The Federation of Indian Pilots (FIP) has voiced strong reservations about the preliminary investigation report into the fatal Air India crash on 12 June, calling it “premature” and lacking in transparency. The statement from the pilots' association comes days after the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) released initial findings into the incident, which killed 260 people, including 241 passengers.
The FIP criticised the investigation for excluding pilot representation and raised concerns over what it described as speculative conclusions being drawn without a full analysis of available data.
“Assigning blame before a thorough, transparent, and data-driven investigation is both premature and irresponsible,” the federation said in a statement on Wednesday. “Such speculative commentary undermines the professionalism of highly trained crew members and causes undue distress to their families and colleagues.”
The AAIB’s preliminary report highlighted that both fuel control switches of the AI171 London-bound flight were moved from ‘RUN’ to ‘CUTOFF’ within seconds of take-off from Ahmedabad. The report also included paraphrased excerpts from the cockpit voice recorder, citing an exchange between the two pilots, Sumeet Sabharwal and Clive Kunder. One pilot reportedly asked, “Why did you cut off?”, to which the other replied, “I did not do so.”
The FIP, however, questioned the selective use of such audio transcripts. “The report, as released, lacks comprehensive data and appears to rely selectively on paraphrased cockpit voice recordings to suggest pilot error and question the professional competence and integrity of the flight crew,” the statement read.
The body called for restraint in drawing conclusions, urging the public and media not to speculate on the cause of the crash based on initial findings. “This approach is neither objective nor complete,” the FIP added.
Following the AAIB report’s focus on the fuel control switches, India’s aviation regulator, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), ordered an inspection of the locking mechanisms of fuel switches across Boeing 787 and 737 aircraft.
Air India later confirmed that its engineering teams had completed the checks and found “no issues” with the switches.
The crash occurred on 12 June when the Air India AI171 flight from Ahmedabad to London failed to gain altitude and came down seconds after take-off. All 260 people on board perished in the crash. The AAIB’s preliminary findings were made public on 12 July, exactly one month after the tragedy.
