Air India crash: SC pulls up AAIB probe report, seeks response from Centre, DGCA

New Delhi, Sept 22: The Supreme Court on Monday described certain findings in the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) preliminary report on the June 12 Air India crash, which pointed to alleged lapses by the pilots, as “irresponsible.”

The bench, comprising Justices Surya Kant and N. Kotiswar Singh, issued notices to the Centre and the Director General of Civil Aviation in response to a plea seeking an independent, fair, and speedy investigation.

Advocate Prashant Bhushan, representing the NGO Safety Matters Foundation, raised concerns over a potential conflict of interest, noting that three members of the probe panel were from the aviation regulator. He also sought access to the airplane’s flight data recorder to clarify the cause of the crash.

While urging the finalization of the report, the bench highlighted issues of confidentiality, as well as considerations of privacy and dignity surrounding the investigation.

While cautioning that the release of particular kinds of information may be exploited by rival airlines, the bench said that it is only issuing notice on the limited aspect of free, fair, independent and expeditious investigation of the crash.

The plea has been filed by an aviation safety NGO led by Captain Amit Singh (FRAeS), alleging that the official probe violates citizens' fundamental rights to life, equality and access to truthful information.

The plea says the AAIB issued its preliminary report on July 12, attributing the accident to "fuel cutoff switches" being moved from "run" to "cutoff", effectively suggesting a pilot error.

It alleges that the report withholds critical information, including the full Digital Flight Data Recorder (DFDR) output, complete Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) transcripts with time stamps and Electronic Aircraft Fault Recording (EAFR) data.

According to the plea, these are indispensable for a transparent and objective understanding of the disaster.

On June 12, Air India's Boeing 787-8 aircraft operating flight AI171 en route to London's Gatwick airport crashed into a medical hostel complex shortly after taking off from Ahmedabad, killing 265 people, including 241 passengers and crew on board.

Among the 241 dead were 169 Indians, 52 Britons, seven Portuguese nationals, one Canadian and 12 crew members.

The lone survivor of the crash was Vishwashkumar Ramesh, a British national.

PTI