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'Unfortunate': Supreme Court slams 'piecemeal' info leaked after Air India crash
The Supreme Court issued notices in response to a PIL demanding an independent, fair, and swift investigation into the tragic crash.
The Supreme Court on Monday said that it will hear a petition seeking an independent probe into the tragic Air India plane crash that killed 260 people.
A bench of justices Surya Kant and N Kotishwar Singh issued notices to the Centre and DGCA, seeking their responses in two weeks to a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) demanding an independent, fair, and swift investigation into the crash.
The top court also called the public release of a preliminary report by the DGCA “unfortunate.”
The leak implied one of the pilots could be at fault for moving the fuel control switches from “RUN” to “CUTOFF” seconds after take off, resulting in the loss of thrust.
What did the petition say?
The plea filed by the NGO Safety Matters Foundation has flagged certain issues with the preliminary report released by the Ministry of Civil Aviation over the air crash.
The said petition challenged the preliminary report released by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) on July 12, alleging that it violated the Aircraft (Investigation of Accidents and Incidents) Rules, 2017, which mandate full disclosure of factual data gathered in the early stages of an inquiry.
The petitioners also argue that the report prematurely attributes the plane crash to alleged pilot error while overlooking documented systemic and technical irregularities.
Additionally, the plea also alleges that the preliminary report fails to incorporate or even acknowledge the testimony of the sole surviving passenger, Vishwashkumar Ramesh, a 40-year-old businessman from Leicester.
On June 12, an Air India Flight AI171, a Boeing 787-8, crashed shortly after takeoff from Ahmedabad while en route to London Gatwick, killing 241 people, including 230 passengers, 12 crew members, and several people on the ground. Only one passenger survived.
