Federation of Indian Pilots seeks say on independent review of AI-171 crash probe report

They emphasize the need for pilot perspectives in the investigation process for improved aviation safety.

A body representing commercial pilots in India has written to civil aviation minister Ram Mohan Naidu asking whether the government intends to have an independent committee examine the draft final investigation report into the Air India AI-171 crash before it is circulated or finalised.

The AAIB is at an advanced stage of preparing the draft final report into the June 12, 2025 crash of the Air India Boeing 787-8. (PTI)

In the letter, dated September 25, the Federation of Indian Pilots (FIP) said it had “reliably learnt that the Government/Ministry has directed or is considering requiring the draft report to undergo examination by an independent committee before it is circulated/finalised”.

HT could not independently confirm whether such a review has been ordered or is under consideration. A query on whether the government had asked the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) to put the draft final report before an independent committee did not elicit a response.

One pilot said the ministry was reportedly keen for an independent committee to examine the draft before it is made public, and had recently written to the AAIB saying so.

The AAIB is at an advanced stage of preparing the draft final report into the June 12, 2025 crash of the Air India Boeing 787-8 in Ahmedabad, which killed 260 people.

A former bureaucrat said the AAIB head has, as a settled practice, been able to form an experts committee to review a report before approving it for publication. “In fact, yet another committee can be formed even after the report is out to ensure the action is taken on the recommendations mentioned in the report,” he said.

In its letter, the FIP asked the ministry to confirm whether such a committee has been constituted or is proposed, its composition and terms of reference, whether independent aviation professionals would be on it, and whether the federation would be invited or nominated to take part.

It also asked how the technical observations it had submitted earlier would be considered and responded to, and requested that its representation be taken up before the draft is circulated for final consultation or moved towards acceptance and publication.

The federation said any review should include a professional pilot perspective. “An independent review which does not include an appropriate professional pilot perspective would leave an important technical dimension insufficiently represented,” the letter said. A “transparent and technically independent review” with “meaningful representation of the Professional Pilot community” would be consistent with the goal of improving aviation safety in India, it added.

The FIP has previously flagged what it says are discrepancies between the AAIB’s preliminary report and independent simulator evaluations, particularly over when the Ram Air Turbine (RAT), a small propeller-driven generator that drops out of the aircraft to supply emergency power when the engines fail, deployed and when hydraulic power became available.

According to the preliminary report, the fuel-system interruption occurred at about 08:08:42 UTC, and the RAT began supplying hydraulic power about four seconds later. The FIP said simulator testing showed that about 18 seconds were needed after a fuel-system interruption for RAT-generated power to become available. The federation has also questioned differences in take-off performance timings between the preliminary report and simulator runs.