Two major commercial pilots’ associations in India have rejected claims that human error caused an Air India crash that killed 260 people. These rejections come after a preliminary investigation report indicated that the plane’s engine fuel switches had been turned off.
The report, issued Saturday by India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), did not offer any conclusions or assign blame for the June 12 disaster. However, it stated that one pilot had questioned the other about why he had cut off fuel, to which the second pilot reportedly responded that he had no knowledge of doing so. No further details about the cockpit dialogue between the pilots were disclosed.
The Indian Commercial Pilots Association (ICPA) expressed its profound distress regarding “speculative narratives […] particularly the reckless and unfounded insinuation of pilot suicide.” In a statement released on Sunday, the ICPA asserted, “There is absolutely no basis for such a claim at this stage,” adding that “it is deeply insensitive to the individuals and families involved.” The association further stated, “To casually suggest pilot suicide without verified evidence is a gross violation of ethical reporting and a disservice to the dignity of the profession.”
The initial probe finding led several independent aviation experts to speculate that deliberate or inadvertent pilot action might have caused the London-bound Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner to crash shortly after takeoff from Ahmedabad in western India. The ICPA’s strong reaction was in response to some aviation experts suggesting that engine fuel control switches can only be moved deliberately and manually.
The Airline Pilots’ Association of India (ALPA India), another pilot body with 800 members, also accused the probe agency of “secrecy” surrounding the investigation, stating that “suitably qualified personnel” were not involved in the process. ALPA India president Sam Thomas declared in a statement on Saturday, “We feel that the investigation is being driven in a direction presuming the guilt of pilots and we strongly object to this line of thought.”
ALPA, which boasts 100,000 members worldwide, also formally requested the AAIB to include its members as “observers so as to provide the requisite transparency in the investigations.” The tragic crash resulted in the deaths of all but one of the 242 people on board, along with 19 individuals on the ground.
