A preliminary investigation into the devastating June 12 crash of an Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner, which killed 260 people, has raised troubling questions about pilot actions seconds after takeoff. According to people familiar with early U.S. assessments cited , the First Officer questioned the Captain on why he had moved the fuel switches to the “cutoff” position moments after liftoff. The Captain reportedly denied doing so.
The two pilots involved were Captain Sumeet Sabharwal, with 15,638 hours of flying experience, and First Officer Clive Kunder, with 3,403 hours. The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) of India, in its preliminary report released Saturday, confirmed that both engine fuel switches moved from “run” to “cutoff” just after takeoff, one second apart. However, the report did not specify how or why the switches were flipped.
Immediately after liftoff, CCTV footage showed the deployment of a backup power source known as a ram air turbine—an emergency system triggered by power loss, indicating both engines had stopped producing thrust. Cockpit voice recordings captured one pilot asking the other why the fuel had been cut, with the other responding that he had not done so.
With no fuel flowing, the aircraft climbed to just 650 feet before losing altitude. Although the pilots switched the fuel controls back to “run” and the aircraft attempted an automatic engine restart, it was too low and slow to recover. The plane clipped trees and a chimney before crashing in a fireball into a building on a nearby medical college campus. The crash killed 241 of the 242 people onboard and 19 on the ground.
In an internal memo dated July 14, 2025, Air India CEO Campbell Wilson stated that the AAIB report found no mechanical or maintenance failures, and that all maintenance had been performed as required. The report did not include any safety recommendations for Boeing or GE, the engine manufacturer.
Following the report’s release, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Boeing issued internal notices reaffirming the safety of the fuel switch locking mechanisms on Boeing aircraft. Aviation safety expert John Nance told Reuters that the circumstantial evidence increasingly points to a crew member having unintentionally or mistakenly switched off the fuel supply.
However, investigators are continuing to explore all possibilities and contributing factors—a process that could take months. Under international aviation standards, a final report is expected within a year of the incident.
The crash has renewed calls for the installation of cockpit image recorders, which would have provided valuable visual context to investigators. Meanwhile, Air India is also facing scrutiny on other fronts, with the European Union Aviation Safety Agency planning to investigate Air India Express over allegations of delayed compliance with engine part replacements and falsification of maintenance records.
