5 min readAhmedabadJun 12, 2026 12:45 AM IST
First published on: Jun 12, 2026 at 12:44 AM IST
A day before the first anniversary of the Air India Flight AI-171 crash, the Federation of Indian Pilots (FIP) questioned the “lack of subject matter experts” on the body that is probing the incident. It also urged the Union Ministry of Civil Aviation not to publish another interim report, warning that it could add to confusion and speculation on the cause of the accident.
“…subject matter experts who have worked on a Boeing 787 must investigate this crash. They have not disclosed anything about who else is involved in the investigation,” said Captain CS Randhawa, president of the Federation of Indian Pilots (FIP), in Ahmedabad on Thursday.
Captain Randhawa was speaking to the media on the probe by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB). He was in town to meet the families of the victims, on June 12.
A-I Flight 171, which was flying from Ahmedabad to London’s Gatwick, crashed into the IGP compound that housed the hostels of BJ Medical College around 1:38 pm on June 12 last year, about 32 seconds after taking off from Runway 23 of the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport here
On May 8, Union Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu, who was at GIFT City to attend an event on aircraft leasing and financing, said the crash probe was in the final stages. “The crash investigation is in the final stages and could even be completed in a month. The investigation is being done by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau and we don’t interfere in it. We are giving them all the resources they need for their work. There were international passengers also on the flight… This report must be done with transparency. Our effort is that the report is completed as soon as possible, but…we cannot interrupt the process,” Naidu had said.
Preliminary investigation findings were submitted by the AAIB to the Ministry on July 12 last year and made public at the time.
Amid rumours of another “interim” report, Captain Randhawa said: “Our demand is that no interim report should come… give the final report. In the interim report, are you coming up with any conclusions? If not, then you are causing more speculation, more misunderstanding, and causing people to go on a tangent.”
When asked by this reporter if his demand for transparency was not contradictory to his demand for the AAIB not to release another interim report, he said, “No. What will they say in the interim report… They will leave it to the public to assume what happened. Also, it may give fuel to the theory that the pilot has done this. Are they going to come out with a full transcript of CVR? They will not. Will they come out with the full transcript of the EFR? They will not.”
On the timeline for the final report, Captain Randhawa said that he had not stressed that the report should come out in one year.
Randhawa said that in several letters written to the Ministry, he had detailed aspects that needed to be probed and verified. “Maybe they are evaluating the points we sent them. So, it will take time. When the final report comes, it will have to have evidence of whether it was a pilot error or an electrical error.”
On the matter of subject matter experts, Captain Randhawa said, “If they have experts, they wouldn’t need this. The experts would have already kept these things in mind. They (the people on the investigating body) don’t have expertise. There are five people on the investigation body for such a large country…”
On the regulations regarding the qualifications of investigators, Captain Randhawa said, “The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) under Annexure 13 says that an investigation board of an independent nature should be set up, and the investigators in the board must be very well qualified and experienced… but the current investigators don’t meet the bulk of these qualifications. One has flown a small aircraft; another has been servicing a small aircraft. They don’t have the expertise. While they are now going to revamp the investigation board in subsequent investigations, it won’t happen in this case because the investigation is already underway.”
On whether the FIP would accept the final report when it comes out, given that it has flagged several concerns, he said: “If it is backed with evidence, and our attorneys and we are convinced, then we will accept it. But if we have even an iota of doubt that it is not correct and if the electrical systems are not properly checked before putting out the report, we will challenge it in the Delhi HC.”
Randhawa noted that it was not possible to turn off both fuel control switches in one second. “I have been an examiner for more than 30 years. We teach pilots about challenges and responses. Now they (AAIB) are saying that in one second, both the fuel control switches were cut off. It is humanly not possible. The recorded human response time for a pilot is 2 seconds.”
“Even in a dual engine failure, there is a challenge and response. One pilot will challenge the fuel cutoff, and the other pilot will confirm it. The same thing happens for the second engine. This is done so that by mistake you (the pilot) don’t switch off the live engine. Pilots are taught this, and this is recorded. And if the pilots did this, then where is the conversation?”
An Air India Boeing 787-8, operating flight AI 171 from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick, crashed shortly after take-off, claiming the lives of 241 of the 242 people on board and another 19 on the ground. (Express photo) 
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