Furious dispute over what caused the Air India Flight 171 crash: pilot suicide or electrical failure?
The Air India Flight 171 crash last year killed 230 people, and the investigation has sparked heated debate over whether the crash was caused by a pilot's intentional act or a technical malfunction.
On June 12 last year, Air India Flight 171, carrying 230 passengers and 10 crew from Ahmedabad to London, crashed just 32 seconds after takeoff, killing all but one person on board and 19 on the ground. India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) released a preliminary report a month later, stating that the fuel cutoff switches moved to the cutoff position seconds after takeoff, and the cockpit voice recorder captured one pilot asking the other why they cut off the fuel, with the reply, "I did not do so." This sparked intense media speculation that Captain Sumeet Sabharwal deliberately caused the crash.
However, safety campaigners, pilot groups, and lawyers for the victims' families contest this narrative. They point to prior issues with the aircraft, including a 2022 incident of burning in a main power panel and a known fault in the core network, often described as the aircraft's central nervous system. Investigative journalist Rachel Chitra has promoted a theory that a major electrical failure could have caused the flight computers to reboot, leading the safety system to automatically cut the fuel supply, rather than a pilot action. Lawyers also highlight the deployment of the Ram Air Turbine (RAT) immediately after takeoff, which they argue suggests a problem before the fuel cutoff.
Former NTSB chairman Robert Sumwalt and other experts believe the pilots were responsible, but the Federation of Indian Pilots and the victims' relatives have petitioned India's Supreme Court for a judicial inquiry. The AAIB has warned against premature conclusions. The final report is due by June 12, but India's civil aviation minister indicated it might be delayed. The controversy raises questions about the impartiality of national investigations under political and corporate pressure.
