A report after an initial investigation, issued on Saturday, that the fuel control keys for the engines of the “Air India” plane that were crashed last month, were transferred from the “operation” position to a “stop” position moments before its crash, which led to the fuel cut off from the engines.
The report, issued by the Aviation Accident Investigation Office in India, indicated that the pilots were in confusion about changing the position of the key, which caused the loss of the driving force of the engines shortly after taking off.
The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner was crashed on June 12, killing at least 260 people, including 19 on the ground, in the northwestern city of Ahmedabad. Only one passenger escaped the accident, which is one of the worst flight disasters in the history of India.
The plane was carrying 230 passengers, including 169 Indian, 53 British, seven Portuguese and one Canadian, in addition to 12 crew members.
According to the report, the journey took about 30 seconds from the moment of takeoff until the moment of crash.
He explained that after the plane reached the highest speed of its recorded speed: “The fuel keys for the two engines turned 1 and 2 from the operating position to the stop position by a time difference that does not exceed the second one between them.”
The report did not explain how these keys could move to the position of stopping during the trip.
Control keys are used to allow fuel flow to or cut off the plane engines.
