Why would both engines of a state-of-the-art Boeing 787 Dreamliner lose power just seconds after takeoff, when everything appears to be okay? This is now the focus of an international investigation, after the disastrous crash of Air India Flight 171 on June 12, 2025, in Ahmedabad that claimed 260 lives and was the first deadly Dreamliner loss.
Cockpit voice and flight data recordings, as indicated in India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau’s preliminary report, reveal a critical situation. The aircraft, properly configured with no reported mechanical malfunctions, lifted off and was at 180 knots. Then, in the course of a single second, both engine fuel control switches were accidentally rolled from “RUN” to “CUTOFF” a move that instantly deprived GEnx-1B engines of fuel, causing an instant loss of thrust. The cockpit voice recorder caught one pilot’s stunned query: “Why did you cut off?”
To which the other replied, “I did not do so.” The Dreamliner’s fuel switches are made with a number of redundancies. Sitting over the pilots, metal bars protect these switches and must be deliberately lifted and moved past a stop lock to change from RUN to CUTOFF. According to safety expert David Soucie, “Throughout the years, those switches have been improved to make sure that they cannot be accidentally moved and that they’re not automatic. They don’t move themselves in any manner.”
The switches made sense to be employed only during engine start or stop, on the ground or during in-flight extreme emergencies. After the switches had been cycled back to RUN, the engines attempted to relight. Engine 1 recovered, but Engine 2 could not generate usable thrust in time. The Ram Air Turbine of the plane extended, confirming total loss of power and providing emergency hydraulics, and the auxiliary power unit began its automatic startup sequence a process Boeing puts at around 90 seconds. The aircraft was already descending by then, and a “MAYDAY” call was transmitted seconds before it was struck.
Mechanical failure, bird strike, fuel contamination, or improper flap and gear settings have been ruled out by the investigators. The investigation now identifies cockpit procedures and unintended or accidental actions in handling the switches. Fly-by-wire controls of the Dreamliner would have compensated for asymmetric thrust, but since both engines were losing power, even these advanced systems could not avert disaster.
The crash has reopened calls for questioning of human factors engineering in aviation. Research shows that pilot error remains the predominant factor in up to 70% of aviation accidents. Regulators are now looking at cockpit ergonomics, switchguard placement, crew resource management, and risk of cognitive overload or procedure failure. The Dreamliner cockpit is lauded for its sleek, intuitive design, but even the best intuitively designed systems are vulnerable to occasional, high-stress errors.
The black boxes 49 hours of flight data and two hours of cockpit dialogue are being closely examined with advanced digital forensics. These onboard instruments record every switch adjustment, engine reading, and crew exchange, providing investigators with a never-before-seen look into the seconds that determined AI171’s fate.
The broader aviation community is watching. The FAA previously issued an advisory in 2018 for potential disengagement issues with fuel switch lock systems on some Boeing models but there were no mandatory checks and Air India had also not done the voluntary checks. As the investigation continues, the Flight 171 disaster serves to illuminate the ongoing battle between man and machine, and the absolutely necessary requirement for rigorous design, careful training, and continuous improvement in air safety procedures.
