*

Cockpit voice recording suggests captain cut off fuel to

engines

- report

*

First officer asked captain why he moved fuel switches -

report

*

Air India CEO noted preliminary report found no mechanical

or

maintenance faults

(Adds additional background throughout)

By David Shepardson and Dan Catchpole

July 17 (Reuters) - A cockpit recording of dialogue

between the two pilots of the Air India flight that crashed last

month indicates the captain cut the flow of fuel to the plane's

engines, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.

The newspaper cited people familiar with U.S. officials' early

assessment of evidence uncovered in the investigation into

the June 12 crash in Ahmedabad, India, that killed 260 people.

The first officer, who was flying the Boeing 787

Dreamliner, asked the more experienced captain why he moved the

fuel switches to the "cutoff" position seconds after lifting off

the runway, the report said.

The two pilots involved were Captain Sumeet Sabharwal and First

Officer Clive Kunder, who had total flying experience of 15,638

hours and 3,403 hours, respectively.

India's AAIB, Directorate General of Civil Aviation, Ministry of

Civil Aviation, Boeing ( BA ) and Air India did not immediately respond

to Reuters' requests for comment on the Wall Street Journal

report.

A preliminary report into the crash released by India's Aircraft

Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) on Saturday said the fuel

switches had switched from run to cutoff a second apart just

after takeoff, but it did not say how they were flipped.

One pilot was then heard on the cockpit voice recorder

asking the other why he cut off the fuel. "The other pilot

responded that he did not do so," the report said.

Without fuel flowing to the engines, the London-bound plane

began to lose thrust and sink. Almost immediately after the

plane lifted off the ground, closed-circuit TV footage showed a

backup energy source called a ram air turbine had deployed,

indicating a loss of power from the engines.

At the crash site, both fuel switches were found in the run

position and there had been indications of both engines

relighting before the low-altitude crash, the report said.

In an internal memo on Monday, Air India CEO Campbell Wilson

said the preliminary report found no mechanical or maintenance

faults and that all required maintenance had been carried out.

The AAIB's preliminary report had no safety recommendations

for Boeing ( BA ) or engine manufacturer GE.

After the report was released, the U.S. Federal Aviation

Administration and Boeing ( BA ) privately issued notifications that

the fuel switch locks on Boeing ( BA ) planes are safe, a document seen

by Reuters showed and four sources with knowledge of the matter

said.