The furious dispute over what caused Air India flight 171 to crash
A year after the Air India Flight 171 crash that killed 229 people, the investigation remains inconclusive, with fierce debate between those who blame pilot suicide and those who cite a possible electrical failure.
On 12 June last year, Air India Flight 171 from Ahmedabad to London crashed 32 seconds after takeoff, killing all but one of the 230 on board and 19 people on the ground. The investigation, led by India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) with participation from the US NTSB, Boeing, and GE Aerospace, has been mired in controversy.
A preliminary report released a month after the crash noted that the fuel cutoff switches moved to the off position shortly after takeoff, and that a pilot asked the other why he did it. This led to widespread speculation that Captain Sumeet Sabharwal deliberately cut the fuel. However, the AAIB later called such reporting "irresponsible" and urged caution.
The Federation of Indian Pilots and lawyers for victims' families dispute the pilot suicide theory. They point to prior electrical issues with the aircraft, including a 2022 power panel problem, and claim that a major electrical failure could have caused the flight computers to reboot, leading to an automated fuel cutoff. They also note anomalies in the preliminary report, such as the rapid deployment of the Ram Air Turbine (RAT) emergency power system, which they say suggests a problem before takeoff.
A petition has been filed in India's Supreme Court demanding a judicial inquiry. Former NTSB chair Robert Sumwalt and other experts argue that blaming the pilot is convenient for manufacturers and regulators. The final report is due by 12 June, but doubts remain about its conclusiveness.
