Air India disaster: Fuel supply cut off just before crash

The fuel switches on the engines of an Air India Boeing that crashed shortly after takeoff on June 12, killing 260 people, flipped to the "off" position just before impact, according to a preliminary investigation report released early Saturday. The report, released by India's Air Accidents Investigation Bureau (AAIB), draws no conclusions or assigns responsibility, but says one pilot asked the other why he had turned off the fuel, with the second pilot replying he had not.

A total of 241 people on board the Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner were killed, with only one surviving, when the plane crashed into homes shortly after takeoff in the western city of Ahmedabad. Authorities also identified 19 people killed on the ground.

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According to the report, the Boeing had reached a maximum speed of 180 knots (333 km/h) while taking off when the fuel switches were switched from the "run" (open) position to the "cutoff" (off) position for the first engine and then the second one second later. Both engines then began to reduce power. In the cockpit voice recording, one pilot asks the other why he cut the fuel. The second pilot replies that he did not. Less than a minute later, a pilot transmitted the distress signal "Mayday, Mayday, Mayday," and the plane crashed into residential areas.

Airport surveillance footage shows that the emergency wind turbine, a small turbine used as a backup power source on aircraft, deployed during the initial climb just after takeoff. There were no birds in the area. The plane began losing altitude even before leaving the airport perimeter, the report said.