The final words shared between the pilots of the Air India crash, which killed 241 passengers, have now been revealed along with new forensic findings. The Boeing 787 Dreamliner went down just minutes after taking off from Ahmedabad airport on June 12, crashing into the Meghani Nagar residential area and killing another 19 people on the ground.
The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) has released the initial forensic findings from the disaster, which may help reveal the cause behind what is being described as one of the deadliest incidents in India’s aviation history. Preliminary investigations reveal that the crash was likely caused by a major mistake made by the pilots.
Chilling Final Words
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Included in the newly released details is the final exchange between the pilots of the doomed aircraft, captured by the cockpit voice recorder, suggesting that the fuel may have been “cut off” in the final moments.
In the midst of the confusion, one pilot is heard asking the other, “Why did you cut off” the fuel supply, to which the other replies that he “didn’t”, according to the report from Indian authorities.
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The report does not clarify which pilot—Captain Sumeet Sabharwal or co-pilot Clive Kunder—made specific remarks or who issued the urgent distress call: “Thrust not achieved… falling… Mayday! Mayday! Mayday!”
According to Indian accident investigators, the Boeing 787 Dreamliner likely lost power when both fuel cutoff switches were flipped almost simultaneously, cutting off the engines’ fuel supply.
This exchange between the pilots raises a critical question about the crash — how could the fuel switches, which are built to be “highly reliable” and specifically designed to prevent accidental activation, have been flipped during flight?
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To operate, each switch must be lifted before being turned, and they are also protected by safety brackets intended to guard against unintended contact or movement.
“It would be almost impossible to pull both switches with a single movement of one hand, and this makes accidental deployment unlikely,” a Canada-based air accidents investigator told the BBC.
All Lot Still in Mystery
The investigation report by Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau found no evidence of any emergency prior to the crash that would justify using the fuel cutoff. The crash also killed 19 other people on the ground when the aircraft crashed into a medical college in Ahmedabad, India.
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Investigators at the crash site found that the fuel cutoff switches were in the “run” position, suggesting that both engines restarted shortly before the impact.
The experienced pilots had a combined total of 19,000 hours of flight experience.
U.S. aviation expert Anthony Brickhouse said that the ongoing investigation will likely focus on why the switches moved in a manner that doesn’t align with standard flight operations.
“Did they move on their own or did they move because of the pilots? And if they were moved because of a pilot, why?” Brickhouse said.
Both black boxes from the ill-fated flight — containing the cockpit voice recordings and flight data — were recovered from the debris a few days after the accident.
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Investigators will now analyze the data to uncover any additional factors that may have led to the crash.
British citizen Vishwash Kumar Ramesh was the only person to survive the Air India tragedy, which also claimed the life of one of his brothers, who had been seated just a few rows away.
The 40-year-old, bruised and shaken, was seen limping away from the wreckage, still holding onto his boarding pass. “When I opened my eyes, I realized I was alive,” he said from his hospital bed the day after the tragedy.
