New Delhi: The Indian government has called out foreign media outlets for “irresponsible” reporting on the Air India flight crash in Ahmedabad on June 12, based on the initial report, and urged them to wait until the investigation is completed.
The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), a wing of the Ministry of Civil Aviation, said in a statement that some international media outlets are accused of drawing premature conclusions through selective and unverified reporting.
“Such actions are deemed irresponsible while the investigation is still ongoing,” it said.
AAIB emphasised it is important to respect the sensitivity of the loss faced by families of victims. Amid widespread speculation about the likely cause of the fatal crash, AAIB said it is too early to reach any definitive conclusion.
A recent Wall Street Journal (WSJ) report claimed that a senior pilot may have accidentally cut off fuel supply to both engines, leading to the crash which killed 260 people, including all but one of 242 on board the London Gatwick-bound flight.
The report, citing anonymous officials familiar with the matter, alleged that the pilot’s action was not in response to an emergency — a move described as “inexplicable” by observers quoted in the report.
Now, another report by the WSJ has put the blame on the senior pilot, saying the cockpit recording between the two pilots indicates that the flow of fuel to the plane’s engines was cut by the captain of the flight.
As per the first investigation report into the crash, both switches feeding fuel to the two engines of Air India flight AI-171 were cut off, followed by pilot confusion before the plane crashed into a hostel building of a medical college, 32 seconds after taking off from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Airport. The report said that one pilot asked why he had shut off the fuel, and the other responded he didn’t do it.
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