New details are out about the Air India crash in Gujarat last month. A US media report claims the captain of the flight may have turned off the engine fuel switches just after takeoff. But Indian officials and pilots say we shouldn’t jump to conclusions.
The Wall Street Journal shared information based on a preliminary report by India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AIIB). The flight took off from Ahmedabad with 241 people onboard. Within 32 seconds, it crashed. Only one person survived.
The two pilots were Captain Sumeet Sabharwal and First Officer Clive Kunder. Together, they had over 19,000 hours of flying experience. According to the US report, the cockpit voice recorder caught the first officer asking the captain why he turned the switches to “cutoff.” He then panicked, but the captain stayed calm.
The report says both engines lost fuel seconds after liftoff, with the switches being moved to cutoff within one second of each other. But it’s still unclear—was this a mistake or something intentional? The US report says the answer is not in the current data.
Also Read Air India Crash: Flight Simulation Reveals Why the Jet Couldn’t Stay Airborne
Indian Response: Don’t Rush to Blame
India’s Civil Aviation Minister Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu asked the public and media to stay calm. He said, “Let’s not draw conclusions yet. The final report is still pending.” He also praised India’s pilots and said they are the backbone of the aviation industry.
The Federation of Indian Pilots (FIP) also pushed back. Its president, CS Randhawa, slammed the US report. He said the AIIB report does not blame the pilots and that the Wall Street Journal misrepresented the facts. He promised action against the publication for publishing what he called a “baseless” story.
Air India Acts Fast
Meanwhile, Air India inspected the Fuel Control Switches on all its Boeing 787-8 planes. This was done on the order of India’s aviation watchdog DGCA. The airline found no issues during these checks. It also confirmed that all its aircraft had updated Throttle Control Modules, which include the fuel switches.
This crash is still being investigated. Right now, there are more questions than answers. Was it human error? A technical fault? Something else?
Also Read How Does a Black Box Work — And What Did It Reveal About the Air India Crash?
