The affidavit stated that the objective of an aircraft accident investigation is solely to improve aviation safety and prevent future accidents, and not to apportion blame or determine civil or criminal liability.
New Delhi:The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) has told the Supreme Court that draft final report of the probe into the June 2025 Air India flight AI-171 crash in Ahmedabad, which killed 260 people, is expected to be ready in October this year.
In a detailed affidavit filed before the top court, the AAIB submitted that a serious accident involving an international flight is not a matter purely of domestic inquiry, but one of international inquiry governed by the Chicago Convention and Annex 13 of the International Civil Aviation Organisation’s rules.
The accident investigating body has prepared a cockpit voice recorder transcript, conducted a psychological autopsy and moved into the final stages of its probe.
The filing did not identify whose psychological autopsy was conducted or disclose any findings on the crash of the Boeing 87 that killed 260 people shortly after takeoff from Ahmedabad, India.
An analysis of data retrieved in late May from an engine monitoring unit was still awaited and an assessment of certain organisational factors remained in progress, India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) added, without providing more details.
The AAIB said investigators had interviewed Air India 787 pilots, crew members who had previously flown with the pilots of the crashed aircraft, technical personnel involved in preparing the jet, air traffic controllers, weather officials and human-factors specialists.
The families of the flight crew were also approached at their residences during the early stages of the investigation, the AAIB said in the filing dated Tuesday.
One of the AAIB’s home visits last year had upset Pushkar Raj Sabharwal, the father of the captain, who said officials implied his son cut the fuel to the plane’s engines after takeoff. He filed a lawsuit that led to the disclosures made by the AAIB in the court filing.
The AAIB said media speculation and narratives attributing blame to the pilots had caused some witnesses to become “restrictive and non-responsive”.
It said the probe was now in the analysis phase, with findings and conclusions being drawn across operational, technical, human-factors and organisational areas.
The AAIB said it expected the remaining investigation activities to be completed within about six weeks, subject to pending “external dependencies”.
A draft final report is expected around October, after which it will be circulated to relevant participating countries for comments before being finalised and published, the filing said.
The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board is one of the parties due to receive the draft report.
According to U.S. officials’ early assessment reported by Reuters last year, the cockpit recording of dialogue between the two pilots supported the view that the captain cut the flow of fuel to its engines.
The AAIB said at the time it was “too early to reach any definite conclusions.”
Annex 13 prescribes the standard operating procedure to conduct an aircraft accident investigation.
“Article 26 obligates the State in which the accident occurs to institute an inquiry into the circumstances of the accident, while Annex 13 read with Aircraft (Investigation of Accidents and Incidents) Rules, 2025 expressly contemplates the participation of the State of Registry, State of Operator, State of Design, and State of Manufacture, each of whom possesses defined rights and responsibilities in the investigative process through accredited representatives and technical participation.
“Thus, the inquiry is not confined to an internal municipal exercise, but assumes the character of an internationally structured, treaty-governed investigation undertaken by the State of Occurrence in coordination with all concerned States having a legally recognised nexus to the aircraft, operator, design, or manufacture,” the AAIB said in the affidavit.
The affidavit stated that the objective of an aircraft accident investigation is solely to improve aviation safety and prevent future accidents, and not to apportion blame or determine civil or criminal liability.
“In view of the nature, scale and complexity of the present accident, the AAIB has carefully assessed the timeline for completion of the investigation.
“In all probability, the investigation activities as described…subject to the resolution of the pending external dependencies set out therein, are anticipated to be completed within approximately six weeks. Thereafter, the draft final report, following completion of the analysis phase, is expected to be ready approximately in October 2026,” it said.
The AAIB further submitted that international and domestic legal provisions impose strict confidentiality over sensitive investigative material.
The affidavit said that these include witness statements, cockpit voice recorder recordings and transcripts, air traffic control communications, medical information and other protected records, disclosure of which could adversely affect the integrity of the ongoing investigation and future aviation safety inquiries.
The June 12 plane crash claimed 260 lives — 229 passengers, 12 crew members, and 19 people on the ground. –