Plagiarism Over Tragedy Message? Air India CEO Faces Online Backlash

Days after the devastating Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad that killed 241 people, the airline is facing another criticism - this time over the remarks made by its CEO, Campbell Wilson. Social media users have claimed that Mr Wilson's message on the deadly plane crash was "plagiarised" from American Airlines CEO Robert Isom's speech.

Users also drew similarities between the two speeches by highlighting sentences such as: "I want to brief you on a serious accident", "This is a difficult day for all of us", "I know there ae many questions and at this early stage, I'll not be able to answer all of them, but I do want to share information I have at this time".

Some other sentences included, "emergency response efforts, and "We are actively working with".

My perspective on the plagiarized message used by Air India CEO & MD Campbell Wilson in the aftermath of the deadly, tragic plane crash of Air India Boeing 787 in Ahmedabad https://t.co/sUhNWTwfGF#publicrelations #corporatecommunications pic.twitter.com/SRMzuD7YsM

— Karthik 🇮🇳 (@beastoftraal) June 16, 2025

The American Airlines CEO had spoken in response to a January 30 mid-air collision near Washington DC where a commercial jet collided with a military helicopter, killing 67 people.

Industrialist Harsh Goenka also reacted to the comparison of the speech, calling it a "good perspective".

Good perspective

— Harsh Goenka (@hvgoenka) June 16, 2025

Some users questioned whether the two CEOs used the same consultants or Artificial Intelligence (AI). While some wondered whether it was plagiarism or plain SOPs.

"The SOPs in such situations is common, and if standard procedures are common, using similar/same verbatim to express thoughts is common too. There could and must be multiple things to criticise AirIndia but this, in my opinion ,is far fetched," a X user said.

Air India issued Mr Wilson's video message on the plane crash two days after the tragedy.

"First and most importantly, I would like to express our deep sorrow about this event. This is a difficult day for all of us here in India. And it's now focused entirely on the needs of our passengers, crew members, their families, and loved ones. The injured passengers have been taken by local authorities to the nearest hospitals. We are actively working with the authorities on all emergency response efforts," he said.

The Air India plane flying to London from Ahmedabad's Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Airport crashed within 32 seconds of take-off, and 241 people on board, including 10 cabin crew members and two pilots, were charred to death. Former Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani is one of the victims of the horrific crash.

Officials said that the DNA testing of 132 bodies has been done so far, with 97 of them being handed over to their families.