'We'll have all answers with final report': Civil Aviation Minister on Air India crash in parliament

Union Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu has told the parliament that the final report of the investigation into the Air India 171 crash will answer all of the questions that people have.

Since the publication of the preliminary report of the investigation of AI 171 crash in Gujarat’s Ahmedabad last month, questions have been swirling about several aspects of the crash, such as the conduct of the pilots, the sequence of events in the cockpit, and the transparency in the investigation. For example, it has been flagged that the report paraphrased a critical conversation between two pilots and did not identify the speakers, making it unclear who said exactly what.

Naidu told the Rajya Sabha, “To have a definitive answer and definitive future correction measures, we have to look at the final report, sir. And I can say this to the House and through you to the people of this country also that the AAIB (Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau) has a very definitive thorough rule-based process. They are a very transparently looking into the process right now and they are totally unbiased.”

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On June 12, the Ahmedabad-London AI 171 flight crashed shortly after take-off into the BJ Medical College, Ahmedabad. A total of 260 people, including 241 of 241 aboard and 19 on the ground, were killed in the accident. The preliminary report found that both the engines failed after losing fuel supply.

Naidu further said that the investigation needs to be respected to come up with the answers. He cited previous accidents in other countries and said that the same process is followed in every crash’s investigation.

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“We want to stand by the truth. We want to find out what exactly happened and that is only going to be coming out once the final report has been placed. So we have to respect the process of investigation and once that process of investigation has happened, then we can talk about what happened and how it happened and then the corrective measures,” said Naidu.

This is the latest statement by the government to dismiss reports and statement about the investigation into the AI 171 crash. Last week, after Wall Street Journal reported that the investigation into the crash was focussing on the conduct of AI 171 Captain Sumeet Sabharwal, the AAIB issued an advisory and said that the public and the media should wait for the final report and not jump to conclusions at this stage.

“It has come to our attention that certain sections of the international media are repeatedly attempting to draw conclusions through selective and unverified reporting. Such actions are irresponsible, especially while the investigation remains ongoing. We urge both the public and the media to refrain from spreading premature narratives that risk undermining the integrity of the investigative process,” the advisory said.

In his speech in the Rajya Sabha, Naidu also sought to reassure the parliament about AAIB’s ability to investigate.

“I can say that the AAIB is totally unbiased and looking into the facts now. There can be many questions also. I’ve seen multiple articles myself. I’ve seen multiple articles not only by the Indian media but also the Western media trying to promote their own narrative, their own viewpoint, their own kind of consideration. But I have to tell you that the way we are seeing the investigation is through the facts,” said Naidu