NEW DELHI – The Federation of Indian Pilots (FIP) has asked the civil aviation ministry to suspend looking into the accident of Air India Flight AI 171 and instead start a judicial inquiry. In a letter to the ministry, the federation said that there was a “loss of public confidence” and worries about the “integrity, impartiality, and legality” of the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau’s (AAIB) investigation.
The FIP’s action comes after what it calls “grave and alarming developments” in the probe of the tragedy in Ahmedabad on June 12 that killed 260 people. The letter talked about an “unsolicited visit” by AAIB officials to the residence of Captain Sumeet Sabharwal’s 91-year-old father. During the inspection, officials supposedly hinted that the pilot may have purposely switched the fuel control switches to the cutoff position. The FIP considered this accusation “procedurally improper and professionally indefensible.”
Worries About CVR Leaks and Attacking the Character of Pilots
The FIP, which stands for “Federation of International Pilots,” has also accused the AAIB of breaking the Aircraft (Investigation of Accidents and Incidents) Rules, 2017, which say that cockpit voice recorder (CVR) information cannot be shared.
A preliminary report that came out on July 12 said that both fuel control switches for the engines were switched from RUN to CUTOFF just seconds after takeoff, which caused the engines to lose all thrust. The cockpit voice recorder supposedly picked up one pilot asking about the fuel cutoff and the other denying any responsibility. The FIP says that these selective leaks have resulted to “a vicious and baseless media campaign” and the “character assassination of a decorated professional.”
The federation further said that the story that Captain Sabharwal was suicidal was “unfounded” and “a direct and malicious attack on the fundamental right to reputation.”
A Call for Safety in the System
The FIP’s letter said that focusing too soon on pilot mistake could be the “single greatest threat” to making flying safer. The federation is worried that this story could “obscure systemic flaws” in how planes are designed, maintained, or overseen, which would only lead to further disasters in the future.
The FIP’s request for a judicial investigation comes after a similar request by Sabharwal’s family and a request to the Supreme Court for a “free, fair, impartial, and quick investigation” into the crash. The AAIB and foreign organizations like the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board, the UK’s Air Accidents Investigation Branch, and Boeing were all involved in the first investigation into the accident.