Air India crash families mark year as final cause remains unresolved
A year after Flight AI171 killed 260 people in Ahmedabad, investigators are expected to issue an interim update rather than a final report.
By Daniel Okafor · Business Editor
4 min read
Families of people killed in the Air India Flight AI171 crash gathered in Ahmedabad on Friday, one year after the Boeing 787 went down and killed 260 people. The anniversary has renewed pressure on Indian investigators, who have yet to issue a final finding on why the aircraft crashed shortly after takeoff.
Al Jazeera reported that relatives met at the crash site and were also due to attend a conference with lawyers, aviation specialists and air safety experts. A candlelight vigil was planned after sunset.
Crash killed passengers and people on the ground
Flight AI171 was bound for London Gatwick when it crashed into a medical college hostel in Meghani Nagar, a residential area near Ahmedabad’s international airport, according to Al Jazeera. The aircraft had taken off only moments earlier from the airport on the edge of the western Indian city.
Flightradar24 said the plane’s last signal came seconds after takeoff at 1:38pm local time, when it had reached 625 feet, or 190 metres. Al Jazeera reported that the crew had sent a mayday call to air traffic control before contact with the aircraft ended.
Of the 242 people on board, only one passenger survived, according to Al Jazeera. The dead included 169 Indian nationals and 52 British nationals, while 19 people on the ground were also killed and 67 others near the site were injured.
The survivor, British national Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, lost his brother in the crash. His representative, Sanjiv Patel, told The Guardian that Air India had paid Ramesh £21,500, or about $28,800, to support his wife and five-year-old son; Al Jazeera reported that it was not clear whether similar payments had been made to other families.
Investigators expected to issue interim update
India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau is expected to release an interim report rather than a final report, Al Jazeera reported. Under international aviation rules cited by Al Jazeera, a final report is due within a year “if possible”; if an inquiry continues, investigators should issue an interim statement on each anniversary.
Media reports cited by Al Jazeera said Indian investigators are likely to delay their final conclusions because analysis of the aircraft’s engines remains unfinished. Reuters, citing an unnamed source, reported that investigators carried out engine testing in April and visited France last month as part of work on the engine management unit.
Bloomberg reported Thursday that a final report could come within three months after studies of engines sent to the United States are completed.
Preliminary findings drew criticism
The crash was the first fatal airliner crash involving a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, a model in service since 2011, according to Al Jazeera. The AAIB released a 15-page preliminary report one month after the disaster.
That report said fuel supply to the aircraft’s engines had been cut off shortly before impact, according to Al Jazeera. It also included two brief lines of cockpit conversation between the captain and copilot about the fuel cutoff, which fueled speculation about deliberate pilot action.
The preliminary report did not say why the fuel switches were moved or whether a malfunction was involved, Al Jazeera reported. It also made no safety recommendations to Boeing or engine maker GE Aerospace, which Al Jazeera said suggested investigators had not identified technical faults at that stage.
The Federation of Indian Pilots has urged investigators to seek more technical data from Boeing and Air India, saying it is needed to rebut what the union described as a pilot suicide theory being examined by the AAIB. “It will cause more speculation and more misunderstanding,” union president Charanvir Randhawa told reporters in Ahmedabad, referring to an interim report only.
Reuters reported last year that an early assessment by U.S. officials of the cockpit recording supported the view that the captain cut fuel flow to the engines. The AAIB said at the time that it was too early to draw firm conclusions, according to Al Jazeera.
The captain’s father has asked India’s top court to order an independent investigation that considers causes other than deliberate pilot action, Al Jazeera reported.
This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.