The head of the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), Jennifer Homendy, has cautioned against premature conclusions in the investigation into the deadly crash of Air India Flight 171, amid media reports suggesting that the captain may have accidentally moved critical fuel switches.
“Investigations of this magnitude take time,” Homendy said in a post on social media platform X on Friday. Calling the recent reports “premature and speculative,” she refrained from naming any publication but said drawing conclusions at this stage would be misguided.
The crash, which occurred on June 12, claimed 260 lives. Investigators from India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), with assistance from the NTSB, are still examining how the Boeing 787 Dreamliner lost engine power moments after takeoff. Air India CEO Campbell Wilson and the AAIB have both urged the public not to rush to judgment as the probe is ongoing.
According to AAIB’s preliminary findings, two fuel control switches were turned to the “cutoff” position seconds after the aircraft became airborne, starving the engines of fuel. Although the switches were turned back within 10 seconds, it was too late to recover control of the plane.
The cockpit voice recorder captured a crucial exchange between the pilots: First Officer Clive Kunder was heard asking Captain Sumeet Sabharwal why he had moved the switches, to which the captain reportedly replied that he hadn’t. The investigators are now focusing on whether the switches were moved inadvertently, deliberately, or due to a possible technical malfunction.
No mechanical faults have yet been identified in the Boeing 787 aircraft or its GE Aerospace engines, but the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has ordered inspections of fuel switch systems across all Boeing 737 and 787 aircraft operating in India, as a precautionary measure.
While the AAIB has shared preliminary findings, the final report determining the probable cause and offering recommendations could take a year or longer to be published.
