No conclusions of plane crash to be drawn until final report: India's aviation minister

NEW DELHI - India's federal civil aviation minister Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu said on Saturday that a report released by Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) on the last month's B787-8 aircraft crash that killed 260 people was based on preliminary findings and stressed no conclusions will be drawn until the final report is out.

"This is a preliminary report right now, and from the ministry, we are analysing the report, but I think it would be better if we comment on it once the final report comes in," Kinjarapu told media.

The preliminary report released by AAIB early Saturday revealed that the fuel to engines of the plane was cut off following the confusion over engine switch movement in the cockpit between the pilots.

The preliminary report did not find any significant fault with the plane or its engines. It also had not recommended any action for the manufacturer or operators of the B787-8 aircraft at the current stage of the investigation.

Following the release of the report, both the airline Air India and the plane manufacturer Boeing said they would continue their support in the investigation carried out by the AAIB.

The 15-page report from AAIB, published one month after the deadly crash, provided the first official account of the final moments of India's worst aviation accident in decades and raised new questions about what caused the simultaneous dual-engine failure.

The London-bound Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner crashed on June 12 shortly after takeoff from the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in Ahmedabad, about 17 km south of Gandhinagar, the capital city of Gujarat, killing all but one of the 242 people on board.

The AAIB is a government body that investigates aircraft accidents in India. Following the crash on June 12, it promptly initiated an investigation and constituted a multidisciplinary team a day after in accordance with international norms and protocols to probe it.