The tragic accident involved a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, which crashed into a hostel building belonging to a medical college in Ahmedabad, India. The collision occurred at 1:38 p.m. local time on June 12, just shortly after the plane had taken off.
There were 242 people on board, including both passengers and crew. Sadly, all but one perished in the crash. The sole survivor was 40-year-old British citizen Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, who somehow managed to walk away from the wreckage despite the devastation.
Now, newly uncovered cockpit audio has shed light on the haunting final conversation between the plane’s captain and co-pilot. This recording was obtained by investigators and revealed just how tense the final seconds of the flight were.
The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau’s report, which was made public on July 11, explained that the two pilots were disputing why the fuel flow to the engines had been cut off during flight—an action that likely contributed to the crash.
“The Engine N1 and N2 began to decrease from their take-off values as the fuel supply to the engines was cut off.”
Shortly after that, the report captured the tense audio between the pilots, stating: “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.”
The report also referenced data obtained from the aircraft’s two Enhanced Airborne Flight Recorders, also known as EAFRs. That data showed the following: “As per the EAFR, the Engine 1 fuel cutoff switch transitioned from CUTOFF to RUN at about 08:08:52 UTC. The APU auxiliary power unit that provides electrical power and compressed air to the aircraft systems, when the main engines are shut down Inlet Door began opening at about 08:08:54 UTC, consistent with the APU Auto Start logic.”
Regarding the actual destruction of the plane, the report states that a “subsequent fire” broke out after the crash. The flames ended up spreading across five buildings in total, all of which sustained heavy structural damage along with intense fire-related destruction.