Or, something else happened that mimicked the closing of the switches … and as the engines stopped producing electricity that situation reversed itself.
On modern aircraft like the 787, the position and actuation of all flight-critical switches and controls is recorded in the FDR.
And with how little information has been released it is pointless to speculate what actually happened.
I’d like to see other safety authorities, perhaps the EU, British or Canadians to have a look at the data from the recorders. Not that I don’t trust the Indian’s, I do, but another set of eyes on the data may be very useful.
Not the USA? ![]()
They are already involved.
Ah you’re right, and it seems the Brits are also involved.
The crash is under investigation by India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB).[63] The United Kingdom’s Air Accidents Investigation Branch also dispatched a team of four investigators,[64] and the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) sent a “go team” to assist.[10][36] The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said that it “[stood] ready to launch a team immediately” in support of the NTSB.[65]
Source
I also see a situation where one pilot turns the switches off, then says “why did you do that?” for the CVR and to make the investigators think it was the other pilot. The denial then comes from the innocent pilot “I DID NOT”! - unfortunately without cameras in the flight deck, there is no way to definitely know who flicked the switches. Hopefully the full CVR recording gives more obvious info.
There are probably enough data to figure it out… For instance recorded yoke movements when the switches were operated, which switch was turned first etc. Also note that the report does not quote the exact dialogue between the pilots, I presume the full audio recording will be a lot more revealing, in a very chilling sort of way…
Exactly, they can port all the data from the FDR into a flight sim like X-Plane, recreating a frame-by-frame rendition of everything that happened. Overlay the cockpit recordings and it becomes very eerie.
Of course, it takes a bit of neurodiversity to stay professional in a job like that. As one of those diverse people, I can tell we’re damned hunting dogs. If there’s a trace, it’s really hard to stop.
Anyway, flight sims and all the superimposed data will not give a WHY. That comes from the interpretation of facts by people. Weird people, but people.
If you are tired of living then fly Air India!
Actually the question was (in the report) “why did he cut off”. The “he” rather than "you makes a big difference.
I didn’t see any mention of what language the crew were using - in German (yes, I know they weren’t likely to be speaking German) the “he” could easily refer to the switch rather than a person - assuming English to be their second language this could easily be the case (this is a common mistake German speakers make for example).
Actual report:
From the preliminary report:
In the cockpit voice recording, one of the pilots is heard asking the other why did he cutoff.
The other pilot responded that he did not do so.
Seems to be becoming more and more apparent that the co-pilot deliberately crashed the plane according to a repoert on B5 just now. Depression and the death of his mother pushed him over the edge.
There is no confirmed evidence that the Air India copilot was depressed. While some reports mention that Captain Sumeet Sabharwal, one of the pilots involved in the crash, had taken medical leave in recent years and some colleagues referenced “depression and mental health issues,” this information remains unverified and based on hearsay.
Pilot associations and aviation experts have strongly cautioned against making assumptions about pilot mental health or suggesting pilot suicide without concrete evidence. The Indian Commercial Pilots’ Association stated that such speculation is unfounded and irresponsible, emphasizing that there is “absolutely no foundation for such a claim at this point”.
The official preliminary investigation has not established depression or deliberate action as a cause of the crash. Instead, it has focused on technical and procedural factors, including confusion in the cockpit regarding the aircraft’s fuel control switches.
In summary, while there are unconfirmed reports of past mental health issues for one of the pilots, there is no substantiated evidence that the Air India copilot was depressed at the time of the crash.
Captain, not the First Officer.
Could it not be that due to lack of concentration that instead of the under carriage being raised the First Officer cut the engines without even looking.
After all there are many instances of car drivers pressing the wrong pedal…
No. Because the landing gear lever is nowhere near the engine cut off controls and has a completely different action.