Pilots’ assn alleges bias in Air India crash probe, seeks judicial inquiry

The Federation of Indian Pilots (FIP) have accused the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) of pushing a premature and biased “pilot error” narrative in the Air India Flight AI 171 crash and demanded that the probe be replaced by a judicial inquiry.

In a letter to the Ministry of Civil Aviation on September 22, accessed by The Tribune, the FIP said the ongoing investigation into the June 12 crash of Air India’s Boeing 787-8 (VT-ANB) had been “fundamentally and irrevocably compromised”. The accident killed both pilots, 10 cabin crew, 229 passengers and 19 people on the ground.

The FIP alleged that AAIB officials overstepped their mandate by visiting the residence of 91-year-old Pushkar Raj Sabharwal, father of the late Pilot-in-Command Capt Sumeet Sabharwal, under the “pretext of offering condolences”.

During the visit, the letter claimed, officials made “damaging insinuations” that Capt Sabharwal had deliberately moved the fuel control switches to cut-off position after takeoff.

The association described the conduct as “procedurally improper and professionally indefensible”, accusing investigators of a “deliberate strategic manoeuvre designed to pre-emptively establish a ‘pilot error’ narrative”.

“The actions undertaken by the AAIB in the intervening period have not only violated statutory rules and ethical norms but have also shattered the confidence of the bereaved families and the aviation fraternity in the current investigative process. Therefore, it is a formal demand, grounded in law and precedent, for the immediate invocation of a judicial probe,” the letter stated.

The pilots also charged the AAIB with unlawful leaks of cockpit voice recorder details, despite Rule 17(5) of the Aircraft (Investigation of Accidents and Incidents) Rules, 2017, prohibiting such disclosures. According to the FIP, these selective leaks fuelled a “vicious and baseless media campaign” portraying Capt Sabharwal, a senior training captain with over 15,000 flight hours, as suicidal. “This is a direct and malicious attack on the Fundamental Right to reputation guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution of India,” the letter added.

The association argued that the AAIB’s conduct undermines the foundational purpose of accident investigations, which under Rule 3 is to prevent future accidents and not to apportion blame. It also warned that the agency’s actions expose India to “significant legal and international liability” for violating ICAO Annex 13, which requires impartial and independent probes.

Drawing parallels with the Boeing 737 MAX disasters, where pilot error was initially blamed before independent inquiries exposed a hidden design flaw, the FIP said India must not “repeat the mistake of exonerating manufacturers while scapegoating pilots”.

The pilots called for the constitution of a Court of Inquiry under Rule 12, to be headed by a retired Supreme Court judge and assisted by independent experts in operations, maintenance, avionics and human factors. Such a court, they noted, would have “all the powers of a civil court” to summon testimony and demand documents from manufacturers like Boeing and GE.

“A compromised, biased investigation that defaults to a simplistic and convenient ‘pilot error’ narrative is the single greatest threat to achieving justice for the victims of AI 171,” the FIP concluded.