By David Shepardson and Dan Catchpole
(Reuters) -A cockpit uptake of the dialogue between the two pilots of the Air India flight that crashed last month, indicates that the captain cut the fuel flow to the motorcycles of the plane, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.
The newspaper mentioned people who are familiar with the early assessment of American officials of evidence that was discovered in the study of the crash of 12 June in Ahmedabad, India, killing 260 people.
The first officer, who flew with the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, asked the more experienced captain why he moves the fuel switches to the “Cutoff” position seconds after lifting the runway, the report said.
The two pilots involved were Captain Sumeet Sabharwal and first officer Clive Kunder, who had 15,638 hours and 3,403 hours respectively.
India's AAIB, Directorate -General of Burgerluchtvaart, Ministry of Civil Aviation, Boeing and Air India did not immediately respond to Reuters's requests for comments on the Wall Street Journal report.
A preliminary report in the crash that was released on Saturday by India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) said that the fuel switches were shifted apart just after taking off, but it did not say how they were reversed.
One pilot was then heard of the cockpit voting recorder in which the other was asked why he cut off the fuel. “The other pilot replied that he did not do this,” said the report.
Without fuel that flowed to the engines, the London plane began to lose thrust and sinking. Almost immediately after the plane was lifted off the ground, TV images with closed circuit showed a back-up energy source called a RAM Air turbine, indicating a loss of power from the engines.
At the crash location, both fuel switches were found in the run position and there were indications that both engines that were at low altitude before the crash were, according to the report.
In an internal memo on Monday, Air India CEO Campbell Wilson said that the provisional report did not find mechanical or maintenance errors and that all required maintenance had been carried out.
The provisional report of the AAIB had no safety recommendations for Boeing or motorcycle manufacturer.
After the report was released, the US Federal Aviation Administration and Boeing private reports published that the fuel switch on Boeing aircraft is safe, a document that was seen by Reuters and said four sources with knowledge of the case.
(Reporting by David Shepardson in Washington and then Catchpole in Seattle; Additional reporting by Anusha Shah in Bengaluru; Edit by Jamie Freed)
