Inside the cockpit: How Air India's Boeing Dreamliner flight ended in disaster

Straits Times

2 days ago

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FILE PHOTO: A view shows the rear of an Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner plane following its crash, in Ahmedabad, India, June 12, 2025. Central Industrial Security Force via X/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo
A preliminary report into the Air India crash that killed 260 people last month showed the plane's engines fuel cutoff switches almost simultaneously flipped from run to cutoff, starving the engines of fuel.
Here is the sequence of events - by the seconds - on June 12, as detailed by Indian investigators in their preliminary report released on Saturday:
05:47 GMT (11:17 a.m. IST) – Air India Dreamliner VT-ANB landed in Ahmedabad from New Delhi as AI423.
07:48:38 GMT – The aircraft was observed departing from Bay 34 at the airport.
07:55:15 GMT – The aircraft requested taxi clearance, which was granted by air traffic control; a minute later the aircraft taxied from the bay to Runway 23 via Taxiway R4, backtracked and lined up for take-off.
08:02:03 GMT - The aircraft was transferred from ground to tower control.
08:07:33 GMT – Take-off clearance issued.
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08:07:37 GMT - The aircraft started rolling.
08:08:39 GMT – Aircraft lifted off. "The aircraft air/ground sensors transitioned to air mode, consistent with liftoff," the report said.
08:08:42 GMT – Aircraft reached max airspeed of 180 knots. "Immediately thereafter, the Engine 1 and Engine 2 fuel cutoff switches transitioned from RUN to CUTOFF position one after another with a time gap of 01 sec."
"The Engine N1 and N2 began to decrease from their take-off values as the fuel supply to the engines was cut off.
"In the cockpit voice recording, one of the pilots is heard asking the other why did he cutoff.
"The other pilot responded that he did not do so
"The CCTV footage obtained from the airport showed Ram Air Turbine (RAT) getting deployed during the initial climb immediately after lift-off
"The aircraft started to lose altitude before crossing the airport perimeter wall."
08:08:47 GMT – both engines' values "passed below minimum idle speed", and the RAT hydraulic pump began supplying hydraulic power.
08:08:52 GMT – Engine 1 fuel cutoff switch transitioned from CUTOFF to RUN.
08:08:56 GMT – Engine 2 fuel cutoff switch also transitions from CUTOFF to RUN.
"When fuel control switches are moved from CUTOFF to RUN while the aircraft is inflight, each engines full authority dual engine control (FADEC) automatically manages a relight and thrust recovery sequence of ignition and fuel introduction."
"Engine 1's core deceleration stopped, reversed and started to progress to recovery. Engine 2 was able to relight but could not arrest core speed deceleration and re-introduced fuel repeatedly to increase core speed acceleration and recovery."
08:09:05 GMT – One of the pilots transmitted 'MAYDAY MAYDAY MAYDAY".
08:09:11 GMT – Data recording stopped.
08:14:44 GMT – Crash fire tender left the airport premises for rescue and firefighting. REUTERS