India nears final probe report on deadly Air India crash

The Boeing 787-8 on Air India Flight AI-171 went down shortly after takeoff from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport on June 12, 2025, killing 260 people. India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau told the Supreme Court it had reached the closing stretch of the probe, with the final account still being assembled from cockpit audio, human-factors review and maintenance records.

The bureau’s June 12 interim statement said the final report would be released only after all investigative work and the review and consultation steps required under International Civil Aviation Organization Annex 13 were complete. That standard is built around accident prevention, not blame or liability, which means investigators have to reconstruct what happened before any public finding can harden into legal or regulatory consequence.

The preliminary report released on July 12, 2025 said both engine fuel control switches moved from RUN to CUTOFF about one second apart shortly after takeoff. The bureau’s one-year statement said it had made significant progress analyzing flight recorder data, engine-related components, maintenance and operational records, and other evidence.

Investigators had prepared a cockpit voice recorder transcript and carried out a psychological autopsy, a review meant to examine pilots’ actions, state of mind and decision-making under pressure.

Investigators interviewed Air India 787 pilots, crew members who had previously flown with the pilots of the crashed aircraft, technical personnel involved in preparing the jet, air traffic controllers, weather officials and human-factors specialists. Families of the flight crew were approached at their homes early in the probe. A data analysis from an engine monitoring unit retrieved in late May was still pending, and the assessment of organizational factors was not finished.

The bureau also said media speculation blaming the pilots had made some witnesses “restrictive and non-responsive.”

The bureau expected to finish the remaining work in about six weeks and circulate a draft report by October, with final publication after international review. Pushkar Raj Sabharwal, father of the late captain Sumeet Sabharwal, has sought judicial intervention and alleged bias.