New Delhi: The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) has firmly defended its decision to summon Captain Varun Anand, the nephew of late Captain Sumeet Sabharwal, in connection with the probe into the fatal Air India Flight 171 crash, even as the Federation of Indian Pilots (FIP) has objected to it and served legal notice to AAIB.
“Captain Varun Anand is neither a factual witness nor a technical witness nor an expert witness in relation to the said accident. The sole basis for calling Captain Varun Anand appears to be his familial relationship with the deceased Pilot-in-Command, which is impermissible in law and renders the summoning arbitrary and unsustainable,” FIP said in the legal notice to AAIB, reported Economic Times.
According to reports, the AAIB issued the summons to Captain Anand on Jan 9 as part of its ongoing investigation into the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner that crashed shortly after taking off from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in Ahmedabad on June 12 last year. The accident claimed 260 lives, including all crew members and 229 passengers.
Pilots’ Federation Objects, Issues Legal Notice
The FIP has served a legal notice to the AAIB, describing the summons as “arbitrary, unlawful and wholly unwarranted.” The pilots’ body has argued that Captain Anand had no direct involvement or factual connection to the flight’s operation, planning, maintenance, airworthiness or crash circumstances.
The summons fails to specify any statutory basis, purpose, or capacity in which he is required to appear before the investigative body.
International aviation norms and rules of investigation prohibit involving family members solely because of their relationship to those involved in an accident.
Legal representatives for the FIP assert that summoning a relative could cause harassment, distress, and reputational harm without contributing meaningful evidence to the crash investigation.
AAIB Responds
In response, the AAIB has emphasized its authority under the Aircraft (Investigation of Accidents and Incidents) Rules 2025 to call and examine any person it deems relevant to establishing the facts surrounding the accident. The bureau stated that investigators may require witnesses to produce information, evidence or answer inquiries in order to clarify events leading up to the crash. The AAIB, as reported by Economic Times, said it could call and examine anyone in the ongoing probe, pushing back against claims that the summons amounted to harassment.
While the pilots’ body has condemned the move, the AAIB — which released only a preliminary report in mid-2025 — continues to progress its inquiry into what remains one of India’s deadliest aviation disasters.
