‘What good is this': Kin of Air India crash victims struggle to find meaning in AAIB report

Hindustan Times

3 days ago

One month after losing his daughter, son-in-law and three grandchildren in the Air India crash, Anil Vyas struggled to find meaning in the preliminary investigation report that detailed fuel switches and flight recorder data but stopped short, as preliminary investigations customarily do, from offering a conclusive explanation for why 260 people died. Relatives mourning by the coffins of victims, who were killed in the Air India flight AI171 crash. (Dibyangshu Sarkar/AFP File)
"What good is this report to us now? It won't bring back my daughter, her husband, or their children," said Vyas over the loss of Dr Komi Vyas, her husband Dr Prateek Joshi and their three children aged 5, 5 and 8.
The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau's 15-page preliminary report, released on Saturday, provided precise technical details about Flight 171's final moments after it took off from Ahmedabad on June 12, but it did not provide the closure the families of the dead were seeking.
The preliminary report has not satisfied Imtiaz Ali, who lost his younger brother Javed Ali Syed along with his wife and two children, aged 6 and 4, in the crash.
"A lot of questions still remain in our minds," he said, declining to assign blame. 'The report hasn't given us a satisfactory conclusion to the cause yet. This was just preliminary, it had a fair bit of details and information, but the cause, the real reason why the plane went down, is not clear.'
Ali questioned the circumstances surrounding the fuel switch movements while defending the flight crew.
'I do not want to blame the pilots; they were not drunk, and they were seasoned experienced pilots. I also find it hard to believe the pilot would lie at that last moment at the brink of death that he did not turn off the fuel switch. The question then is that how did the switch go off.'
"There is a big difference between the possibility that one of the pilots turned the switch off and that one of them actually did it; I want to reserve my judgment till it is conclusive," he said.
The Syed family were British citizens who had come to Mumbai to visit family and celebrate Eid.
On their way back home, they took a detour to Ahmedabad for a direct flight to London, but never made their destination.
Aakash Patel, 33, whose wife Jayshree died in the crash just months after their January wedding, said he had not yet read the report. The couple had been separated while awaiting visa processing for Jayshree to join him in London.
"I spoke to her at 1.33 pm, right after she boarded. Moments later, my relatives called with the devastating news of the crash," Patel said.
To be sure, preliminary reports often are a reflection of the data and information that investigators are working with and rarely make conclusive statements about the triggers for a disaster.
The report cites cockpit voice recordings capturing one pilot asking the other why he had cut off fuel, with the colleague denying he had done this. It did not identify which pilot made the statement or offer a transcript of the audio.
Legal representatives for victims' families raised concerns about potential aircraft system failures based on the preliminary findings. Stewarts, a London law firm representing families of more than 20 passengers, said the report suggested pilots were unaware that fuel had been cut off.
"Our reading of the preliminary report is that the pilots were not aware that the fuel had been cut off, indicating that neither pilot had purposefully flipped the cut-off switches," the firm said.
'The factual information raises a troubling spectre that this accident may have been caused by uncommanded fuel cut off, suggesting a possible failure in the Boeing systems.'
Stewarts has partnered with US aviation law firms to pursue potential claims against American defendants, including Boeing.
Ali urged authorities to continue investigating thoroughly. "The government, Air India and other authorities should look into it more, so the families of the victims can get a sense of closure. I want to believe the answer is out there; however long it will take to find, I will wait."