Mumbai, June 11: Exactly one year after Air India flight AI-171 fell from the afternoon sky over Ahmedabad, plunging into a medical college hostel just 32 seconds after liftoff, India’s aviation apparatus remains completely paralysed by secrecy.
The families of the 260 victims are no closer to knowing why a modern Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner fell to earth as the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), Air India, and Boeing have effectively retreated behind a fortress of non-disclosure.
A month after the crash, on July 12, the AAIB released the preliminary report of the aircraft crash. The report revealed that both of the Dreamliner’s engine fuel control switches had transitioned from the "RUN" to the "CUTOFF" position within a single second of each other, completely starving the General Electric GEnx engines of fuel just as the plane became airborne.
Crucially, the AAIB included a snippet of the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) in which one pilot was said to ask the other why he had cut the fuel, to which the other replied emphatically that he had not.
While the AAIB did not explicitly accuse the crew of deliberate or inadvertent human error, the selective reporting of the brief conversation implied that the crash was caused by deliberate action.
For one whole year, the narrative that the flight’s commander, Capt Sumeet Sabharwal, deliberately cut off the fuel was pushed by multiple foreign media publications.
However, even after a year, the AAIB is said to skip publishing the final investigation report on the anniversary, making the survivors and the victims’ family members wait longer to know the truth.
Calls for transparency from pilot associations
On the eve of the accident’s first anniversary, the Federation of India Pilots (FIP) president, Capt. CS Randhawa, addressed the media in Ahmedabad. He raised concerns about the time it took the AAIB to publish the final report on a flight that crashed within 32 seconds of takeoff.
He also highlighted that an aircraft accident investigation is not about pinning blame on anyone, but about preventing future recurrences and enhancing passenger safety.
“There is a series of evidence which points to the electrical problems in the Boeing 787, but the investigation is not proceeding in accordance with the evidence available. It is the wider electrical system of the Dreamliners that needs to be investigated. We request that the AAIB please investigate the electrical failures to prevent another accident. It’s a matter of passenger safety and truth should prevail in this investigation,” he added.
Cross-continental complexities slowing the probe
The sheer scale of international commercial interests involved has arguably brought transparency to a grinding halt. As the airframe and engines were built in the United States, the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), Boeing, and GE Aerospace are deeply embedded in the investigation.
Technical examinations are fractured across continents. Components of the engine control systems were flown to France for specialised testing, while the scorched remnants of the GEnx turbines are still undergoing metallurgical analysis at a GE facility in Ohio. This cross-continental fragmentation has caused the AAIB, Air India, and the aircraft manufacturer Boeing to remain entirely tight-lipped.
Air India, now owned by the Tata Group, has focused its public relations entirely on financial settlement, clarifying this week that there is "no pressure" on the families to sign final compensation packages before the cause of the crash is officially determined.
Families demand accountability, not compensation
Yet, for those left behind, money is an insulting substitute for the truth. Multiple families of the victims told The Free Press Journal that they seek accountability and not money.
They reiterated that they need to know whether the Dreamliners have a deeply ingrained electrical error or if there was a lapse in Air India’s maintenance.
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On Friday, a memorial service by the victims’ families at the crash site will mark 12 months since 260 lives evaporated in 32 seconds. The wreckage has long since been cleared from the medical campus, but the black hole at the center of India's aviation safety record remains wide open.
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