
The movement of the fuel control switches allow and cut fuel flow to the plane鈥檚 engines.
The switches were flipped back into the run position, the report said, but the plane could not gain power quickly enough to stop its descent after the aircraft had begun to lose altitude.
鈥淥ne of the pilots transmitted 鈥溾楳AYDAY MAYDAY MAYDAY鈥,鈥 the report said.
It also indicated confusion in the cockpit moments before the crash.
In the flight鈥檚 final moment, one pilot was heard on the cockpit voice recorder asking the other why he cut off the fuel. 鈥淭he other pilot responded that he did not do so,鈥 the report said.
The preliminary report did not recommend any actions to the Boeing.
Air India in a statement said it is fully cooperating with authorities investigating the crash.
鈥淎ir India is working closely with stakeholders, including regulators. We continue to fully cooperate with the AAIB and other authorities as their investigation progresses,鈥 it said.
The plane鈥檚 black boxes 鈥 combined cockpit voice recorders and flight data recorders 鈥 were recovered in the days following the crash and later downloaded in India.
Indian authorities had also ordered deeper checks of Air India鈥檚 entire fleet of Boeing 787 Dreamliner to prevent future incidents. Air India has 33 Dreamliners in its fleet.
