'Don't jump to conclusions': Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu urges patience after primary report on Air India plane crash reveals in-flight fuel cutoff

Initial analysis of the incident revealed that just three seconds after take-off from Ahmedabad, fuel supply to both engines of the Air India Boeing 787 was cut off.

The fuel control switches of the aircraft flipped from “RUN” to “CUTOFF” position in quick succession—within a second of each other.

“The Civil Aviation Ministry is analysing this report thoroughly. Let’s not jump to any conclusions. Once the final report is out, only then can we arrive at a concrete conclusion,” Naidu said while addressing the media, reported India Today.

Reiterating confidence in the country’s aviation personnel, Naidu said India has “the most wonderful workforce in terms of pilots and crew in the whole world. Pilots and crew are the backbone of the aviation industry.”

The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) report, however, does not clarify whether the shift in the fuel control switches was intentional or accidental, the report said.

The report includes cockpit voice recordings in which one pilot is heard asking the other why he had cut off the fuel, to which the second pilot responds that he had not, according to the India Today report.

The aircraft was under the command of Captain Sumeet Sabharwal, 56, with over 15,600 flying hours, and co-pilot Clive Kunder, 32, who had logged more than 3,400 flying hours.

Minister of State for Civil Aviation Muralidhar Mohol also warned against premature interpretations based on the cockpit exchange.

“The AAIB conducts investigations without any interference. We did not send the black box abroad... it was decoded right here in our own country. No conclusions can be drawn based on the pilot's conversation alone, as it was a very brief exchange,” he said, according to the India Today report.

The London-bound Air India flight crashed into the BJ Medical College hostel block in Ahmedabad shortly after take-off, killing all 260 people onboard and on the ground—including 241 passengers and crew, and 19 others.