Air India crash: Supreme Court questions preliminary report suggesting pilot error; calls it 'unfortunate'

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday raised serious concerns over the AAIB preliminary report on the June 12 Air India Crash, calling certain aspects "irresponsible." A bench of Justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh issued notice to Centre and the director general of civil aviation (DGCA) on a plea seeking an independent, fair and expeditious probe. The bench examined the July 12 preliminary report, which suggested lapses on the part of pilots in the Boeing 787-8 aircraft operating flight AI171. Advocate Prashant Bhushan, who is representing the aviation safety NGO, Safety Matters Foundation led by Captain Amit Singh (FRAeS), contended that three members of the probe panel were from the aviation regulator, raising potential conflict-of-interest concerns.He also urged the court to order the release of the flight data recorder (FDR) information to clarify the cause of the accident.The plea highlighted that AAIB's preliminary report attributed the accident to the fuel cutoff switches being moved from "run" to "cutoff," effectively implying pilot error. The plea also alleged that the report withholds critical information, including the full Digital Flight Data Recorder (DFDR) output, complete Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) transcripts with time stamps and Electronic Aircraft Fault Recording (EAFR) data.The Apex Court highlighted concerns over confidentiality, privacy, and dignity, while recognizing the necessity for a final report. It cautioned that disclosing certain details could be misused by competing airlines, but emphasized that its notices were solely aimed at ensuring a fair, independent, and impartial investigation.