Investigations are being carried out regarding the Air India plane headed to London Gatwick that crashed on June 12, immediately after its takeoff from Ahmedabad Airport in India, killing all but one of the 242 people on board and 33 on the ground. Now, a cockpit audio recording appears to suggest that the flight’s captain may have cut the fuel supply to the engines, according to an anonymous source briefed on an early US assessment of the evidence.
The first officer, who was flying the Boeing 787, is heard questioning the captain’s decision to move the fuel switches and reportedly asked him to return them to their original position. While no cockpit video confirms which pilot flipped the switches, the weight of the audio evidence points to the captain’s involvement, the source said.
The US findings are still preliminary and not part of any formal report. Air India’s CEO has stated that an initial investigation found no mechanical or maintenance faults in the aircraft. The cause of the crash remains under investigation by aviation authorities.
Indeed, despite airplanes being one of the safest modes of transportation, the Air India crash is a stark reminder that zero risk is impossible. Even with ever-improving technology, we continue to face grim reminders from the long catalog of air disasters recorded in the annals of commercial aviation. Sadly, few survive a plane crash, such is the destructive force of an event of this nature. And there have been some truly horrific air accidents across the world.
Click through to read up on some of the deadliest passenger plane crashes in history.