‹ Dragoman · Ed. 27 · Translated from Hindi
translated from Hindi

A Year After the Air India Ahmedabad Crash, Families Still Do Not Know Why It Happened

A year after the AI-171 crash, the official inquiry remains unfinished, technical questions remain unresolved, and bereaved families are being pressed toward closure before the truth has been established.

एयर इंडिया हादसा: सालभर बाद भी नहीं मालूम कि विमान के इंजन क्यों बंद हुए थे
The Wire Hindi · By रित्वी जैन · 12 June 2026 · read the original in Hindi →

New Delhi: Even a year after one of the worst air disasters of recent years, the families of those killed in Air India’s Ahmedabad crash still do not know why the Boeing 787 Dreamliner went down only seconds after takeoff.

The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), releasing its interim report on the crash of flight AI-171 on Friday, June 12, has shared its progress. The document, however, does not disclose the causes of the tragedy, because the examination of the aircraft’s engines is still under way.

A Reuters report published on Thursday, June 11, also confirms this claim. The report said investigators may delay issuing the final report, since analysis is still pending of the GE Aerospace-manufactured engines that have been at the center of the crash investigation. The accident, which took place on June 12, 2025, killed 260 people.

The AAIB update sets out the work done so far and the areas that remain under investigation. A source in the Ministry of Civil Aviation told Hindustan Times, “Essentially, this is the kind of update that investigating agencies are required to issue when a final report cannot be released within a year.”

The source added, “It states where the investigation stands and what work has been completed so far. But it should not be treated as a report that establishes the cause of the accident.”

The update is being issued under Annex 13 of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), which requires that either a final report or a progress report be released within one year of any aircraft accident.

According to reports, investigators conducted engine-related tests in April and visited France in May to study the engine management unit. Bloomberg News reported on Thursday, June 11, that the final report is likely to be released roughly three months after the assessment of the engines sent to the United States is completed.

Indian Pilots’ Federation Opposes Interim Updateभारतीय पायलट संघ ने अंतरिम अपडेट का विरोध किया

According to the Hindustan Times report, the Federation of Indian Pilots asked the ministry on Thursday, June 11, not to release the update. The federation argued that it would increase, rather than reduce, confusion surrounding the crash.

Ahead of the first anniversary of the accident, the federation’s president, C.S. Randhawa, told journalists, “This will create more speculation and misunderstanding. We have requested the Government of India and the AAIB not to issue any interim report.”

According to Reuters, the pilots’ federation had earlier sought more technical data about the aircraft from Boeing and Air India, in order to rebut the “pilot suicide theory” being examined by the AAIB.

The controversy arose from the AAIB’s preliminary report issued last year, which gave rise to several conspiracy theories, most of them suggesting the possibility of human intervention. The federation fears that if the new update is also released without identifying the real cause, the same speculation will begin again.

What Is Known About the Final 32 Seconds?

At 08:08:39 GMT on June 12, 2025, the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner lifted off from Ahmedabad’s runway, bound for London’s Gatwick Airport. There were 242 people on board.

Within just three seconds of becoming airborne, the fuel-control switches of both engines rapidly moved from “run” to “cutoff” mode. Before the aircraft had even crossed the airport boundary, it began losing altitude. Attempts were made to restore the fuel flow and restart the engines, but by then it was too late. The aircraft had neither enough height nor enough time left to recover.

The plane then crashed into the hostel complex of B.J. Medical College. Of the 242 people on board, 241 were killed in the accident, while 19 students on the ground also lost their lives.

According to the AAIB’s preliminary report, the cockpit voice recorder captured a brief exchange between the two pilots. One pilot asked the other why the fuel supply had been cut off, while the other denied having done so.

That exchange, along with the report’s indication that no technical or design defect had been found, continued to fuel speculation for months. Pilot organizations opposed claims of deliberate human intervention, while refusing to rule out the possibility of a technical malfunction.

AI-171’s Controversial Technical Historyएआई-171 का विवादास्पद तकनीकी इतिहास

Another important aspect of the investigation is the aircraft’s troubling history. The Foundation for Aviation Safety (FAS), led by former Boeing manager Ed Pierson, submitted a report to the U.S. Senate in January 2026. It alleged that AI-171 had a recorded history of technical faults dating back to February 1, 2014, the very day it arrived in India.

According to a report by The Wire, the documents refer to recurring failures related to engineering, manufacturing, quality control, and maintenance, including incidents of fire in flight.

In 2022 alone, the aircraft caught fire twice. The January 2022 fire was so serious that the aircraft’s electrical distribution panel had to be replaced in full. The second incident occurred in April 2022 and was linked to the landing gear indication system.

FAS listed a range of problems over the aircraft’s 11 years in service, including electrical system failures, wiring damage, software faults, smoke, short circuits, and severe overheating of components.

The report alleged that officials in the government, Boeing, and Air India were “intentionally concealing critical safety information,” and called for an investigation into this alleged “criminal cover-up.”

The report also said that other Air India 787 aircraft had shown signs of electrical system failures.

Another Air India Dreamliner Groundedएयर इंडिया का एक और ड्रीमलाइनर उड़ान से रोका गया

As The Wire previously reported, a significant turn in the investigation came on February 1, 2026, when another Air India 787 Dreamliner flight from London’s Heathrow Airport to Bengaluru was stopped.

During pre-flight checks, one of its fuel switches moved twice from “run” to “cutoff” mode without the required “lift action.” The incident challenged the assumption that the AI-171 crash had been caused by a pilot’s manual action.

The Times of India quoted a senior commander as saying that the incident fundamentally challenges the assumption that the switch movement in the crash was a deliberate act by a person. According to him, corrosion or a mechanical detent failure could be possible causes.

Aviation safety expert Captain Amit Singh also said that a 2018 warning issued by U.S. aviation regulators about the Boeing 787’s fuel switches had never been properly addressed. Captain G.R. Gopinath, the founder of Air Deccan, had also pointed to Air India’s long-standing maintenance problems and to the complexities created after the Tata Group takeover by the merger of four different airlines, all of which had different standards.

Significantly, the AAIB’s preliminary report did not mention any safety action against Boeing or GE Aerospace.

Families of the Dead Asked to Give Up Legal Rightsमृतकों के परिवारों से कानूनी अधिकार छोड़ने को कहा गया

The final stage of the investigation into the GE Aerospace engines is still incomplete, and without it the final report cannot be issued. Yet the families of those killed in the crash have been asked by Air India to sign documents in order to receive compensation, documents under which they would give up present and future legal rights.

Radhika Mishra, daughter of former Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani, who was killed in the crash, wrote an email to Tata Sons and Air India chairman N. Chandrasekaran asking why families were being made to sign final settlement documents before the investigation had been completed.

The “waiver” required to receive compensation applies not only to existing and future legal claims against Air India, but also to those against any other party involved, such as Boeing, GE Aerospace, Safran, Honeywell, government agencies, or airport operators.

Although Air India says there is no deadline for accepting the offer, Mishra’s email emphasizes that an attempt is being made to bring the matter to a complete close even before the parties involved have been exonerated and before any complicity by any authority has been established.

A year after the crash, for the families of the 260 dead, many of whom are still waiting for the final identification of their relatives’ remains, the truth has not emerged. The update that has been issued offers them no relief either, because the final conclusions are still pending.

Click here to read this report in English.(इस रिपोर्ट को अंग्रेजी में पढ़ने के लिए यहां क्लिक करें.)

Y done · S save · G great · B bad · N not for me