New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday issued a notice to the Centre over a petition demanding a court-monitored independent inquiry into the Air India flight AI-171 crash that killed over 250 people, including all 12 crew members and 19 people on the ground, on June 12.
The plea, filed by the father of Captain Sumit Sabharwal, one of the pilots who perished in the crash, along with the Safety Matters Foundation, challenges the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) probe, alleging that it was biased and failed to consider critical technical evidence.
A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi observed that the AAIB’s purpose is not to assign blame but to ascertain causes and preventive measures, and sought the Centre’s response on the matter.
The petition contends that the initial AAIB findings pointing to “human error” were flawed and overlooked possible electrical or systems failure. The preliminary report stated that both engine fuel control switches had moved from RUN to CUTOFF just seconds after takeoff, leading to a loss of thrust.
Appearing for the Centre, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the court that the probe was being conducted in accordance with International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) standards, which establish global norms for air crash investigations.
“Suppose some foreigners were also victims — their countries send representatives to join the investigation. There is no attribution of blame. Since misconceptions arose after the preliminary report, the Ministry of Civil Aviation issued a clarification stating that no individual had been held responsible,” Mehta said.
The court has directed the petitioners to file their counter-affidavits in response to the government’s position.