Investigators probing a deadly Air India crash said in a preliminary report that the aircraft's engine fuel switches were flipped to an off position briefly, leading to confusion in the cockpit and putting focus on the pilots flying the Boeing 787.

The fuel switches to both engines on the Air India Flight 171 moved to the "cutoff" position immediately before the crash that killed 260 after taking off on June 12.

The two engines on the Air India flight shut down within one second of each other before the Boeing 787 Dreamliner crashed last month in Ahmedabad, India, killing at least 260 people, according to a preliminary report released Friday.