Sabotage angle not ruled out in Air India crash: Minister

Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol on Sunday said the investigators probing the deadly crash of Air India Flight AI 171 in Ahmedabad were actively examining the incident from all angles, including the possibility of a sabotage.

“This tragic incident is being investigated from every possible angle, including sabotage,” Mohol said, marking the first official acknowledgment that foul play hadn’t be ruled out.

The June 12 crash claimed 274 lives — 243 on board and 31 on the ground — making it one of India’s worst aviation disasters in recent history. The ill-fated flight, en route from Delhi to Ahmedabad, went down shortly after reporting a dual engine failure, a scenario experts describe as “extremely rare”.

“It is unprecedented for both engines to shut down simultaneously. Only after the full investigation report is available, we will know whether this was due to a technical malfunction, a fuel supply issue or something else,” said Mohol.

The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) is leading the probe, with multiple agencies assisting. Investigators have recovered and are now analysing the plane’s Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) and Flight Data Recorder (FDR), retrieved separately from the wreckage.

According to officials, the CVR — recovered from a nearby rooftop on June 13 —contains key audio exchanges between the pilots in the critical final moments. The FDR, extracted from the main debris field on June 16, is expected to provide crucial data on the aircraft’s systems and performance. Security camera footage from the airport and surrounding areas is also under scrutiny as authorities seek to piece together the sequence of events and identify any anomalies. “All agencies involved are working with utmost urgency and diligence,” Mohol added.

The preliminary report is expected within three months, although Mohol cautioned that definitive conclusions would only emerge after thorough data analysis.