India, July 12 -- The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) released its preliminary report into the Air India Flight 171 crash shortly after midnight on Saturday. The report revealed dramatic cockpit voice recordings of one pilot realising the fuel had been cut off to both engines during takeoff, with his colleague denying he had initiated the action.

The 15-page report, published exactly one month after the disaster that killed 260 people, provides the first official account of the final moments of India's worst aviation accident in decades and raises new questions about what caused the simultaneous dual-engine failure.

According to the AAIB report, one pilot was heard asking the other on the cockpit voice recording, "Why did ...