The captain of the doomed Air India flight that crashed last month likely cut off the flow of fuel to the plane’s engines – with his panicked first officer questioning why just moments before the jet went down, US officials believe.

A black box cockpit recording of the two pilots suggests that Captain Sumeet Sabharwal was responsible for moving the fuel switches to the “cutoff” position seconds after the London-bound Boeing 787 Dreamliner lifted off the runway in Ahmedabad, India, on June 12, The Wall Street Journal reported.

First Officer Clive Kunder, who was flying the plane at the time, expressed “surprise” and then “panicked” as he asked the captain why he’d moved the fuel switches, according to sources familiar with US officials’ early assessment of crash probe evidence.

The captain, who had reportedly suffered from depression in the past, appeared to remain calm as he denied doing so, the sources said.

The determination comes after a preliminary report released by India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau found the fuel switches had been switched just after takeoff – but stopped short of saying whether it was believed to be accidental or deliberate.

The preliminary report also only summarized the exchange between the two pilots and didn’t identify who had said what.

The fresh details have prompted some US officials to suggest that criminal authorities should start reviewing the probe to determine if a safety mishap or deliberate act was to blame, the WSJ reported, citing those familiar with the matter.

India’s aircraft accident investigation body said Thursday it was too early to reach any “definite conclusions” on what led to the deadly Air India Boeing plane crash that killed 260 people.

It comes after it emerged earlier this week that the captain’s medical records were turned over to investigators amid reports he’d suffered from depression and other mental health issues in the past.

Sabharwal, who had more than 15,000 flying hours under his belt at the time of the tragedy, had taken medical leave in recent years due to apparent mental health woes, the Telegraph reported.

“I have heard from several Air India pilots who told me he had some depression and mental health issues,” Mohan Ranganathan, a leading Indian aviation safety expert, said. “He had taken time off from flying in the last three to four years. He had taken medical leave for that.”

Air India’s CEO Campbell Wilson, however, pushed back on initial crash investigation findings that pilot error involving fuel cut-off switches may have caused the crash, insisting in an internal memo that the probe was “far from over.”

Wilson also said the report found no mechanical or maintenance issues with the aircraft and its engines, while all mandatory maintenance tasks of the aircraft had been completed.

“There was no issue with the quality of fuel and no abnormality with the take-off roll. The pilots had passed their mandatory pre-flight breathalyzer and there were no observations pertaining to their medical status,” he said in the memo.

The June 12 crash killed 241 people on board the jet – including the two pilots. In addition to those on board, the crash left another 19 people dead on the ground after the aircraft plunged into a medical college.

British national Vishwash Kumar Ramesh was the sole survivor and was spotted miraculously limping away from the wreckage in the moments after it made impact.

“When I opened my eyes, I realized I was alive,” he said from his hospital bed in the aftermath.

India’s aviation regulator and two unions representing Indian pilots didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment about the latest developments.

With Post wires