Supporting people affected by devastating plane crash: Air India CEO

Air India CEO Campbell Wilson on Wednesday said the plane crash in June was devastating for people, families and the staff involved, and the airline has been doing everything to support those affected to ease their journey forward.

Speaking at a conference in the national capital, Wilson also said the interim probe report into the crash indicated that there was nothing wrong with the aircraft, the engines and the operation of the airline.

"We obviously, as with everyone else, we await the final report, and if there's anything to learn from it, we will," he said at his first public engagement in India post the aircraft crash.

In one of the worst aircraft accidents in India, a total of 260 people, including 241 passengers, died after Air India's Boeing 787-8 aircraft operating flight AI171 to London Gatwick crashed soon after take off from Ahmedabad on June 12.

"It was absolutely devastating for the people involved, for the families of those involved, and the staff.

"And since that time we have really been doing absolutely everything we can to support those affected, both families and also those on the ground, also the first responders, and really do whatever we can to ease their journey forward," Wilson said.

The Tata Group-owned airline has completed the interim compensation for the crash victims and others and is working on the final compensation.

He was speaking at the Aviation India and South Asia 2025 conference in the national capital.

According to Wilson, anything that happens in the industry, whether it is with Air India or others, is a cause for introspection.

"It is a cause for reviewing practices. As I said, the interim report indicated that there was nothing with aircraft, engines or practices that required changing... (we will) keep improving, keep getting better," he said.

The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), in its preliminary report on the crash released on July 12, had said the fuel supply to both engines of the plane was cut off within a gap of one second, causing confusion in the cockpit soon after takeoff.

"In the cockpit voice recording, one of the pilots is heard asking the other why did he cut off. The other pilot responded that he did not do so," it had said.

On October 7, Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu said there is "no manipulation or dirty business" happening in the investigation into the Air India plane crash.

There are concerns in certain quarters about the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) probe into the fatal crash.