New information leaked from the Air India disaster investigation suggests the captain switched off the engine fuel flow.
Officials have been probing the black boxes of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner recovered from the crash site in Ahmedabad.
An early assessment by US officials suggested the June 12 crash, which killed 260 people, was not caused by any problems with the passenger jet.
This raised suspicions that the plane’s fuel flow was switched off.
Captain Sumeet Sabharwal, 56, was leading the flight destined to London Gatwick, with first officer Clive Kunder, 28, in control just before the smash, a source has said.
It comes after the first initial report left out which pilot said what.
The audio allegedly reveals how the first officer was controlling the plane when he asked captain Sabharwal why he moved the fuel switches into a position that stops the fuel, a source told the Wall Street Journal on condition of anonymity.
The preliminary report showed that the two crucial fuel switches were in ‘cutoff’ mode instead of ‘run,’ causing the plane to lose power before plunging onto a hostel housing doctors and medical students.
The early report by India’s Air Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) did not say whether the switch was accidental or deliberate.
But a pilots’ association accused the initial report of trying to blame the captain and the first pilot without definitive proof.
The AAIB has since urged the public and the media to ‘refrain from spreading premature narratives that risk undermining the integrity of the investigative process,’ adding that ‘it is too early to reach any definite conclusions.’
The pilots had only seconds to try to repair the fault and switch the fuel back on, but the plane began losing thrust at 650 feet and fell.
Just hours before one of India’s worst aviation disasters, the captain had reportedly told the security guard in his apartment complex to look after his elderly father who lived with him.
The captain, who had over 15,600 hours of experience in the cockpit, said: ‘Please, take care of papa. I will be back soon.’
His colleagues have rallied around him to pay tribute.
Sabharwal was ‘one of the nicest people you could ever hope to fly with,’ former colleague Neil Pais told The Telegraph.
Captain Kapil Kohal described him as a ‘hero’ and a ‘gentle soul.’
His nickname was ‘Sad Sack’ because of his melancholic eyes, and he was deeply charismatic and always happy to help,’ captain Kohal added.
The doomed plane was carrying 169 Indian nationals, 53 British, one Canadian and seven Portuguese people.
One passenger on board, Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, 40 was the only survivor from the plane.
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