New details in Air India plane crash investigation put focus on captain following black-box recording

An ongoing investigation into the cause of the deadly Air India Flight 171 crash has focused on Captain Sumeet Sabharwal.

On 12 June, the Boeing 787 Dreamliner crashed just moments after departing from an airport in Ahmedabad, India, killing 241 people onboard the flight and a further 19 people on the ground.

An investigation into the cause of devastating crash is currently underway, with audio analysed from Flight AI171's black box recorders suggesting the fuel control switches had been briefly switched off.

"In the cockpit voice recording, one of the pilots is heard asking the other why did he cutoff. The other pilot responded that he did not do so," a segment of the India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau preliminary report reads.

The report did not specify which voice belonged to Captain Sabharwal and which was first officer Clive Kunder at the time of release.

The crash killed 241 out of 242 onboard, as well as a further 19 on the ground (Siddharaj Solanki/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

However further analysis into the dialogue has suggested that it was more likely to have been Sabharwal who turned the switch off.

According to a new report from the Wall Street Journal, further details in the report suggest it was more likely to have been Sabharwal to have turned the switches off, citing numerous unnamed U.S. pilots and safety experts.

It was previously revealed that Kunder had been in control of the Dreamliner at take-off, while Sabharwal was monitoring.

According to sources the WSJ spoke to, this suggests that Kunder would've been too busy with the controls to have touched the switch.

The update did not suggest whether or not the switches could've been turned off accidentally or on purpose.

WSJ previously published a memo sent to Air India employees from CEO Campbell Wilson, which appeared to urge employees not to read too much into the initial findings.

"Over the past 30 days, we’ve seen an ongoing cycle of theories, allegations, rumours and sensational headlines, many of which have later been disproven," the memo from Wilson read.

Air India flight 171 Captain Sumeet Sabharwal. (Handout)

Meanwhile, Air India responded to the preliminary report on X, writing: "Air India stands in solidarity with the families and those affected by the AI171 accident. We continue to mourn the loss and are fully committed to providing support during this difficult time.

"We acknowledge receipt of the preliminary report released by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) today, 12 July 2025.

"Air India is working closely with stakeholders, including regulators. We continue to fully cooperate with the AAIB and other authorities as their investigation progresses.

"Given the active nature of the investigation, we are unable to comment on specific details and refer all such enquiries to the AAIB."