Mystery Behind Air India Flight 171’s Fuel Switches Deepens
In a tragedy that shook the aviation world, Air India Flight 171 crashed just moments after takeoff from Ahmedabad on June 12, 2025, killing 260 people. Now, a fresh wave of developments is focusing on one chilling question: What really happened with the plane's fuel-control switches?
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According to recent reports, particularly from The Wall Street Journal and Al Jazeera , evidence from the aircraft’s cockpit voice recorder suggests that the fuel switches—critical controls responsible for maintaining the engines’ power—were manually turned off shortly after takeoff. The Boeing 787 Dreamliner lost power in both engines within seconds of departure and crashed into a crowded residential area, setting off a fire that destroyed parts of five buildings.
What’s alarming is that the black box recorded a moment when the junior co-pilot, Clive Kunder, asked his senior colleague, Captain Sumeet Sabharwal, “Why did you cut off?” This brief exchange has now become central to the investigation. While the switches were flipped back on just seconds later, it was tragically too late—the aircraft had already lost too much altitude to recover.
Sabharwal, a seasoned pilot with over 15,600 flight hours, was acting as the monitoring pilot, while Kunder, who had just over 3,400 hours of flying experience, was in control of the aircraft. Experts say the physical design of the fuel switches—spring-loaded and placed between the two seats—makes accidental activation unlikely. They require an intentional upward pull before shifting from “run” to “cutoff.”
Still, no definitive conclusions have been made. Investigators are examining whether this was the result of human error, a mechanical glitch, or even a software anomaly. Similar issues have occurred before; in 2019, an All Nippon Airways Dreamliner experienced a fuel switch failure due to a software misinterpretation that led the system to believe the plane was on the ground.
India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), along with US and UK aviation authorities, is now digging deeper into whether the switches were manipulated intentionally or triggered by a malfunction. Meanwhile, India has ordered inspections of all Boeing 787 and 737 aircraft operating in the country.
Aviation experts and pilot associations are urging the public and media not to jump to conclusions. The Federation of Indian Pilots called it “premature and irresponsible” to assign blame before a transparent investigation is complete. Air India’s CEO Campbell Wilson echoed this sentiment, reminding staff that the investigation is “far from over.”
At the center of this unfolding mystery are two experienced men—one calm, one surprised—trying to save an aircraft in its final 32 seconds. Whether the fuel-control switches became the fatal point of failure by accident or design remains a haunting question still unanswered.
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