Supreme Court To Review Probe Into Air India Ahmedabad Crash Killing 265

The Supreme Court has decided to review the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau’s (AAIB) probe into the 12 June crash of Air India Flight AI171 in Ahmedabad, which killed 265 people, including passengers, crew, and residents on the ground, reported Mint.

A bench of Justices Surya Kant and N. Kotishwar Singh sought responses from the Centre, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), and the AAIB after an aviation NGO, Constitution by Safety Matters Foundation, filed a plea demanding an independent inquiry.

The court stressed that its role is to ensure the probe remains “free, fair, impartial, independent and expeditious.”

It also criticised the leak of AAIB’s preliminary findings, calling it “unfortunate.”

Justice Kant observed, “There was no occasion for anyone to leak the so-called preliminary inquiry, even if there were some kind of negligence,” warning that rival airlines often exploit such incidents.

On 11 July, the bureau issued a preliminary report attributing the crash to fuel control switches being moved from “RUN” to “CUTOFF.” This suggested pilot error but failed to explain why the switches were moved or to release complete flight data.

Senior advocate Prashant Bhushan, representing the NGO, argued that withholding Cockpit Voice Recorder transcripts, Digital Flight Data Recorder output, and Electronic Aircraft Fault Recording data violates citizens’ rights. He also flagged a conflict of interest, as three DGCA officers serve on AAIB’s five-member team.

The court will hear the matter again on 11 October.

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