Indian investigators will likely push back the release of their final report on the fatal crash of an Air India Boeing 787 last June, past the accident’s one-year mark.
Reuters reported Thursday that analysis of the aircraft’s engines remains ongoing. The engines were sent to the U.S. for study.
Under international guidelines, investigations into aviation accidents should generally be completed within a year. If that is not possible, investigators are expected to issue a statement on the one-year anniversary.
Air India Flight 171 crashed shortly after takeoff from Ahmedabad, India, on June 12, 2025. The 787 hit the campus of a medical college, killing 241 of the 242 people on board and 19 on the ground.
The airplane’s GE Aerospace engines have been at the center of the ensuing investigation. A preliminary report released last July found the aircraft’s fuel control switches were moved from the “Run” to “Cutoff” position, one right after the other. As a result, the engines shut down mid-climb.
The flight’s cockpit voice recorder captured one pilot asking the other why he turned off the fuel switches, and the second pilot responding that he did not. The switches were then reversed, and the engines were in the process of coming back online when the aircraft crashed.
The preliminary report referenced a 2018 advisory from the FAA, which encouraged airlines operating Boeing aircraft to inspect the locking mechanism on the fuel switches to ensure they could not be moved by accident. Air India did not follow this guidance, the report stated.
The FAA responded to the report by saying that its 2018 advisory was based on information that fuel control switches were installed with the locking feature disengaged. This does not make the devices themselves unsafe, the agency said.
The theory that one of the pilots may have cut off the engines deliberately is highly controversial in India, and within the country’s largest pilots union. The organization has urged investigators to obtain more technical data from Boeing and Air India as part of their inquiry.
