A fresh public interest litigation (PIL) has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking full disclosure of the data related to Air India‘s AI-171 plane that crashed near Ahmedabad airport on June 12, killing over 250 people. The aircraft was heading to London’s Gatwick airport. According to reports, the plea also sought a court-monitored investigation into the accident. It has sought to release the cockpit recordings transcript, black box, and technical details of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner plane.
The petition has been filed by an NGO, which also mentioned that the preliminary report of the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) on July 12 violates the Aircraft (Investigation of Accidents and Incidents) Rules, 2017, as it did not disclose the full details as required.
What has the PIL sought?
The AI171 crashed near the Ahmedabad airport killing all but one passenger onboard, and 20 students of a medical college. It also destroyed several buildings in the area. The government launched a probe through AAIB, which released its preliminary report on July 12. The interim report mentioned the transcript of conversation between the two pilots, with one asking why the other moved the control to stop the fuel supply to the engine. To this, the other pilot replied he did not.
The report added the mystery of the crash rather than clearing the air. Now, the Non-profit Safety Matters Foundation on Thursday said they want the court to intervene in the matter. The petitioner said that AAIB and the government must release full technical details, systemic failures and everything they know so far about the crash. It added that the prelim report hinted at ‘pilot error’ and seems to have ignored everything else.
“When citizens entrust their lives to air travel, they do so with the faith that the State will ensure transparency and accountability. A selective or compromised inquiry not only denies justice to the victims but exposes future passengers to the same risks,” the petition stated, according to a TOI report.
The NGO was founded by Amit Singh, a pilot with over 17,000 hours of flying experience on Boeing 777 and Airbus 320. In the plea, he mentioned how the selectively made disclosures including the paraphrased references to cockpit voice recordings. He added that there was no mention of timestamps, full transcripts, or corroborative context.
Plea seeks independent investigator for probe
The NGO has further said there was need of an independent investigator for the probe into the accident, claiming there was a conflict of interest in the current investigating team. It said that three out of the five members of the probe team are from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), which is responsible for certifying Air India’s operations.
“Permitting DGCA officials to dominate the investigation amounts to the regulator sitting in judgment over itself,” it added.
“The stakes extend beyond the families of the victims to every citizen who relies on aviation as a mode of transport,” the petition said, further stating that it violates Articles 14, 19(1)(a) and 21 of the Constitution—guaranteeing equality, information and life.
It has asked for full disclosure of Digital Flight Data Recorder (DFDR) output, Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) transcript with timestamps, all recorded fault messages and technical advisories of the plane.