Air India crash probe enters final phase after recorder transcript and reviews

ISLAMABAD: India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) has moved its investigation into last year’s Air India crash into the final stage after preparing a cockpit voice recorder transcript and carrying out a psychological autopsy, according to a court filing.

The filing did not say whose psychological autopsy was conducted and did not set out any findings on the Boeing 787 crash, which killed 260 people shortly after takeoff from Ahmedabad. The AAIB said analysis of data recovered in late May from an engine monitoring unit was still pending, while examination of some organisational factors was also continuing.

According to the filing dated Tuesday, investigators interviewed Air India 787 pilots, crew members who had previously flown with the pilots of the crashed aircraft, technical staff involved in preparing the jet, air traffic controllers, weather officials and human-factors specialists. The bureau also said family members of the flight crew were contacted at their homes in the early phase of the inquiry.

Court filing details progress of inquiry

The disclosures surfaced in litigation brought by Pushkar Raj Sabharwal, the father of the aircraft captain. One of the AAIB’s visits to the family home last year had angered him after, he said, officials suggested that his son had cut fuel supply to the aircraft’s engines after takeoff.

The AAIB said public speculation and media narratives assigning blame to the pilots had made some witnesses

restrictive and non-responsive

during the investigation. It added that the inquiry is now in the analysis stage, with findings and conclusions being developed across operational, technical, human factors and organisational areas.

Draft report expected around October

The bureau said the remaining investigation work was expected to be completed in about six weeks, subject to pending external dependencies. It said a draft final report was likely around October and would then be shared with participating countries for comments before being finalised and published.

The US National Transportation Safety Board is among the parties expected to receive the draft report. Reuters had earlier reported that, according to an initial assessment by US officials last year, cockpit audio of the exchange between the two pilots supported the view that the captain had shut off fuel flow to the engines. At the time, the AAIB said it was

too early to reach any definite conclusions

.