Air India crash report reveals pilot confusion over fuel cutoff switches

NEW DELHI — A preliminary report depicted confusion in the cockpit shortly before an Air India jetliner crashed and killed 260 people last month, after the plane's engine fuel cutoff switches flipped almost simultaneously and starved the engines of fuel.

The Boeing 787 Dreamliner bound for London from the Indian city of Ahmedabad began to lose thrust and sink shortly after takeoff, according to the report on the world's deadliest aviation accident in a decade released on Saturday by India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau.

The report about the June 12 crash raises fresh questions over the position of the critical engine fuel cutoff switches.