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The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau informed the Supreme Court on July 15, 2026, that its probe into the Air India Flight AI-171 disaster has entered the final analysis phase and should conclude within six weeks, subject to external dependencies. Air India crash report likely to be ready in October, say investigators, according to the AAIB affidavit filed in response to petitions from victims’ families and the father of one pilot seeking an independent inquiry. The bureau has completed 49 of the 66 mandated steps for a serious aircraft accident investigation, the filing showed. A Reuters report from May 2026 noted that officials had opted for a more comprehensive interim document rather than a final report ahead of the crash anniversary because the case remained complex.
According to the AAIB court document, investigators have examined the accident site and wreckage, recovered flight recorders, reviewed crew medical and training records, and undertaken a review of organisational culture along with human factors. The agency conducted a psychological autopsy with the final psychologist report received, while a transcript of the cockpit voice recorder has been prepared though its contents remain protected by law from public disclosure. Reuters reported that families of the flight crew have been approached as part of the wider human-factors examination. The AAIB assessment found that media speculation attributing blame to the pilots had made some witnesses less responsive, the filing added.
The crash occurred on June 12, 2025, when the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner bound for London lost thrust in both engines shortly after departing from Ahmedabad airport and collided with a doctors’ quarters building, according to the AAIB preliminary report issued one month later. Official figures from Indian authorities placed the death toll at 241 of the 242 people on board plus 19 people on the ground, with passenger Viswashkumar Ramesh the sole survivor. Wikipedia’s entry on Air India Flight 171, drawing on the preliminary report, recorded that the enhanced airborne flight recorder showed the fuel control switches moved from run to cutoff three seconds after liftoff.
An interim statement released by the AAIB on the first anniversary in June 2026 indicated significant progress had been made in evidence analysis although no findings were disclosed at that stage, the Economic Times reported. A source with direct knowledge told Reuters in May that the interim document would examine possible primary causes and contributing factors while the full final version would require additional time. The Hindu reported that the AAIB affidavit, submitted ahead of a July 17 court hearing, emphasised the need for restraint on speculation pending the report’s completion.
The Ministry of Civil Aviation, responding through the AAIB filing, stated that the draft final report will be circulated to relevant participating states for comment before finalisation and eventual public release. News18 reported that the investigation remains in its concluding technical and procedural stages with no immediate findings released from the latest affidavit. Firstpost coverage of the court documents confirmed that cockpit voice recordings and related data cannot be made public under existing aviation laws, a position the AAIB reiterated to the Supreme Court.
Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu told reporters that the probe had reached its final stage with the government committed to full transparency upon completion, according to a NewsX broadcast. The AAIB has not set a precise date for public dissemination of the finished report, the court filing noted. Reuters data on previous Indian air accident investigations showed that final reports typically follow draft circulation by several months once stakeholder comments are incorporated.
