Air India Boeing 787 Crash Kills 265 India Ahmedabad

Preliminary investigations into the June 12 Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner crash near Ahmedabad indicate that both engine fuel control switches were switched from "run" to "cutoff" within one second shortly after takeoff, causing the engines to lose thrust and leading to the fatal crash that killed at least 260 people. Cockpit voice recordings captured one pilot questioning the fuel cutoff, while the other denied having done so, highlighting confusion in the cockpit during the final moments. The crash site investigation revealed that the Emergency Locator Transmitter did not activate, and wreckage was scattered over a wide area, damaging several buildings. The aircraft was equipped with two Enhanced Airborne Flight Recorders (EAFRs); the rear recorder was heavily damaged and data extraction was difficult, while the forward recorder, despite fire damage, provided 49 hours of flight data and two hours of audio. Data recovery was delayed due to the need for specialized equipment sourced from the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board, arriving 11 days post-crash, underscoring challenges in black box data retrieval. These findings stem from combined analysis of cockpit voice recordings, flight data recorders, and the physical crash site, providing critical insights into one of India's worst aviation disasters.