A year ago, Air India flight 171 crashed less than a minute after taking off from Ahmedabad airport in Gujarat, killing 260 people. Among the dead were 230 passengers, 53 of them British citizens, and 10 cabin crew. Only one person on board survived. Another 19 people on the ground also lost their lives.
The aircraft, a Boeing 787 Dreamliner bound for London, was in the air for just 32 seconds. CCTV footage shows it taking off normally, then hanging in the air before gliding downwards, disappearing behind buildings and trees. Seconds later, a huge cloud of flame and black smoke marked the disaster.
“260 died, including 53 Britons, in Air India flight 171 crash; investigation mired in controversy.”
On the flight deck were Captain Sumeet Sabharwal, a pilot with decades of experience, and first officer Clive Kunder. What caused the crash remains unclear, but the official investigation has sparked intense controversy, in India and beyond, with some questioning its integrity amid claims of conflicts of interest.
Under international law, India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) leads the probe. The US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) sent a delegation including technical experts from Boeing, which made the plane; GE Aerospace, which built the engines; and the Federal Aviation Administration. The sole objective, according to Annex 13 of the Convention on International Civil Aviation, is prevention, not apportioning blame.
Yet much is at stake. For Boeing, already reeling from years of safety scandals, the integrity of the 787 Dreamliner — an aircraft with a hitherto impeccable safety record — is on the line. Air India, a loss-making airline belonging to the Tata Group, can ill afford further damage.
The final conclusions of the investigation have yet to be published, although more could become apparent in the coming days. The furious dispute over what caused the crash has led some to ask whether it is time for a different approach when investigating air disasters.