An analysis of the cockpit voice recorder from the Air India flight that crashed in Ahmedabad last month reportedly showed the younger co-pilot asking the captain why he had turned off the fuel switches.

The analysis came after an initial investigation into the Boeing 787 Dreamliner crash, which killed at least 260 people, found the aircraft’s fuel switches had almost simultaneously flipped from “run” position to “cutoff” three seconds after takeoff.

First Officer Clive Kunder was at the controls during takeoff and at the time of the crash, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing unnamed sources. 

It was Kunder who asked captain Sumeet Sabharwal why he had flipped the switches, starving the engines of fuel, according to the report.

The preliminary report published by India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau said one pilot was heard on the voice recorder asking the other why he had cut off the fuel.

 "The other pilot responded that he did not do so," the report added.

The report, however, stopped short of attributing blame.

Shortly after taking off for London at 1.37pm local time on 12 June, the Boeing 787 Dreamliner started to lose thrust and sink, the report said.

Source: Independent