Plea in Supreme Court questions AAIB report, seeks independent probe into Air India crash in Ahmedabad

A petition has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking a court-monitored independent investigation into the June 12 Air India crash in Ahmedabad, which killed 260 people, including 19 on the ground. The London-bound Boeing 787-8 aircraft went down minutes after take-off, leaving a lone survivor.

The plea filed by non-profit Safety Matters Foundation, headed by Amit Singh, a former pilot, has challenged the preliminary report released by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) on July 12, alleging that it violated the Aircraft (Investigation of Accidents and Incidents) Rules, 2017, which mandate full disclosure of factual data gathered in the early stages of an inquiry.

“Instead, the report contains selective disclosures, such as paraphrased references to cockpit voice recordings without timestamps, full transcripts, or corroborative context. This selective presentation creates a misleading impression and undermines transparency…such selective disclosure of partial information has the effect of shaping a biased public perception, one that tends to attribute the cause of the accident to pilot error while absolving the manufacturer and the airline of potential responsibility,” the petition, filed through advocate Pranav Sachdeva, said.

It, accordingly, sought disclosure of all data related to the accident, including the Digital Flight Data Recorder (DFDR) output, the full Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) transcript with timestamps, and all recorded fault messages and technical advisories relating to the aircraft.

According to the AAIB report, the fuel control switches of the aircraft “transitioned” to the CUTOFF position three seconds after it became airborne, cutting off fuel supply and causing both engines to shut down. The report noted that the cockpit voice recording captured one pilot asking the other, “why did he cut off?”, to which the colleague responded that he had not done so. It did not clarify whether the switch movement was inadvertent or deliberate, but identified the fuel cut-off as the immediate cause of the disaster.

‘Conflict of interest’

Mr. Singh said the present case concerns “not merely the investigation of an isolated accident” but the “preservation of public faith in the safety of civil aviation in India”. “When citizens entrust their lives to air travel, they do so on the faith that the State will ensure a regime of transparency, accountability, and fairness in the investigation of accidents. A selective or compromised inquiry not only denies justice to the victims but also exposes future passengers to the same systemic risks,” the petition added.

It also questioned the composition of the probe team, noting that three of the five members were from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), Air Safety – Western Region. Since the DGCA is responsible for certifying the aircraft, overseeing its airworthiness, and monitoring operator compliance, the plea said allowing its officials to dominate the inquiry created a direct conflict of interest.

The petition, which is yet to be heard, further contended that the regulator had prematurely attributed the crash to pilot error while overlooking systemic faults, thereby violating fundamental rights of citizens under Article 21 and Article 14 of the Constitution.