The June 2025 incident claimed 261 lives — 242 onboard and 19 on the ground on the premises of B.J. Medical College’s hostel where the Boeing 787 crashed.
| Photo Credit: Vijay Soneji
On the first anniversary of Air India flight AI-171 crash in Ahmedabad, the Federation of Indian Pilots has questioned the delay in releasing the final investigation report. It urged authorities not to publish an incomplete interim report, warning that it could add to confusion and speculation on the cause of the accident.“We are at one year since the crash. Why is the AAIB [Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau] unable to investigate a flight of 32 seconds?” the federation’s president C.S. Randhawa asked at a press conference in Ahmedabad.The June 2025 incident claimed 261 lives — 242 onboard and 19 on the ground on the premises of B.J. Medical College’s hostel where the Boeing 787 crashed. A preliminary investigation report found that the aircraft’s fuel control switches had moved to the cut-off position, interrupting fuel supply to the engines moments before the crash. While the report stopped short of determining whether the switch movement was the result of a deliberate action or inadvertently done or a technical malfunction, it included a brief cockpit exchange between the plane’s two pilots that has triggered widespread speculation on the cause of the accident.Pilot associations have condemned the inclusion of the excerpt, arguing that it has contributed to the building of a narrative around pilot involvement before the investigation reached a definitive conclusion. The Federation of Indian Pilots (FIP), along with Pushkar Raj Sabharwal, father of the flight’s commander, Sumeet Sabharwal, has approached the Supreme Court, seeking an independent, judicially monitored investigation into the crash.On Wednesday, Mr. Randhawa warned that an incomplete, interim report could cause more confusion. “If there are no conclusive findings, we have asked the government to wait until the probe is concluded and publish the final report,” he added.Comment | The forgotten copilot of Air India flight 171‘Engine data being analysed in the U.S.’UN aviation safety watchdog International Civil Aviation Organisation’s norms recommend that a final accident investigation report be released “as soon as possible” and, where feasible, within 12 months of the occurrence.However, the government has invoked a provision that permits states to issue an interim statement on each anniversary of an accident if the final report could not be completed within a year. Such a statement is required to outline the progress of the investigation and highlight any safety issues identified in the probe.Government officials said an interim report on the Air India AI-171 crash would be released on Thursday. They added that analysis of data from the aircraft’s engines, manufactured by U.S.-based General Electric, was still underway at the manufacturer’s facilities in the United States, contributing to the delay in releasing the final report.The officials also said that according to an analysis of accident investigation data, on average, countries took 20-22 months to conclude the probe.According to the International Air Transport Association’s (IATA) annual safety report, 374 aviation accidents were recorded globally between 2018 and 2025, of which 52 were fatal. However, final investigation reports have been released in only 47% of these cases, with the remaining investigations still pending.Captain Amit Singh, founder of the Safety Matters Foundation, said there were sufficient indications of possible electrical failures that warranted a thorough investigation rather than prematurely attributing the crash to pilot actions. “As the aircraft was taking off, smoke can be seen emanating from the wheels, which could indicate a malfunction in the brake-system, which is electronic,” he said at a press conference. He claimed that emergency locator transmitter also did not work, which could also be due to an electrical fault. Published - June 11, 2026 09:33 pm IST
