The AAIB slammed The Wall Street Journal over its report highlighting a pilot’s role in the Air India Flight 171 crash on June 12 in Ahmedabad, calling it unverified and saying it was too early to come to conclusions.
India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) on Thursday called out the US-based The Wall Street Journal for its report on a “pilot’s role” in the Air India Flight 171 crash that killed 260, calling it unverified and selective reporting. The bureau said it was too early to jump to conclusions and wait for the final report to be released.
In a statement, the AAIB said that its preliminary findings into the Air India crash were to provide information about “what” happened and that an investigation into the tragedy was still not complete.
“It is essential to respect the sensitivity of the loss faced by family members of the passengers, crew of the aircraft and other persons on the ground who died. 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,” the AAIB said.
The Wall Street Journal, citing an assessment by US officials, said the black box recording indicated that Captain Sumeet Sabharwal, 56, turned off the fuel control switches, seconds after AI 171 crashed into a resident doctors’ hostel in Ahmedabad after takeoff.
“We urge both the public and the media to refrain from spreading premature narratives that risk undermining the integrity of the investigative process,” AAIB said in the statement.
“The purpose of the AAIB’s investigation and preliminary report is to provide information about ‘what’ happened. The preliminary report has to be seen in this light. At this stage, it is too early to reach any definite conclusions. The investigation by the AAIB is still not complete. The final investigation report will come out with root causes and recommendations,” the body said.
The AAIB also said that the probe was being undertaken “in a rigorous and most professional manner in accordance with rules and international protocols”.
“While the accident of this dimension has drawn public attention and shock, however, it needs to be appreciated that this is not the time to create public anxiety or angst regarding the safety of the Indian aviation industry, particularly on the basis of unfounded facts,” the bureau further said.
WHAT DID THE WALL STREET JOURNAL REPORT SAY?
AI 171 was being commanded by 56-year-old Sabharwal, who had a total flying experience of 15,638 hours, and First Officer Clive Kunder, 32, who had 3,403 hours of total experience.
Moments after takeoff, the first officer asked the captain why he moved the switches from “run” to the “cutoff” position, the report said. After noticing it, the first officer panicked, while the captain seemed to remain calm, The Wall Street Journal report said.
The Boeing 787 Dreamliner, which was on its way to London, crashed into the BJ Medical College hostel building in Ahmedabad within seconds of takeoff. The tragedy left 260 people, including 241 passengers and crew on board and 19 others on the ground, dead.
The initial probe report, released by the AAIB, revealed that the fuel control switches of the Boeing 787 flipped from a “run” to a “cutoff” position within a second of each other after lift-off.
The fuel control switches regulate fuel flow into a plane’s engines. The AAIB report, however, does not mention if the switches were moved by either of the pilots to the “cutoff” position.
The report does mention one pilot asking the other why he cut off the fuel supply, with the other responding he did not. However, the full transcript of the conversation was never released, prompting several theories on social media.
