On June 12, 2025, a fatal incident involving a Boeing 787-8 happened, when Air India’s flight AI171 took off for departure from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick, and a few seconds later crashed into a medical student hostel, killing 241 people onboard and 19 on the ground. Only one person survived
The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau released its preliminary report, revealing dramatic cockpit voice recordings that reveal one pilot realising the fuel had been cut off to both engines during takeoff, with his colleague denying he had not initiated the action.
The 15-page report provides a precise timeline showing that at 08:08:42 UTC, the aircraft reached its maximum recorded speed of 180 knots before both engine fuel cutoff switches “transitioned from RUN to CUTOFF position one after another with a time gap of 01 sec.”
“Why did you cutoff,” one pilot was heard asking the other on the cockpit voice recording. “I did not do so,” the other pilot responded, according to the AAIB report.
Crucially, the pilots attempted to restore fuel flow within seconds, with Engine 1’s fuel switch moved back to “RUN” at 08:08:52 UTC and Engine 2’s switch restored at 08:08:56 UTC. Both engines began relight sequences, with Engine 1 showing signs of recovery, but insufficient time and altitude prevented successful restart before the aircraft crashed at 08:09:11 UTC.
The Ram Air Turbine—an emergency backup power source—was deployed and captured on airport CCTV footage, confirming the complete failure of both engines.
Importantly, the report states there are “no recommended actions to B787-8 and/or GE GEnx-1B engine operators and manufacturers” at this stage, suggesting investigators have not identified systemic issues that would affect the global fleet of over 1,100 Dreamliners in service.
Both black box recorders were located in the days following the crash – one on the rooftop of the building of the crash site, found on 13 June, and the other in the debris on 16 June. Data extraction began on 24 June.
The early report does not lay final blame. It provides clear facts: the fuel cutoff switches were changed, causing both engines to lose power. Pilots were confused, tried to restart engines, but didn’t have enough time. There’s no technical fault found, so attention is on human factors.
The final report will take longer and will explain why the switches moved and if training, procedures, or other changes are needed to prevent this from happening again.
