Air India crash: Draft final report will be ready by October, AAIB tells Supreme Court
More than a year after an Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner crashed shortly following take-off from Ahmedabad on June 12, 2025, killing 260 people, the
More than a year after an Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner crashed shortly following take-off from Ahmedabad on June 12, 2025, killing 260 people, the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) has informed the Supreme Court that it expects to complete its investigation within six weeks, with a “draft final report” likely to be ready by October. “In view of the nature, scale and complexity of the present accident, the AAIB has carefully assessed the timeline for completion of the investigation. In all probability, the investigative activities, subject to the resolution of pending external dependencies, are expected to be completed within six weeks,” states an affidavit filed on behalf of the Ministry of Civil Aviation and the AAIB ahead of a July 17 hearing in a batch of petitions seeking an independent investigation into the crash. As required under the rules of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), the draft report will first be shared with the Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), the United States agency representing the State of Design and Manufacture, for its comments. According to the Centre, this consultation process could take between 30 and 60 days, depending on the nature and complexity of the responses received. The Union government has further stated that the investigating team had interviewed several witnesses, including Air India and Boeing 787 pilots, crew members who had previously flown with the pilots of the accident aircraft, air traffic control (ATC) personnel, and specialists in human factors and crew resource management (CRM).
However, it acknowledged that “media speculation” and the “narrative attributing blameworthiness to the pilots” had made some witnesses “restrictive and non-responsive” during the course of the investigation. ‘No scope for parallel probe’ The affidavit has also opposed the petitioners’ demand for a court-monitored or independent inquiry, contending that the investigation was being conducted strictly in accordance with international standards and the applicable statutory framework, leaving no scope either for judicial supervision or a parallel probe. “It is thus respectfully submitted that the statutory and treaty framework governing aircraft accident investigation constitutes a carefully layered legal regime... This constitutes a complete code, leaving no lacuna that could justify the creation of a parallel investigative body,” the affidavit stated. The AAIB has further informed the court that it has completed 49 of the 66 procedural steps prescribed for the investigation of a serious aircraft accident. According to the affidavit, every safeguard—including the preservation of evidence, recovery and analysis of the flight recorders, participation of accredited representatives, technical examination of aircraft systems, stakeholder consultation and circulation of the draft report—is being “scrupulously followed”. Prohibition on disclosure of cockpit recordings Notably, the Bureau has opposed the petitioners’ request for access to the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) recordings, contending that Rule 17(5) of the Aircraft (Investigation of Accidents and Incidents) Rules, 2025 (2025 Rules), imposes “an absolute statutory prohibition” on the public disclosure of cockpit voice recordings and airborne image recordings.
The BriefWire