NEW DELHI: Within two minutes after the aircraft was cleared for take-off from the Ahmedabad airport on June 12, both the engines of Air India's Dreamliner aircraft AI 171 shut down midair due to the cut-off of fuel to the engines, reveals the preliminary inquiry report into the mishap which killed 241 people on board.
The Aircraft Accidents Investigation Bureau made public its findings on Saturday morning. The lift-off happened at 1.37 pm from Runway 23 and the aircraft air/ground sensors transitioned to air mode consistent with lift-off, it said.
"The aircraft achieved the maximum recorded airspeed of 180 Knots at 8.08.42 UTC (1.38 pm IST) and immediately thereafter, the Engine 1 and Engine 2 fuel cutoff switches transitioned from RUN to CUTOFF position one after another with a time gap of 01 sec. The Engine N1 and N2 began to decrease from their take-off values as the fuel supply to the engines was cut off," it said.
The fuel cut-off appears to have taken the pilots too by surprise. "In the cockpit voice recording, one of the pilots is heard asking the other why did he cutoff. The other pilot responded that he did not do so," the report states.
The CCTV footage obtained from the airport showed Ram Air Turbine (RAT) getting deployed during the initial climb immediately after lift-off.
"The aircraft started to lose altitude before crossing the perimeter wall of the airport," it said.
An attempt to relight both the engines had been done Engine 1’s core deceleration stopped, reversed and started to progress to recovery. Engine 2 was able to relight but could not arrest core speed deceleration and re-introduced fuel repeatedly to increase core speed acceleration and recovery.
A minute and 28 seconds later, one of the pilots transmitted “MAYDAY MAYDAY MAYDAY”. The Air Traffic Controller enquired about the call sign but did not get any response but observed the aircraft crashing outside the airport boundary and activated the emergency response, the report said..
Ruling out any bird disruption, it said no significant bird activity is observed in the vicinity of the flight path.
The pilots had sufficient rest and were both medically fit. The aircraft weight. 2,13,401 kgs was within permissible weight and fuel was 53,200 kgs with no fuel contamination found, it added.
In a statement, Air India said, "We acknowledge receipt of the preliminary report released by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) today, 12 July 2025. Air India is working closely with stakeholders, including regulators. We continue to fully cooperate with the AAIB and other authorities as their investigation progresses."