‘No dirty business’: Aviation minister on AI 171 crash probe; asks to wait for final report | India News

NEW DELHI: Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu on Tuesday said there was “no manipulation or dirty business” in the ongoing investigation into the Air India flight AI171 crash that killed 260 people in Ahmedabad on June 12.“There is no manipulation, or there is no dirty business, happening in the investigation. It is a very clean and very thorough process that we are doing according to the rules,” Naidu said, adding that the government would wait for the AAIB’s final report before drawing conclusions. “We don’t want to pressure them into coming up with some history report,” he told reporters, as quoted by news agency PTI.The fatal crash involved an Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner flying from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick. The aircraft crashed within a minute of take-off in the Meghani Nagar locality, killing 260 people, including 241 passengers. Only one passenger survived.The AAIB’s preliminary report released on July 12 found that the fuel supply to both engines was cut off within one second, causing confusion in the cockpit. “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,” the report said.The Supreme Court had earlier described as “unfortunate and irresponsible” the selective leaks from the preliminary report, which allegedly led to an unfair media narrative blaming the pilots. The father of one of the pilots, 91-year-old Pushkaraj Sabharwal, demanded a formal inquiry under Rule 12 of the Aircraft (Investigation of Accidents and Incidents) Rules, 2017, saying the leaks had “tarnished Captain Sabharwal’s reputation” and affected his health.Meanwhile, the Federation of Indian Pilots (FIP) has called for a judicial probe, alleging the AAIB’s investigation was “compromised”. The Airline Pilots’ Association of India (ALPA India) confirmed it has been formally invited by the AAIB Director General for a consultation meeting in Delhi on Friday to discuss its role as subject matter experts in the AI171 probe.“Such collaboration is expected to strengthen investigative processes by incorporating the critical perspective of pilots,” ALPA said in a statement, adding it was “optimistic of a positive outcome” from the engagement.

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