Remembering AI-171: Tragedy, loss and unanswered questions
The Air India 171 disaster has become one of India’s worst Aviation tragedies, and Air India’s first wide body crash since the Kanishka bombing of Air India 182 back in June of 1985.
Time has stood still in those 40 years as the world has passed us by, the dreadful memories of that Boeing 747 strewn over the Atlantic Ocean off Ireland still jar the mind, when this B-787 turned into a fireball at Ahmedabad and brought us crashing down to earth to reality.
That afternoon, I got a call from a friend in engineering, and watched the forwarded video in horror, literally within minutes, TV channels were scrambling to verify facts. It was Indian aviation’s worst nightmare, a wide body tragedy that likely had killed all on board and worse still, had ploughed into a medical college on ground, killing many more.
When all was done and dusted, 260 people had perished in that inferno, 241 passenger and crew, and 19 innocents on the ground. Miraculously, one person survived and was found talking on the phone walking away, a halo of invincibility surrounded him.
The scale of grief stunned the politicians and Indian public, it was India’s first live air tragedy, that disgustingly got converted into a social media soap, where millions of us, vicariously viewed the drama daily, oblivious of the pain of the families they left behind. So, what really happened to AI-171? was it a technical glitch? was it an engine failure? or a FADEC failure? Was it sabotage, as some uselessly speculated? Was its Pilot suicide as we are led to believe? Why was the world’s third largest aviation nation so clueless about how to go forth in this tragedy of epic proportions? Why was the entire investigation shrouded in a veil of such secrecy, that even high-level persons in the ministry and airline, were kept out of the proceedings.?
As Air India grieved for its dead, the nation mourned with the families, and cried with those we lost. For me it was truly personal, as I knew Sumeet since a little after he joined IGRUA, I also knew the two senior cabin crew Shraddha Dhavan & Aparna Mahadik personally, having been with Air India for so long, everything that happens there, automatically becomes personal.
The preliminary report released to the world, appeared to be a real hatchet job, without even having proper subject matter experts. The report raised more questions than it answered, and Pilots and experts, shook their heads in disbelief as the report tried to give a clean chit to the Aircraft and engine makers rather than delve deeper into the reasons for the accident.
The cryptic one line in the report, which is neither a quote, nor is the complete narration, merely states “In the cockpit voice recording, one of the pilots is heard asking the other why did he cutoff. The other pilot responded that he did not do so”
It does not speak of details, but is deftly manoeuvred to create a shroud of suspicion around one pilot at least, and deflect attention from the most obvious question, was this on the basis of some technical aircraft or other fault? If not, then this it raises the obvious and central question, if the CVR was retrieved and one sentence paraphrased, then why was the entire transcript not released? Was it done to distract the focus of the world, through outrage and anger?
In many ways, the scenes playing out were reminiscent of Lion Air 610, way back in October 2018, when it primarily blamed Captain Suneja’s pilot error. It took the crash of Ethiopian Airlines 302 a few months later, that prompted the worldwide grounding of all 737 max aircraft and a relook at the entire problem. The final report of Lion Air 610 listed 9 contributory factors, which focussed on MCAS; AoA; Sensor and software issues, but moved away from Pilot error.
We all wonder whether AI-171 bears a similar tale, or could it have, as WSJ & other western media speculate, been a case of a German Wings? Hold that thought -Let me put the speculation to rest, “I knew Sumeet, and flew with him”, I also spoke to his batch mates and friends, “I don’t for a moment believe that he could ever do something like that, in fact, neither pilot would”.
A recent TV interview by one Romin Vohra, who lost three of his family members in the 171 tragedies, states that he entered the morgue, and in one section, he saw a pilot’s body, bent over holding a part of the yoke (central column). He also saw other bodies, as he tried to identify his niece and family. There has been no denial by any authorities or the AAIB of this account, nor has there been any confirmation, leading to much more mystery. The post-mortem of Capt Sumeet is not available publicly to confirm these reports and hence, such speculation must remain inconclusive.
Rachel Chitra an investigative journalist, has this month in a special report quoted an unnamed source from the AAIB, who allegedly stated that “The preliminary report was a negotiated deal between Air India, Tata, GE and Boeing-GE to a lesser extent,” which is exactly what some of us said eleven months ago, when the preliminary report was released. It seemed designed purely to allay the fears of US Big corporations and the 1400 odd 787’s flying in the skies. There was absolutely no reason for an accident investigation board in a sovereign nation, to give a clean chit to an aircraft maker and an engine manufacturer in another country, when it had not even released the transcript of the CVR, leave alone delve deeper into the systemic issues that had plagued the manufacturer or any other issues that many others have flagged. One year on, many speculated, but I did not expect the AAIB to present a final report on AI-171. We are no closer to the truth today than we were on July 12 2025. India has embarrassed itself in the comity of global aviation with subterfuge, questionable practices and a system beset with a regulator with questionable morals, and an AAIB that doesn’t seem to function coherently. One hopes that the new DG will cleanse the aegean stables of inherited muck.
India has to repair its system and it’s a job that the Prime Minister will need to look into deeply, that the world’s fastest growing aviation system, has people who are incompetent and some who are rotten to the core. It’s time for the government to cleanse the regulator, bring in an independent CAA and allow our accident investigation board to operate independently, have a transparent release of the findings of AI-171 and lets all learn to move on with our lives.
Air India for its part, has maintained a highly dignified silence and grieved alone. In many ways, AI-171 could be the heartbreaking turning point for Air India. The Tatas have faced bigger challenges before and Air Indians are a tough, resilient bunch, and will bounce back stronger and higher, I know them well.
We owe it to the dead and their families, to our citizens, to give them the truth, in a transparent fashion, however bitter it might be, even if it’s what we never wanted to accept or hear, we will have to do so, our nations credibility depends on it.
The writer is an aviation expert and CEO of Avialaz Consultants; Views presented are personal.
