‘Very sorry’: Air India chairman N Chandrasekharan apologises after AI-171 tragedy

NEW DELHI: The chairman of Tata Sons and Air India, N Chandrasekaran, has apologised for the Air India AI-171 tragedy that claimed more than 270 lives after the flight crashed in Ahmedabad on June 12.

In a television interview, Chandrasekaran said, “It is an extremely difficult situation where I have no words to express to console any of the families of those who died. I deeply regret that this accident happened in a Tata-run airline. And I feel very sorry. All we can do is to be with the families at this time, grieve with them, and we will do everything to support them at this hour and beyond”.

When asked about the reason for the crash and whether Air India is privy to any preliminary findings, Chandrasekaran said one would have to wait for the probe to conclude. The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau has begun its investigations into the crash, and the DGCA has also appointed a committee.

#AhmedabadPlaneCrash

“It’s one of the most horrific stories one can ever hear. It’s such a heart-wrenching situation.” -N. Chandrasekaran, Chairman, Tata Sons & Air India, in conversation with @navikakumar pic.twitter.com/dyVkBj3oPR

— TIMES NOW (@TimesNow) June 19, 2025

Chandrasekaran said that it could be a month until some of the preliminary findings are out. He, however, claimed that AI-171, the flight that crashed, had a clean history and that no red flags had been raised. “There are speculations about human error, speculations about airlines, speculations about engines, maintenance, all kinds”, Chandrasekaran said.

“There are a lot of speculations and lot of theories. But the fact that I know so far is this particular aircraft, this specifical tail, AI-171 has a clean history. As for the engines, the right engine was a new engine put in March 2025. The left engine was last serviced in 2023 and due for its next maintenance check in December 2025. Both engine histories are clean. Both pilots were exceptional. Captain Sabharwal had more than 11,500 hours of flying experience, the first officer Clive (Kundar) had more than 3400 hours of flying experience. What I hear from colleagues is that they were excellent pilots and great professionals. So, we can’t jump to any conclusions. I am told by all the experts that the black box and recorders will definitely tell the story. So, we just have to wait for that,” he added.

When questioned about the showcause notices that had been issued by the DGCA in the recent past to Air India or fines levied on the airline for delays and operational matters, the Tata Sons chairman said these were not related to the AI-71 aircraft.

“These are different from safety issues. If there is a safety issue, there is no way the DGCA (Directorate General of Civil Aviation) will allow us to fly. And with respect to this specific aircraft, what I have seen is what I have told you,” said Tata Sons Chairman.

Chandrasekaran also said that none of the 33 Boeing 787 Dreamliners that are part of Air India’s fleet are serviced by Turkish Technic, amid questions being raised about any Turkish link to the aircraft that crashed.

“None of them (the 33 Dreamliners) are maintained by Turkish Technic. Most of them are maintained by AIESL (AI Engineering Services Limited) or SIA Engineering Company (whose parent organisation is Singapore Airlines),” he added.

Former Union Minister for Civil Aviation, Praful Patel, has questioned the ‘silence’ of Singapore Airlines, which he said, apart from being a shareholder in Air India, was also responsible for maintaining a significant number of Air India’s wide-body aircraft.

Chandrasekaran, in the interview, responded to Patel’s claims, stating, “Singapore Airlines have been a great partner. And since we took over, they have helped us in many dimensions. Even some of the safety procedures, the best processes, we have taken from Singapore Airlines. We have taken it from Vistara, and many of the processes where we needed best-in-class benchmarks, they have helped us. They have reached out even at this time, their CEO is in constant touch with me. Whether it is customer experience or any other process, they are always available. They have been offering all the help they can.”

Chandrasekaran also rejected Praful Patel’s claim that the current CEO of Air India, Campbell Wilson, was a Singapore Airlines nominee:

“No, CEO is not a nominee of Singapore Airlines. In fact, when the CEO was hired by me, he had to quit Singapore Airlines and join Air India as an employee. And that time, Singapore Airlines did not have a stake. We owned 100% of Air India. And then when the Vistara merger happened, with Singapore Airlines, with Air India, then Singapore Airlines got their 25 pc stake. So he’s not a nominee of Singapore Airlines”.

In fact, Chandrasekaran pointed out that 787s had been purchased as part of Air India’s fleet even as far back as 2013, almost a decade before the airline was acquired by the Tata group. Chandrasekaran said, “787s were also bought by Air India in 2013. And I think Mr Patel was there at that time. I don’t know when he was the minister. But these are things that happened almost 13 years ago.”

Patel was civil aviation minister between 2004 and 2011, after which he was appointed Minister for Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises until 2014. During the interview , Chandrasekaran was also asked about whistleblowers who had spoken out against Boeing, specifically in the context of the manufacturing processes associated with the production of the 787 Dreamliner.

The Air India Chairman responded by saying, “These are things that are being dealt with by investigative agencies in the US, but overall 787s have been flying for a very long time…we already had 27 787s by the time we bought Air India. And we have not had any red flags in our checks.”

Since the June 12 tragedy, several Air India flights have been cancelled, or faced delays, raising serious concerns among passengers. Chandrasekaran acknowledged Air India needs to do a better job communicating with passengers about these matters.

“There are more than 1100 flights that we fly every day. And in the last six days, there have been in general, anywhere from 5 to 16 or 18 flights, depending on the day, that have been cancelled. Second, what has happened in this period of six days, there are three things at work. The first thing is, we have had to go through the DGCA checks.

“The moment the accident happened on the 12th, DGCA mandated additional checks to be done on all the 787s. So, we have had to ground many 787s and as a result, we are short of aircraft and we have to cancel those flights. That is one cause. 24 of the 33 aircraft have gone through checks. The second reason is that because of the Iran conflict, the airspace there has got closed. Flights, therefore, have had to be diverted. When the flights are diverted, many of the flights get cancelled.

“The third is technical issues. And when we do, when we take off and land in any destination, you must know that we will be doing line checks. And every now and then, it is common for the line checks to find some spare part to be changed, for instance. This is not the case on every flight, but it does happen.”

“We’ve got to do a better job at communication. We have put a strategic communications team in the last three days,” he added.

Chandrasekhar has met with senior officials of Boeing following the tragedy. He said: “So I did connect with both Boeing and GE at the highest levels. Parallel to the DGCA checks that we have gone through, I have asked them to check and tell us if there have been issues with any of the aircraft or engines.”

In the aftermath of the tragedy, the video statement of the Air India CEO Campbell Wilson drew plenty of criticism on social media, including allegations of plagiarism and a templated response very similar, if not identical, to that of American Airlines CEO Robert Isom following a crash in Washington, DC earlier this year.

Chandrasekaran, in response, said: “Our focus is on addressing the needs of all those affected. But if you look into the spirit of what he said, we should take at this moment the matter that he has conveyed…..I have heard about this [the templated response], I have not analysed it word by word, but this is something we will look into.”

Chandrasekhar also responded to criticism over the absence of Air India officials at the funerals of the 12 crew members who died.

“That is not true. We discussed it at length on the day before and who should go for the rights for Captain Sabharwal. The chief operating officer of Air India was there, the CHR was there and few more people were there at different levels. And we as a group will do multiple things. It is not about just being visible in one location. There will be a senior person who will be there in all the locations whether it is our crew member or non-crew member. That is why we have created this whole organisation. Some will be in Mumbai, some will be in Gujarat, some will be in other parts of India. But I don’t want to say it for any publicity but we will definitely visit all the families. All the top people will visit all the families.”

During the interview, Chandrasekhar admitted that it would be difficult to console the families at this stage, but added, “So, there are structures we want to put in place. We wish to create an AI 171 trust which will be available to them to look after. But it is not just about financial needs, but other needs too. We have to think through and create the trust and other functioning infrastructure so that we can be with these families.” (ANI)