Air India crash latest: Preliminary report say fuel switches were cut off before plane went down – UK Times

Fuel taken from the airport’s bowsers and tanks used to refuel the plane was tested by the aviation regulator’s lab and found satisfactory, the preliminary report said.

Only very small amounts of fuel could be retrieved from parts of the crashed aircraft itself.

These will be tested separately at a specialist lab, investigators said.

Investigators say the wreckage from the Air India crash has been moved to a secure area near Ahmedabad airport.

Drone photos and videos were taken at the site before the wreckage was cleared, the report said.

Both of the aircraft’s engines have been recovered from the crash site and stored in a hangar for detailed checks, the report added.

Other important components have also been identified and quarantined for further examination.

On the morning of the flight, engineers had checked the aircraft for a technical alert after it landed from Delhi, but cleared it to fly, the report said.

The pilots had arrived the day before, had enough rest, and passed pre-flight alcohol tests, it added.

A preliminary report into the Air India flight that crashed in June shows the engines lost power just seconds after take-off from Ahmedabad.

Investigators say the plane initially lifted off normally and reached 180 knots. But almost immediately, both engine fuel switches flipped from ‘run’ to ‘cutoff’ within about a second of each other, cutting off fuel and causing the engines to shut down.

The investigation remains ongoing.

Under international rules, a full report must be published within a year of the accident.

For now, experts are continuing to study the black box data and other evidence to understand what caused the sudden loss of power so soon after take-off.

On 24 June, the two black boxes were flown separately from Ahmedabad to an AAIB lab in Delhi on Indian Air Force aircraft.

That evening, investigators began extracting the data with help from technical experts from the AAIB and NTSB.

By 25 June, they had successfully accessed and downloaded data from the front recorder, which has an independent backup power supply to keep recording for about ten minutes if the plane loses power.

12 June: Air India flight crashes after take-off

On 12 June, an Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner heading for London crashed shortly after take-off from Ahmedabad. Of the 242 people on board, only one survived. This was the world’s deadliest aviation accident in a decade, sparking an urgent investigation by Indian authorities.

13 June: Full investigation launched with U.S. experts involved

The day after the crash, India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) formally launched an investigation. The team is led by the AAIB’s director general and includes specialists in aviation medicine and air traffic control, alongside representatives from the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). The investigation focused on recovering and analysing the plane’s black boxes.

13–16 June: Black boxes recovered from the crash site

Boeing 787 aircraft have two data recorders, one at the front and one at the rear, each storing cockpit voice and flight data. On 13 June, the first black box was recovered from the roof of a building near the crash site. Three days later, on 16 June, the second recorder was found among the wreckage.