CHENNAI: Indian and US investigators are scheduled to meet next week in Washington to jointly examine data from the catastrophic crash of Air India flight Boeing 787 Dreamliner (AI 171) — a disaster that claimed nearly all lives on board and many on the ground. The delegation from Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), which is leading the probe, will collaborate with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), and likely experts from aircraft- and engine-maker teams, to share and jointly analyse critical information recovered from the flight: the flight data recorder (FDR) and cockpit voice recorder (CVR), Bloomberg reported on Saturday.
The upcoming meeting comes after the AAIB submitted a preliminary report to India’s aviation authorities. That report revealed that shortly after takeoff both engines lost thrust due to the fuel control switches being moved from “RUN” to “CUTOFF.” According to data and audio from the black boxes, the switches appear to have been flipped within a second of each other, at a point when the aircraft was climbing.
The cockpit voice recorder reportedly captured one pilot asking “Why did you cutoff?” while the other replied “I didn’t,” indicating confusion in the cockpit at the moment the fuel supply was cut. The jet lost thrust and altitude almost immediately, and crashed into a hostel building near the airport less than a minute after takeoff. Nearly all aboard died; there was only a single survivor, and many casualties on the ground.
While the preliminary findings shed light on the mechanical sequence of events — fuel cutoff, engine shutdown, power loss — they stopped short of assigning definitive cause. That uncertainty persists: investigators have neither ruled out deliberate human action nor eliminated the possibility of a technical or systems malfunction. There is particular scrutiny on the fuel-switch mechanism, which is designed with safeguards (a mechanical lock), making accidental simultaneous switching seemingly unlikely. Some experts believe that if switches were pulled deliberately, the crash could amount to sabotage; others argue that rare “uncommanded” switch movement caused by system software or electrical fault cannot yet be discounted.
The motive behind the joint US–India session in Washington is to strengthen the technical analysis, combine international expertise and resolve outstanding ambiguities. The NTSB and American manufacturers may contribute advanced lab capabilities, technical modelling and independent review of the FDR and CVR data — a step seen as necessary by many given the global scale and gravity of the disaster. Regulators in both countries, aviation-safety experts and victims’ families will be closely watching the outcome for clarity on whether the crash was a tragic accident, a systems failure, or something more serious.
At the same time, there is growing concern about media speculation and conflicting narratives. Some international reports have suggested that investigators in the US lean toward attributing the crash to deliberate action by one of the pilots — claims that have been strongly rebutted by the AAIB, which described such conclusions as “unverified” and “irresponsible.” The head of the NTSB has publicly called it too early to draw firm conclusions while the formal investigation continues.
The upcoming Washington meeting thus represents a pivotal moment. If investigators successfully merge their findings and reach a robust, evidence-based conclusion, it could restore public confidence in the aviation accident-investigation process, and help ensure lessons learned lead to necessary safety reforms. On the other hand, if key questions remain unresolved — for instance, whether the fuel cutoff was deliberate or unintentional — uncertainty and public anxiety may persist. Either way, the world will be watching this collaboration closely.