More than a year after the Ahmedabad plane crash, questions over the investigation are still not over. On July 29, 412 days after the crash, the government told Parliament that Air India’s Boeing Dreamliner had no defect in its fuel switch.
Meanwhile, on July 28, the Supreme Court heard a petition filed by the father of pilot Sumit Sabharwal. The biggest question now is: when will the final investigation report on the Ahmedabad plane crash be released? Here’s the Gujarat Explainer.
Question-1: What did the government say in Parliament?
Answer : Minister of State for Civil Aviation, Muraleedharan Mohol, said in the Lok Sabha that there is no defect in the fuel control switch system in the advanced tests conducted by the aircraft company.
The investigation of the thrust control module is still ongoing. This is a module that controls the engine’s power by converting messages received from the pilot into electrical signals.
Why are the Minister’s statement and AAIB’s report different?
- The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau – AAIB released the report a month after the plane crash. There was nothing striking in this 15-page document, but two small paragraphs sparked controversy.
- The report stated that according to the aircraft’s flight data recorder, two fuel cut-off switches are used to start and stop the engines before the plane takes off. In this accident, both switches went into the cut-off position just a few seconds after take-off. This stopped the fuel supply to the engines and their thrust rapidly decreased. (The AAIB report mentions faulty fuel control switches)
- Secondly, a short conversation between both pilots was recorded in the cockpit voice recording. In which one pilot is heard asking the other, why was the fuel switch changed? The second pilot says, I didn’t change it. After this, the question arose whether the switch was changed by a pilot or if there was some technical fault in it.
Question-2: What arguments were made in the Supreme Court?
Answer : Captain Pilot Sumit Sabharwal and Co-Pilot Clive Kunder also died in the Ahmedabad plane crash. Both were heavily blamed. Sumit Sabharwal’s father has approached the Supreme Court to save his son’s reputation. His petition was heard in the Supreme Court on July 28, 2026.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta informed the bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) Suryakant, Justice Joymala Bagchi, and Justice V. Mohana about this incident. In which an independent and court-monitored investigation into the Air India flight crash was demanded. The hearing lasted long. Understand here in the graphic, who said what
Question-3: Why did the advocate in the Supreme Court mention the Ram Air Turbine?
Answer : Advocate Gopal Shankar Narayanan is also fighting the case in the Supreme Court on behalf of Pilot Sumit Sabharwal’s father and the Federation of Indian Pilots.
During the hearing in the Supreme Court, he said that there are some discrepancies in the flight’s records. When the flight was on the ground before taking off, the RAT – Ram Air Turbine is deployed. This is a type of generator.
When a flight is about to take off, in an emergency situation involving an electronic cut-off, hydraulic cut-off, or thrust cut-off, it automatically extends from the bottom of the plane. When Air India’s Boeing-171 plane was standing at Ahmedabad airport, the RAT – Ram Air Turbine was hanging from the bottom of the plane. This was a warning sign before takeoff.
The lower part of the plane has this type of Ram Air Turbine (RAT). During an emergency, this turbine hangs down, which gives a warning sign that there is a major problem with the plane. When the plane was standing at Ahmedabad airport, this turbine was already hanging outside. This was stated by Advocate Gopal Shankar Narayanan in the Supreme Court
In this incident, the notion that the pilot was at fault is completely dismissed. The pilot’s work begins after that. An American firm has conducted 10 simulation tests. Our government should also conduct more simulation tests.
In response, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said that DGCA, AAIB, and other investigative agencies together have conducted more than 4 simulation tests, which are already on record.
Then Supreme Court Judge Joymala Bagchi said, AAIB – Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau should study the simulation tests conducted by the American firm and give its opinion on whether the tests conducted by the foreign firm are correct or not. After that, arguments on the final report proceeded in the Supreme Court.
Question-4: Why the delay in the final report?
Answer : When arguments were ongoing in the Supreme Court, advocate Prashant Bhushan, representing the petitioners, argued that in January 2026, when the case was being heard in the same Supreme Court, the Civil Aviation agency AAIB had stated that the final report would be submitted within 3 weeks. Show us, where is the report? It’s already July. There is a delay in the report.
The people of Gujarat are also wondering why one year has passed since the Ahmedabad plane crash, yet there is still a delay in the report. People are also discussing the answer to this question, saying that surely, attempts are being made to suppress some irregularity.
Ayush Dubey, case Manager at Chionuma Law in Kansas City, USA, representing more than 120 families affected by the Air India Flight AI171 crash, told Bhaskar that the family members were very disappointed that the final report had not been released by the first anniversary of the crash, i.e., June 12, 2026.
Now that a timeline has been given to the Supreme Court, the AAIB will submit the report in the first week of October, and the hearing will take place in the Supreme Court on October 13. The families of those killed in the plane crash wish that even if the final report is submitted to the Supreme Court in a sealed cover, it should be made public.
