If you worked Boston Center for 30+ years, you undoubtedly know my brother & father. They were an ATC's best friend for many years, especially those at Boston Center who had separation errors :plane: :plane:

The fuel control switches are controlled 100% by the pilots. The Boeing design philosophy has always been "pilot first", which means, even on the 787, we ultimately control what happens. I was discussing the fuel control switches on a flight yesterday, there is no way both accidentally moved to the cutoff position. Even with a complete electrical failure, the switches still function as they should and the engines will continue to run. The airplane has 4 (6 if you count the APU) Generators, battery and the RAT.
Also... for those believing the controls were electronically taken over by a passenger 🤦You can't "hack" an airplane and take control of its systems... This isn't Hollywood.

Maybe the pilot shut off the both fuel switches, 1 second apart, thinking he was retracting the landing gears :)

A commercial pilot wouldn’t recognize a cut off switch?? We are not talking about an aging Hollywood star trying to fly his own plane.

One of the regular national news at 6:30 PM had a reporter who mentioned this would be the third time a pilot deliberately crashed his or her plane. Not counting 9-11.

Suicide by pilot - Wikipedia Suicide by pilot - Wikipedia


There seem to be more though.

Yes that certainly appears to be the most likeliest reason. A huge “phew” at Boeing and GE. But certainly so sad if suicide is the case. Wonder what Indian culture is re suicide. And if background/psych/issues re the pilot’s will determine anything and made public. Idiotic way to take your life…. Att photo of the post-crash switch panel with fuel switches ON. And a photo of a standard panel.

The speculation never ends.

Yep, and investigation also doesn’t end, not when 260 people died….

Further update:

‘A black-box recording of dialogue between the flight’s two pilots indicates it was the captain who turned off switches that controlled fuel flowing to the plane’s two engines, according to people familiar with U.S. officials’ early assessment of evidence uncovered in the crash investigation.

The first officer who was flying the Boeing 787 Dreamliner asked the more-experienced captain why he moved the switches to the “cutoff” position after it climbed off the runway, these people said. The first officer expressed surprise and then panicked, these people said, while the captain seemed to remain calm.

A preliminary report of the probe released last week summarized the exchange but didn’t identify which pilot said what. The report, by India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau, said one pilot asked the other why he moved the switches, while the other denied doing so.’
WSJ July16/25

Wow!

It was a joke...It is probably murder/suicide.

Attached is a photo of the Cockpit on a Boeing 787. Where's the cut off switch?

There are plenty of ways to crash an airplane. Shutting off the fuel supply on take off, wouldn't make my list of the Top 10.

One pilot probably did not want the other one to be able to stop him in his murderous urge to take down the plane . So he lied about turning off the fuel.

Just below the throttles and labeled "Fuel Control" with a position labeled "Cutoff." A pilot rated to fly that plane, especially with passengers onboard, would certainly be familiar with its controls.

"If I were a bank robber, I would have done it this way...." But I don't think like a bank robber which is why I am not a bank robber and why I have no idea what goes through the mind of a bank robber. What may make our Top 10 lists is completely irrelevant to what happened in the cockpit of that plane.

The cut off switches look to me to the left of the flap selector - but I have never flown an 787.
The Air India captain has been treated for depression following the death of his mother in 2022. He was cleared to fly again. He was 56 years old with 15,000 hours of flight under his belt. He turned off both fuel switches 3 seconds after take-off.

Mary Schiavo should stop wasting her time and stop by TOTV for answers.