Report doesn’t mention it was pilot error: Pilots’ federation president on AI-171 crash report

MUMBAI: The president of the Federation of Indian Pilots (FIP), C S Randhawa, on Thursday condemned a media report that claimed that the captain of the Air India flight that crashed in Ahmedabad last month deliberately cut off fuel to the engines. Captain Randhawa dismissed the claims as baseless and vowed to take action against the publication.

Captain C S Randhawa emphasised that the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau’s (AAIB) preliminary report makes no mention of the pilots turning off the switches controlling fuel flow to the engines. “…Nowhere in the report has it been mentioned that the fuel control switch was turned off due to the pilot’s mistake. I condemn the article. They said it was the pilot’s mistake. They have not read the report properly, and we will take action against them through FIP”, Captain C S Randhawa said.

#WATCH | Mumbai: On Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) preliminary report on the Air India plane crash, Captain CS Randhawa, President of the Federation of Indian Pilots (FIP), says, “…Nowhere in the report has it been mentioned that the fuel control switch was… pic.twitter.com/BYIjX88A8A

— ANI (@ANI) July 17, 2025

He further urged people not to comment on the AAIB’s preliminary report, as this may create fear among commuters about air travel. “We had issued a press statement yesterday that no channel, commentator or president of any agency should give such an opinion that has no basis. The detailed report will take time; till then, people are giving their own opinions without any basis, which is not right”, Captain Randhawa added.

“Neither the report nor the Civil Aviation Minister has said that it was pilot error…You must relate this to the incident of ANA NH985, which occurred on January 17, 2019. At the time of landing, when the pilot selected thrust reversers, both engines shut down without the pilot moving the fuel control switch. I am quite clear that this is a repetition of the TCMA (Throttle Control Malfunction Accommodation) malfunction, and this needs a thorough investigation of the TCMA. Boeing has not taken any action yet and has not even tried to issue a directive that all these aircraft should be checked for TCMA functions. Secondly, there is not a single pilot in the investigation committee”, he said.

#WATCH | Mumbai: On Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) preliminary report on the Air India plane crash, Captain CS Randhawa, President of the Federation of Indian Pilots (FIP), says, “Neither the report nor the Civil Aviation Minister has said that it was pilot… pic.twitter.com/ZKx4CNLAjv

— ANI (@ANI) July 17, 2025

Captain Randhawa said that his federation is requesting the Civil Aviation Minister to reconstitute the board and include type-rated experts in this investigation board, who are pilots, engineers and air safety experts.

The FIP president said that Indian pilots are among the best in the world. “Indian pilots are among the best in the world. I did not give my opinion to the Wall Street Journal, which had approached me as well, because I am against this American media. They are deliberately giving their own opinion, their own views from this report, while there is nothing like this in the report. So I very strongly condemn this report of the Wall Street Journal and we will take action on it”, he added.

On Wednesday, the Federation of Indian Pilots (FIP) expressed “serious” concern regarding the preliminary findings and public discourse surrounding the crash of Air India flight AI-171 in Ahmedabad. The FIP, in an official statement, expressed their dissatisfaction with the exclusion of pilot representatives from the investigation process, objecting to the way in which the preliminary report has been interpreted and presented publicly.

“At the outset, we would like to register our dissatisfaction with the exclusion of pilot representatives from the investigation process. We also firmly object to the way in which the preliminary report has been interpreted and presented publicly”, FIP said in an official statement.

This statement followed a Reuters report, which cited the Wall Street Journal, claiming that a cockpit recording of dialogue between the two pilots of the Air India flight that crashed last month indicated that the captain turned off the switches that controlled fuel flowing to the plane’s engines.

As per Reuters, The Wall Street Journal report cited people familiar with US officials’ early assessment of evidence uncovered in the investigation into the crash, which killed 260 people.

The recording suggested that the first officer, who was flying the Boeing aircraft, opened the new tab 787 Dreamliner, and asked the other captain, who was more experienced, why he moved the switches to the “cutoff” position after it climbed off the runway, the report said.

The first officer expressed surprise and then panicked, while the captain seemed to remain calm, Reuters reported, citing WSJ. India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), Boeing and Air India have not yet responded to the report. The two pilots involved were Captain Sumeet Sabharwal and First Officer Clive Kunder, who had a total flying experience of 15,638 hours and 3,403 hours, respectively.

A preliminary report released last week by India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau depicted confusion in the cockpit shortly before the June 12 crash and raised fresh questions over the position of the critical engine fuel cutoff switches, the report said. The AI 171 crash of the Boeing Dreamliner 787-8 aircraft in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, killed 260 people, including 229 passengers, 12 crew members, and 19 people on the ground. (ANI)