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The Indian pilots’ body wrote to the civil aviation ministry and said AAIB’s crash probe moved from “irregularity into the realm of manifest bias”.
A man prays in front of a placard during a memorial held for the deceased crew members of the Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner plane, which crashed during take-off from an airport in Ahmedabad, at a church in Mumbai. (IMAGE: REUTERS)
The Federation of Indian Pilots (FIP) on Monday wrote to the Ministry of Civil Aviation seeking a judicial probe into the fatal crash of Air India Flight AI 171 on June 12. The letter was sent to the ministry on Monday demanding the constitution of a Court of Inquiry.
The pilots’ body alleged that the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) “fundamentally and irrevocably compromised the integrity, impartiality, and legality of the ongoing investigation”, according to news agency ANI, which first reported the development.
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The FIP also accused the AAIB of visiting the residence of Capt. Sabharwal’s 91-year-old father, “under the disingenuous ‘pretext of offering condolences”.
“During this interaction, these officials made damaging ‘insinuations’ based on a ‘selective CVR interpretation and a so-called ‘layered voice analysis,’ suggesting that Capt. Sabharwal had deliberately moved the fuel control switches to the CUTOFF position post-take-off,” the FIP mentioned in its letter.
The pilots’ body described the action as “procedurally improper and professionally indefensible,” and accused the officials of attempting to establish a “pilot error” narrative prematurely.
Demanding a judicial probe, the federation wrote: “The FIP submits that the circumstances surrounding the AI 171 investigation make the constitution of a Court of Inquiry not merely ‘expedient,’ but an absolute and urgent necessity.”
The pilots’ body further alleged that the AAIB violated its own rules by leaking cockpit voice recorder details to the media, despite a clear prohibition under Rule 17(5) of the Aircraft (Investigation of Accidents and Incidents) Rules, 2017. These disclosures, it said, amounted to the “character assassination” of a decorated pilot with more than three decades of flying experience and over 15,000 safe flying hours.
Citing Rule 3 of the 2017 Rules, the FIP stressed that the sole objective of accident probes is to prevent future incidents and not to assign blame. “The AAIB’s conduct is in direct contravention of this mandate,” the federation wrote, warning that a flawed domestic investigation also undermines India’s obligations under ICAO Annex 13, which requires impartial and independent inquiries.
The FIP also pointed to the 2010 Mangalore Air India Express crash, where the government had ordered a Court of Inquiry, and argued that the present tragedy, which claimed more lives, “warrants no less decisive a response.”
About the Author
Shankhyaneel Sarkar is a senior subeditor at News18. He covers international affairs, where he focuses on breaking news to in-depth analyses. He has over five years of experience during which he has covered sev…Read More
Shankhyaneel Sarkar is a senior subeditor at News18. He covers international affairs, where he focuses on breaking news to in-depth analyses. He has over five years of experience during which he has covered sev… Read More
September 24, 2025, 20:20 IST
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