Kathmandu, Jul 12: A preliminary investigation report into the Air India Flight AI-171 crash has revealed that both engines stopped working shortly after takeoff due to a sudden shutdown in fuel supply.

According to the Aircraft Bureau of Investigation (ABI), the fuel control switches for both engines were turned off within a fraction of a second just after the plane lifted off. The cockpit voice recorder captures one pilot asking, “Why did you shut it down?” to which the other replies, “I didn’t.”

The incident occurred moments after takeoff from Ahmedabad’s Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport on June 12. The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner crashed approximately 17 kilometers south of Gandhinagar, Gujarat’s capital.

The report notes that while the pilots quickly returned the fuel switches to the normal position, only Engine 1 showed signs of restarting. Engine 2 failed to recover.

CCTV footage from the airport showed the Ram Air Turbine (RAT) – an emergency backup power source – deploying during the initial climb, suggesting a rapid loss of power. The aircraft began to lose altitude before it could even clear the airport perimeter wall.

Of the 242 people on board, all but one died, along with 19 others on the ground. The ABI continues to investigate how and why the fuel switches were turned off during such a critical phase of flight.