Initial Findings Released in Devastating Air India Crash That Claimed 241 Lives
Preliminary conclusions have been released following last month’s tragic crash of Air India Flight AI171, which went down just 30 seconds after takeoff from Ahmedabad airport in western India en route to London Gatwick.
Of the 242 people aboard, 169 were Indian nationals, 53 were British, seven were Portuguese, and one was Canadian, according to the airline’s statement.
In a heartbreaking twist, 40-year-old Vishwash Kumar Ramesh emerged as the sole survivor of the disaster, which claimed the lives of 241 others.
India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) has released its preliminary findings into the tragic crash of Air India Flight AI171, which plunged to the ground just 30 seconds after takeoff from Ahmedabad airport last month, killing 241 of the 242 people on board.
On Friday, July 11, the AAIB published a detailed report revealing that both engines of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner were starved of fuel due to a critical cockpit error: the fuel management switches had been accidentally reversed.
Recovering the black boxes from the heavily damaged wreckage was a significant challenge. Despite the obstacles, investigators successfully retrieved the flight data and cockpit voice recorders, uncovering chilling insights into the plane’s final moments. The devices provided 49 hours of flight data and two hours of cockpit audio, including the seconds leading up to the crash.
According to the report, as the aircraft reached a speed of 180 knots, the fuel cutoff switches for both engines were transitioned from the “RUN” to the “CUTOFF” position — just one second apart.
Disturbingly, the cockpit voice recording captured a moment of confusion between the pilots. One is heard asking, “Why did you cut off?” to which the other responds, “I didn’t.”
While these findings remain preliminary, they offer the first real glimpse into the chain of events that led to one of India’s deadliest air disasters in recent years.
Aviation expert Captain Steeeve explained the delay in retrieving the black box data was due to the extent of the damage. “If you’ve got a flight data recorder that’s intact, you can simply plug it into a laptop and extract the data,” he said. “But in this case, they couldn’t do that. The boxes had to be physically removed and transported to a facility where specialists could analyze the information.”
He added that interpreting the data was further complicated by the jet’s short time in the air, making the sequence of events especially difficult to reconstruct.
As investigations continue, authorities stress that more analysis is needed before any final conclusions are drawn. For now, the world watches and waits for a clearer picture of what caused Flight AI171 to fall from the sky — and how such a mistake could happen again.
Captain Steeeve likened the investigation to untangling a knotted mess.
“Because these issues happened so close together, it’s almost like a tangled ball of yarn,” he explained. “You can straighten it out—you can undo it—but it’s far more complex than just unraveling a long string with a couple of knots.”
He emphasized the importance of patience and precision in uncovering the truth.
“That’s why the process has taken so long—and why it may take even longer,” he added. “If I were leading this investigation, I’d want to be absolutely certain we had the right answers before taking anything public. It’s not about speed—it’s about getting it right.”