On June 12, 2025, tragedy struck when an Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner bound for London’s Gatwick Airport crashed shortly after taking off from Ahmedabad, India, killing 260 people—241 passengers and crew on board, and 19 on the ground. The devastating accident, the deadliest aviation disaster in a decade, has since been the subject of intense investigation and speculation.
Recent developments have shed new light on the probable cause of the crash. According to a source briefed on U.S. officials’ early assessment of the evidence, a cockpit voice recording reveals a critical exchange between the two pilots. The first officer, Clive Kunder, who was piloting the aircraft during takeoff, reportedly questioned Captain Sumeet Sabharwal about why the fuel switches had been moved to a position that cut off fuel flow to the engines. Sabharwal denied making the change. This dialogue strongly suggests that the captain may have been the one who inadvertently or deliberately switched off the fuel supply, starving the engines and causing them to fail.
The first officer had 3,403 flight hours, while Captain Sabharwal was a veteran pilot with 15,638 hours of total flying experience. The cockpit voice recorder does not conclusively show which pilot physically flipped the fuel switches, and there is no cockpit video recording to clarify this. However, the weight of circumstantial evidence points to the captain. The Wall Street Journal first reported these details on July 16, 2025, citing sources familiar with the investigation.
India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), which is leading the probe, issued a statement on July 17 warning against premature conclusions drawn by some international media outlets. It emphasized that the investigation remains ongoing and that it is too early to assign definitive blame. The AAIB’s preliminary report, released on July 12, detailed that the fuel switches were moved from “run” to “cutoff” one second apart just after takeoff, but did not explain who moved them or how. This action caused the engines to lose power, triggering the deployment of the ram air turbine—a backup energy source visible on closed-circuit television footage—indicating engine failure.
After the engines lost thrust, the plane reached a height of approximately 650 feet before beginning to descend. The fuel switches were then returned to “run,” and the aircraft attempted to restart the engines automatically. Unfortunately, the plane was too low and slow to recover. It clipped trees and a chimney before crashing into a building on a nearby medical college campus in a fireball. The crash claimed 19 lives on the ground and 241 onboard, with only one survivor.
In the wake of the preliminary report, Air India CEO Campbell Wilson issued an internal memo stating that no mechanical or maintenance faults were found on the aircraft, and that all required maintenance had been conducted. The AAIB’s report contained no safety recommendations for Boeing or engine manufacturer General Electric. Following the report’s release, both the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration and Boeing privately reassured stakeholders that the fuel switch locks on Boeing planes remain safe, according to documents seen by Reuters and sources familiar with the matter.
The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has been assisting the AAIB with the investigation, including analyzing the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder. NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy highlighted the importance of learning from such rare events to improve aviation safety worldwide. “And if there are no immediate safety issues discovered, we need to know that as well,” she said.
Aviation safety expert John Nance commented that the circumstantial evidence increasingly points to a crew member flipping the engine fuel switches, as no other rational explanation fits the facts released so far. Yet, he cautioned that investigators must continue exploring all possible factors before reaching a final conclusion.
The crash has reignited debate over the installation of cockpit image recorders—flight deck cameras that could provide critical visual evidence in future investigations. Nance noted that having video footage of the cockpit might have greatly aided investigators in understanding what transpired during the Air India flight.
Meanwhile, Air India conducted inspections of the fuel control switch locking mechanisms across its Boeing fleet as a precautionary measure. By July 17, 2025, an Air India official confirmed that these inspections found no issues, reassuring both the airline and the public.
The Wall Street Journal’s report also suggested that the first officer may have panicked during the emergency, while the captain remained calm. However, it did not clarify whether the fuel switch actions were intentional or accidental. U.S. officials reportedly believe that criminal investigators should also be involved in the ongoing inquiry.
Indian authorities and pilot organizations have pushed back against public speculation about pilot error. The Federation of Indian Pilots called the WSJ report “baseless,” accusing it of unfairly blaming the captain. India’s Civil Aviation Minister Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu urged the public not to jump to conclusions, emphasizing the well-being of India’s pilots. Two pilot groups condemned suggestions of pilot error as “reckless and unfounded insinuation.”
Adding to the complexity, reports in the Indian Express indicate investigators are examining previous technical glitches with the aircraft to explore the possibility of an “uncommanded transition” of the fuel control switches—that is, the switches moving without pilot input. This investigation aims to rule out any mechanical or electrical faults that might have contributed to the crash.
Families of the victims have expressed frustration with the preliminary report, describing it as “vague and inexact.” Air India CEO Campbell Wilson acknowledged that the report raised additional questions but urged staff and the public to avoid premature conclusions, reminding everyone that the investigation is far from over.
As the inquiry continues, the aviation community and the public await a final report, expected within a year of the accident, under international rules. The tragedy has already sparked crucial conversations about pilot training, cockpit technology, and aircraft safety protocols worldwide. For now, the full story behind the Air India crash remains a solemn reminder of the complexities and risks inherent in air travel, and the relentless pursuit of answers that follows such devastating events.