Wreckage of the plane, which crashed shortly after take off last month. (Image: Getty)
An intial investigation into the tragic Air India plane crash that killed around 260 people last month – many of them Brits – may have pinpointed the exact cause of the devastating incident. Preliminary findings by US officials indicate switches controlling fuel flow to the engines of the plane, a Boeing Dreamliner, were turned off, which led to an apparent loss of thrust at take-off, sources familiar with their early assessments have claimed.
Such a scenario could explain why the commercial jet's emergency-power generator appeared to have been activated shortly before it plummeted and crashed, killing all but one of the people onboard, the Wall Street Journal reports. Flight AI171 issued a Mayday call soon after taking flight and reached only 650 feet before slamming into a medical college complex, erupting into a fireball.
A British national, Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, was the only person among the 242 people onboard the 787 who survived and managed to walk away from the wreckage despite his injuries.
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At least 19 people on the ground were also killed, according to reports.
The sources said it was unclear whether the switches had been turned off accidentally or intentionally, or if there had been an attempt to turn them back on.
The anonymous insiders, who were quoted by the newspaper on Thursday, said the investigation is focusing on the actions of pilots and so far doesn’t point to a problem with the aircraft.
The plane's captain, Sumeet Sabharwal, and first officer Clive Kundar, had more than 9,000 hours of combined flying experience, according to reports.
Murlidhar Mohol, an Indian civil aviation official, told NDTV news channel in late June: “Nothing can be said about the cause of the crash right now because the investigation is going on.”
The WSJ report came ahead of authorities in India being handed a preliminary report into the crash on Friday.
The document, by the Indian government's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), is based on the initial findings of their investigation, which the AAIB is leading, supported by UK and US safety agencies.
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