Delay in releasing AI-171 crash report risks prolonging grief, speculation

A year after the fatal accident, the reason behind the crash of the London-bound Air India flight AI171, moments after it took off from Ahmedabad, is still not known. On June 12 last year, the crash killed all except one of the flight’s 242 passengers and crew, besides 19 on the ground, as the plane fell from the sky on the campus of a medical college. With no clarity emerging from the investigations, the cause of the accident, involving a 12-year-old Boeing Dreamliner, has remained a mystery, resulting in multiple theories but without authoritative evidence. While investigators could take a long time to reveal the findings of a plane crash of this nature, a greater transparency on the progress of the probe would help hundreds of those who lost their family and friends in one of the worst air disasters in recent history. The kin of those who died are looking for closure that’s based on authentic proof, rather than speculative assumptions. 

Last week, as the AI171 crash marked its first anniversary, the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), set up in 2012 under the Ministry of Civil Aviation, only said that the analysis of the flight-recorder data, aircraft systems, engine components, maintenance records, and human factors was in progress. Following questions on the delay in submitting the crash report, Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu said that the investigation had reached its final stages. The AAIB would submit its final report soon in compliance with the international norms, the minister said. Curiously, within a month of the occurrence, the AAIB had issued a “preliminary report’’, which found that seconds after takeoff, the plane’s fuel-control switches moved to cutoff position, which stopped fuel supply to both the engines, leading to a total loss of power. Deepening the confusion, the transcript of the cockpit audio in the preliminary report indicated that one pilot asked the other why he had done it (possibly on moving the fuel-control switches to cutoff position) and the reply was: “I did not.” The voices were not identified by the investigators, leaving ample room for speculation. Experts, in search of an answer, have been demanding the full cockpit voice transcript, but that is not in the public domain yet. 

Media reports, meanwhile, have pointed the blame in multiple directions, ranging from human hand to technical and mechanical failures. Just before the preliminary report was posted on the official website last July, a report in The Wall Street Journal said the probe was shifting the focus to the senior pilot in the cockpit, prompting agitation by pilots. More recently, The Caravan has reported that a computer malfunction may be behind the crash. The magazine’s report is based on maintenance records of the airline and internal correspondence that may have held clues to the crash just 32 seconds after takeoff. According to global norms, as specified by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a final report should ideally be completed within 12 months of an air crash/accident. In case a conclusive report requires more time, authorities are mandated to release an interim progress report by the first anniversary of the incident. The objective of the timeline is not just to find out what caused the crash, but also to prevent future tragedies. It is, therefore, important that the final report be released at the earliest to put an end to speculation and provide closure to the affected families.