Sunday, October 4, 2026

Preliminary investigation gives insight into cause of Air India crash

The voices in the cockpit recorder have not been identified, while investigations into the plane crash continue.

• July 12, 2025
Air India plane crash
Air India plane crash

Preliminary investigation revealed there was a cur in the fuel supply to the engines of the ill-fated Air India Flight 171 that crashed, killing 260 people on board in June.

India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau, in a 15-page preliminary report released on Saturday, said the engines of the 12-year-old Boeing 787 Dreamliner suffered total power loss after its fuel-control switches moved to the “cut-off” position.

The Air India fuel-control switches “transitioned from RUN to CUTOFF position one after another with a time gap of 01 sec,” the report said.

Fuel-control switches are usually moved to the “cut-off” position when a plane is landing. However, in the case of the ill-fated Air India Flight, the fuel control switches flipped to the “cut-off” position while the aircraft was airborne.

The report also revealed that the cockpit recorder captured the moment a pilot asked why his colleague “did the cut-off,” and another voice replied that he hadn’t cut off.

“In the cockpit voice recording, one of the pilots is heard asking the other why he cut off. The other pilot responded that he did not do so,” the report said.

The voices in the cockpit recorder have not been identified, while investigations into the plane crash continue.

We have recently deactivated our website's comment provider in favour of other channels of distribution and commentary. We encourage you to join the conversation on our stories via our Facebook, Twitter and other social media pages.

More from Peoples Gazette

Nigerian Bar Association

States

Independence: NBA urges Nigerians to expect better future

The NBA said that ordinary Nigerians should be deriving benefit from the subsidy removal rather than hardship.

farmers

Agriculture

FG tasks ECOWAS on leveraging financing strategies for agroecology

The federal government has urged stakeholders in the agriculture and finance sectors in the West Africa region to leverage financing strategies to enhance agroecology practices

Katsina State

Politics

Katsina youths pledge to deliver over 2 million votes to Atiku

“Katsina State is Atiku’s political base because it is his second home.”

Taiwo Oyedele

Economy

Workers urge FG to reduce PAYE tax amid rising cost of living

They said that the huge amount of tax deducted from their monthly salaries had reduced their purchasing power.

tanker fire

States

Tanker Fire: Police confirm one death in Cross River

Police said the tanker was involved in a road traffic accident before it overturned and caught fire.

Angelina Jolie

World

Gaza: American actress Angelina Jolie shares satellite images of destruction, demands urgent aid

The war in Gaza has resulted in catastrophic losses and widespread displacement.

Former Senate President, Anyim Pius Anyim

NationWide

Anyim seeks inclusive technology to curb inequality

Mr Anyim challenged institutions and professionals to develop strategies to harness technological advancement.

Nnamdi Azikiwe University (NAU)

Heading 2

UNIZIK introduces digital clearance, certificate systems to reduce graduation delays

The vice-chancellor said the university had also digitised its transcript processing system.