One year since AI-171 crash, pilots body questions delay in releasing final probe report

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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