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The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau has informed India’s Supreme Court that it is engaged in the analysis phase of its investigation into last year’s Air India crash, with that stage expected to wrap up in around six weeks and position a draft final report for October. According to the affidavit filed on Tuesday, significant progress has been recorded in reviewing evidence although the document stopped short of disclosing potential findings. A review of organisational culture, human factors and safety practices was undertaken as part of the completed work while a psychological autopsy and evaluation were conducted with the psychologist’s final report now received.
The filing noted that media speculation and narratives attributing blameworthiness to the pilots had regrettably caused some witnesses to become restrictive and non-responsive, complicating aspects of the inquiry. The AAIB’s update comes more than a year after the disaster, following an interim statement on the anniversary that offered no new details and acknowledged the missed 12-month international target for a final report. Assistance from the US National Transportation Safety Board and the UK’s Air Accidents Investigation Branch has supported the probe given the Boeing aircraft involved and the flight’s multinational passenger manifest.
Air India Flight 171, a Boeing 787 Dreamliner operating from Ahmedabad to London, lost thrust in both engines moments after takeoff on 12 June 2025 before crashing into a doctors’ accommodation building at a nearby medical college and triggering a large explosion. The disaster killed 241 of the 242 people on board with the sole survivor sustaining only minor injuries while a further 19 people died on the ground. Britannica reported that passengers included nationals from India, Britain, Portugal and Canada.
The AAIB’s preliminary report published in July 2025 established that the fuel control switches for both engines transitioned to the cutoff position three seconds after liftoff, starving them of fuel and producing immediate power loss. Flight recorder data captured the sequence in which one pilot questioned the action while the other denied it, according to details cited across multiple accounts of the initial findings. A high-level government committee was also established to examine the causes and formulate updated standard operating procedures aimed at preventing recurrence.
Questions over whether human action in the cockpit or another factor prompted the switches’ movement have persisted, with one expert assessment describing the preliminary evidence as pointing clearly to events in the flight deck rather than a mechanical failure. The sole survivor, British national of Indian origin Viswashkumar Ramesh from Leicester, provided an account that has formed part of the evidence under review. One year after the crash, families continue to await definitive answers as the AAIB’s full analysis moves toward its anticipated October milestone.
