In June, a passenger plane crashed in India. The death toll is 260 people. The cause? The fuel was turned off.

The plane, which was en route to London, had barely left the runway at the Indian airport in Ahmedabad before it crashed to the ground.

Only one of the 240 passengers survived. In addition to those on board, several people on the ground were injured. 

A total of 260 people are said to have died.

According to a report from the Indian Accident Investigation Board, fuel was cut off to both engines just seconds after the plane took off. The 15-page report does not address whether it was intentional or not, but somehow the fuel dispensers were moved to the ”cut off” position – which caused both engines to stop receiving fuel at around 180 knots. This is something that is usually only done after landing. 

In the audio recording from the cockpit, one pilot is heard asking the other: ”Why did you turn it off?” to which the other replies: ”I didn’t.”. 

Shortly afterwards, the switches were reset back to where they should have been and the engines were in the process of restarting when the crash occurred.

”Extremely rare”

According to CNN safety analyst David Soucie, the fuel switches on the aircraft are "designed to be moved intentionally" and that accidents where fuel switches are accidentally turned off are "extremely rare.". 

“Over the years, these switches have been improved to ensure that they cannot be moved accidentally and that they are not automatic. They do not move by themselves in any way,” he tells CNN.  

The aircraft, a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, is one of the most modern passenger aircraft and has never been involved in an accident of this magnitude. According to investigators, everything looked as it should: The equipment was normal, the fuel quality was good, no notable bird activity was observed in the vicinity, the take-off weight was within permissible limits and no dangerous goods were on board. 

Source: Expressen.se