Key events in the Air India crash investigation

A cockpit recording of dialogue between the two pilots of the Air India flight that crashed in June indicates the captain cut the flow of fuel to the Boeing 787 jet’s engines, The Wall Street Journal reported on July 16.

Following is a timeline of key events in the investigation to date:

June 12

An Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner bound for London crashes shortly after take-off from Ahmedabad city, killing all but one of the 242 people on board.

June 13

India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) launches an investigation into the world’s deadliest crash in a decade.

Its multidisciplinary team is led by the director general of the AAIB, and includes an aviation medicine specialist, an air traffic control officer, and representatives from the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).

Two GE recorders, one in the jet’s front and another at the rear, are installed on Boeing’s 787 jets. Both contain a cockpit voice recorder and a flight data recorder with the same sets of data.

One black box unit is recovered from the rooftop of a building at the crash site.

June 16

The second black box unit is recovered from debris at the crash site.

June 24

The two black box units are flown separately from Ahmedabad to an AAIB lab in Delhi by Indian Air Force aircraft.

In the evening, the team led by the AAIB director general with technical members from AAIB and the NTSB begin the data extraction process.

June 25

The memory module from the black box unit located at the front of the plane is successfully accessed and its data downloaded.

The forward recorder is equipped with an independent power supply that provides backup power to the device for about 10 minutes if the plane’s power source is lost, the NTSB said in a 2014 report.

July 12

A preliminary report by Indian investigators says there are no recommended actions to Boeing or GE at this stage, indicating a fault in the aircraft or engines was unlikely.

It adds that one pilot can be heard on the cockpit voice recorder asking the other why he cut off the fuel. “The other pilot responded that he did not do so,” the report says.

It did not identify which remarks were made by the flight’s captain and which by the first officer, nor which pilot transmitted “Mayday, Mayday, Mayday” just before the crash. 

A final report is expected within a year of the crash.

July 16

The Wall Street Journal reports the first officer, who was flying the plane, asked the more experienced captain why he moved the fuel switches to the “cut-off” position seconds after lifting off the runway.

Below is a brief profile of the two pilots based on the preliminary investigation report and media reports:

Captain Sumeet Sabharwal

The 56-year-old had an airline transport pilot’s licence that was valid until May 14, 2026.

He had obtained clearances to fly as pilot-in-command on several aircraft, including the Boeing 787 and 777 and the Airbus A310.

He had total flying experience of 15,638 hours, of which 8,596 hours were on a Boeing 787.

Captain Sabharwal had called his family from the airport, assuring them he would ring again after landing in London, according to a Times of India report. A pilot who had briefly interacted with him told Reuters he was a “gentleman”.

First Officer Clive Kunder

The 32-year-old had a commercial pilot licence that was issued in 2020 and valid until September 26, 2025.

He had obtained clearances to fly Cessna 172 and Piper PA-34 Seneca aircraft as pilot-in-command and as co-pilot on Airbus A320 and Boeing 787 jets.

He had total flying experience of 3,403 hours. Of that, 1,128 hours of experience were as a 787 co-pilot.

Since his school-going days, First Officer Kunder was passionate about flying, and in 2012, began serving as a pilot, Indian media reported, citing his relatives. He joined Air India in 2017. REUTERS