Air India captain 'cut off' fuel before fatal crash, US officials say

Sumeet Sabharwal, 56, is thought to have flipped the aircraft’s fuel control switches to "cut-off" moments before the jet crashed into a medical student hostel, in June.

Clive Kunder, the first officer, who was flying the Boeing 787-9, questioned why the captain had moved switched to the cut-off position, according to a US assessment of the black box data.

A preliminary report from India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) found that switches controlling fuel flow to the jet’s two engines were turned off, resulting in a catastrophic loss of thrust at take-off.

It revealed one of the pilots asked the other why "did you cut off" the fuel supply in the recovered cockpit voice recording. The other pilot responded that he "didn’t".

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Previously, it was unknown who said each comment, but sources in the US who reviewed the cockpit voice recordings told the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) it was Mr Sabharwal who was questioned about why he cut off the fuel supply.

"There was nothing to prompt the crew to perform emergency procedures, become stressed, or do anything except rotate the nose up and retract the landing gear, like they had done so many times before," Ben Berman, a former senior official at the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), told the WSJ.

Captain Steve Scheibner, an aviation expert, told Piers Morgan Uncensored: "I really firmly believe that there had to be a human hand on both of those for them to go to cut off."

The report also said the switches were moved in succession, one second apart, before being turned back on seconds later, but did not disclose whether this was done deliberately or accidentally.

On Sunday, The Telegraph shared Air India crash investigators are looking into the medical records of Mr Sabharwal amid claims he suffered with mental health problems including depression.

Both Mr Kunder and Mr Sabharwal had more than 9,000 hours of flying time between them, with the latter being described by friends as soft-spoken and precise.

Mr Sabharwal issued a mayday call before all contact was lost and the fatal crash happened.

The only passenger who survived was Briton Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, who was seated in seat 11A. However, his brother Ajay who was also on the aircraft died.

Several others not on the flight also lost their lives following the crash.