Fuel Switches Played a Role in the Boeing 787 Air India Crash. More Details Are Still to Come.

The back of Air India flight 171 is pictured at the site after it crashed in a residential area near the airport in Ahmedabad on June 12. (SAM PANTHAKY/AFP via Getty Images)

Boeing investors finally have details from a preliminary accident report for Air India flight 171, which crashed on June 12 less than a minute after taking off from an airport in Ahmedabad, India.

The report was dated July 12—in India—and filed by India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau, which is part of the country’s Ministry of Civil Aviation. The 15-page report provided details of the accident, listing the death toll at 260 people.

The plane’s thrust levers were in the forward position for takeoff thrust, and the flap settings were correct, the document said. Investigators said that fuel control switches were found in the “RUN” position, indicating the fuel to the engines wasn’t switched off at the time of impact.

However, after the jet reached an airspeed of 180 knots (about 207 miles per hour), the engine one and two fuel cutoff switches transitioned from “RUN” to “CUTOFF,” according to flight data recorders. A pilot on the voice data recorder was heard asking why the fuel supply was cut off, and the other pilot responded that he didn’t do it, the report said.

Seconds later, the cut-off switches transitioned from “CUTOFF” to “RUN”—and the engines relit, according to the report. There wasn’t enough time to arrest the decline. The time from the pilot’s question to impact was less than 30 seconds.

In a statement, Boeing said it would defer to Indian authorities to provide information.

*“*Our thoughts remain with the loved ones of the passengers and crew on board Air India Flight 171, as well as everyone affected on the ground in Ahmedabad,” the company said. “We continue to support the investigation and our customer.”

The fuel switch issue looks to be the cause of the crash, India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation report indicates. Fuel cutoff switches have safety features to ensure they aren’t changed accidentally. More details will come out when a full report is completed in the coming months.

Investors and analysts have been focused on engine fuel switches. A fuel switch problem likely means the accident wasn’t a result of any design issue, wrote Vertical Research Partners analyst Rob Stallard on Wednesday.

A focus on the switch change for what is essentially a middle-aged 12-year-old plane has helped Boeing’s stock performance in recent days. Shares traded as low as $195.28 in the days after the crash but have since recovered, setting a 52-week high of $230.20 on Wednesday. Coming into Friday trading, Boeing shares were up about 6% since the Air India crash.

Shares of the commercial-jet maker rose 0.3% on Friday, closing at $226.84, while the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.3% and 0.6%, respectively.

The plane was a Boeing 787 that had accumulated 41,700 flight hours over 7,800 flights. In 2023, the jet underwent a “C check,” which is a comprehensive inspection done every 20 to 24 months, according to reports. The engines were overhauled earlier this year in accordance with typical operating procedures.

In 2018, the Federal Aviation Administration issued a special airworthiness information bulletin, or SAIB, regarding the “potential for disengagement of the fuel control switch locking feature” present on several Boeing model jets, including the 787. The bulletin said it was “not an unsafe condition that would warrant an airworthiness directive.” Instead, the FAA recommended inspecting the switches to ensure they couldn’t move without physically lifting the switch. The report indicates the inspections were not carried out by Air India.

The FAA calls SAIBs information tools to alert and educate aviation stakeholders. Exactly why the fuel switches cut off isn’t known yet.

Shares of GE Aerospace have gained about 3% since the crash. The latter company’s GEnx engines powered the Air India plane. GE Aerospace also supplied the black boxes, the flight data recorder, and the cockpit voice recorder on the 787, according to reports.

A 787 is equipped with two Enhanced Airborne Flight Recorders, or EAFRs, one in the front and one in the rear. EAFRs combine voice and data recording. Though called black boxes, the data recorders are usually orange to make them easier to find. They can survive an impact equivalent to roughly 3,500 times their weight.

Both recorders were recovered —one on June 13 from a rooftop of the building at the crash site and the other on June 16 from crash debris—according to India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau. The black boxes were transported to Delhi, and data extraction began on June 24.

The data recorders are required, by regulation, to record at least 88 flight parameters, such as air speed and altitude, though most modern recorders collect more. Voice recorders are required to have a 25-hour recording capacity.

India’s minister of state for civil aviation, Murlidhar Mohol, said in a recent television interview that authorities were looking for reasons both engines failed. A lack of fuel would cause the engines to stop.

Early theories pointed to a complete loss of power after video showed the 787 deploying its Ram Air Turbine, or RAT, shortly before the crash. RATs are automatically deployed emergency systems designed to provide electricity and hydraulic power in the event of significant power loss. Fuel problems could result in that kind of power loss.

Essentially, they are twin-prop turbines that spin in the headwind, generating power.

Air India still operates more than 30 of the 787 jets. All have been inspected since the crash without any material findings.

Investors now have more information about the crash. They will wait for more details about fuel switches in the coming weeks.

Write to Al Root at allen.root@dowjones.com