Yellow on the Air India disaster, the shadows on the investigation and screams between the pilots: “Why did you turn off the engines?”

A few moments before the tragedy, a chilling scene is consumed in the piloting cabin of the Boeing 787 Air India. The voice of one of the two pilots, more and more desperate, repeatedly asks the other: “Why did you turn off the engines? Why?”. The answer is: “It wasn’t me”. Then, the impact and the massacre.

The dialogue emerges from the audio recordings of the black box, as revealed by two western sources, which have had direct access to the files, to Corriere della Sera. But, surprisingly, The preliminary relationship of the Indian authorities has practically omitted this dramatic exchange between the two pilots. A choice that, according to experts, could compromise the transparency of the entire investigation.

The flight AI171 had taken off by Ahmedabad, India, headed for London Gatwick, on the morning of June 12, 2025. There were 242 people on board. After just thirty seconds from the take -off, the plane crashed on a university canteen In the Meghani Nagar district, causing 260 victims: 241 between passengers and crew members (yes only one passenger saved) and 19 people on the ground.

The disaster was aggravated by the large amount of fuel on board, necessary for the intercontinental section: the explosion caused a devastating fire.

According to the preliminary report drawn up by the Indian office for the investigation into aeronautical accidents, Three seconds after take -off, the two levers governing the flow of fuel to the engines have gone from “Run” to “Cut Off”. That is: the fuel feeding has been interrupted. But the document does not explain how by whom.

The sources that listened to the black box believe that it was one “Deliberate human action”, Even if it is not indicated if it was the commander or the first officer. The tone with which the question is repeated “Why did you go out?” is “direct, not doubtful”, a sign that Those who speak saw the other to make the gesture.

The blow and response between the pilots, crucial to understand the dynamic, in the official ratio is liquidated in just a line and a half on 15 pages. A summary deemed unacceptable by more experienced. “The conversation went on for several seconds and a pilot asked several times “Why did you go out?”», Report the sources. Screams, disbelief and panic: everything recorded, but not shared.

Those who have listened to the recordings claim that the Indian authorities have already isolated the items, thanks to the four audio channels in the cabin. And so they would know who he did what. But so far no official declaration has arrived.

Ten seconds after turning off, someone in the cabin tries to reactivate the fuel on the left engine, and four seconds after on the right. A sequence that demonstrates a desperate attempt to resume control, but too late. Only six seconds before the crash, the triple “Mayday” is launched. Again, it is not clear who pronounced it.

The document also appears to a reference to an information bulletin of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) of 2018, according to which there is a potential risk of disarming the safety block of the fuel levers. But that bulletin, as the western sources explain, did not report any “dangerous condition” that justify corrective measures. Furthermore, Air India has already replaced twice, after 2018, the entire central console that houses the offending levers.

Although the report excludes serious technical problems for Boeing or GE Aerospace engines, the news generated alarm. The Indian civil aviation has ordered immediate inspections on the fuel control switches of all Boeing 787 and 737 in fleet. The checks, according to Air India, have not revealed any anomaly. Some foreign companies are also moving. Oman Air has already verified about ten 787 and is checking the 737. Royal Jordanian has completed a visual inspection on his 787, without detecting critical issues. The European Air Security Agency has made it known that it did not have compulsory inspections for the Boeing 787 at the moment.

The prevailing hypothesis, at the moment, is that of a human errorperhaps a wicked decision, perhaps a dynamic still to be clarified between the two pilots. But the discrepancy between the content of the black box and the official version spread by the authorities feeds doubts, suspicions and criticisms.