The Indian Pilot Association defended the crew of Air India Flight 171 crashed in June, killing 260 people.
The Indian Commercial Pilot Association (ICPA) said the crew “complied with their training and responsibilities under challenging conditions, and pilots should not insult the pilot based on conjecture”.
It added: “Suspicion of suicidal without verified evidence is a serious violation of ethical reports and an adverse effect on professional dignity.”
The pilot was not blamed in the preliminary report. It said that the fuel control switches of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner were all turned to the “off” position, starving the fuel engine to death a few seconds after takeoff.
The report released on Saturday gave details of a pilot’s recording, asking another pilot why he was “deadline” and others answered that he did not. The recording did not clarify who said what. The data shows that the switch is then moved to the “run” position, but the plane crashes in seconds.
Aviation experts and pilots say the fuel switch is designed to prevent accidental activation and must be pulled to unlock before flipping. The guard brace further protects them from unexpected bumps.
The preliminary report did not clarify how the switch was transferred to the deadline, but since its release, various sections of the media and social media have been upset about the role of the pilot.
“We are deeply disturbing the speculative narratives that appear in the various sections of the media and public discourse, especially the reckless and unfounded hints of pilot suicide,” the Indian Commercial Pilot Association (ICPA) said in a statement released late Saturday.
“Let’s make it clear: At this stage, there is absolutely no basis for such a claim, and such a serious allegation based on incomplete or preliminary information is not only irresponsible – it is very insensitive to the individuals and families involved.”
The statement added that until the official investigation was concluded and the final report was published “any speculation, especially of this serious nature – is unacceptable and must be condemned”.
The preliminary investigation was led by the Indian government, experts from Boeing, GE India, Indian regulators, and participants in the United States and the United Kingdom. The final report will be released within one year.
Another pilot’s grouping – the Airline Pilot Association of India (ALPA India), on Saturday, raised concerns about how the investigation was handled.
It stressed that the report also mentioned that in December 2018, the Federal Aviation Administration issued a special Airworthiness Information Bulletin (SAIB), highlighting that some Boeing 737 737 fuel control switches were installed with locking.
Although the problem was noted, it was not considered unsafe conditions that require the use of the Airworthiness Directive (AD), an enforceable regulation to correct unsafe conditions in the product.
The Boeing 787-8 aircraft used the same switch design, including the Air India VT-ANB crash. Since SAIB is consulting, Air India did not conduct recommended inspections.
Taking into account the announcement, ALPA India said: “This requires a clear explanation of whether the recommendations outlined in the announcement were implemented before the flight”. (Air India has not commented on a specific issue yet.)
The pilot union said this was “surprised at the confidentiality of these investigations” and claimed that “there was no appropriately qualified personnel to conduct the investigation.”
“We believe the investigation is driven in the direction of presuming a pilot’s guilt, and we strongly oppose this idea,” said Sam Thomas, President of India of Alpa India, in a statement.
The union also urged authorities to allow it to join the process “even as an observer to provide the necessary transparency in the investigation”.
After the report was released on Saturday, Indian Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu told reporters not to “get any conclusions at this stage. Let’s wait for the final report”.
He described India’s pilots and crew as “the backbone of this kind of civil aviation”, and he said India is “the best workforce in terms of pilots and crew members around the world”.
Flight 171 took Gatwick, London from the western Indian city of Ahmedabad on June 12, with 242 people on board. The crash killed 241 people on board – one miraculously survived – and there were 19 people on the ground.
The Mumbai-based pilot arrived in Ahmedabad the day before and had enough re-checked. They added that they had passed the respirator test and were cleared to flight.
