- The Federation of Indian Pilots sent a legal notice to the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau
- The Bureau summoned Captain Varun Anand related to the Air India 171 crash probe
- The Federation said Captain Anand has no link to the flight or the crash site
The Federation of Indian Pilots has sent a legal notice to the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau after the latter summoned a pilot related to Captain Sumeet Sabharwal, who was flying Air India 171 when it crashed, in connection with the probe into the tragedy.
Air India has informed Captain Varun Anand that the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau has summoned him.
The Federation of Indian Pilots has objected to this and pointed out that the bureau has not clarified why Captain Anand has been summoned, according to an NDTV Profit report.
The Federation has said Captain Anand has no link to AI-171; nor was he part of the flight planning or present at the crash site. He is neither a factual witness, nor a technical witness, and nor an expert witness in relation to the accident, which left 260 people dead.
The Federation has said Captain Anand has been summoned because he is related to Captain Sumit Sabharwal, the flight's pilot in command. The pilots' organisation suspects that the investigators may already have a preconceived narrative and is trying to shift the responsibility to the dead flight crew.
The federation cited rules under the International Civil Aviation Organization and pointed out that it is unlawful to call family members as part of the investigation. It said that Captain Anand is still willing to appear through video conferencing.
Air India flight 171, travelling from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick, crashed seconds after take-off on the afternoon of June 12. All 12 crew members and 229 of the 230 passengers died. The aircraft crashed into the hostel of a medical college in Ahmedabad, killing 19 people. Only one flier miraculously survived the crash.
A month later, the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau published a preliminary report on what caused the tragedy. The report mentioned a conversation between Captain Sabharwal and First Officer Clive Kundar. The report stated that the cockpit audio confirmed one pilot asked, "Why did you cut off?" And the other replied, "I didn't." This led to speculation that a pilot error was behind the shocking tragedy.
Following the preliminary report, Captain Sabharwal's 88-year-old father, Pushkaraj Sabharwal, and the Federation of Indian Pilots approached the Supreme Court, saying the report is "profoundly flawed". The probe team, they said, is predominantly focusing on the pilots, who can no longer defend themselves. The Supreme Court had said such a narrative is "unfortunate".
Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu has assured that there is no manipulation in the investigation and has appealed to people to wait for the final report, which is still awated.
