A year after India’s worst air disaster in almost three decades, investigators have still not revealed why Air India’s Flight 171 crashed seconds after taking off from Ahmedabad on June 12, 2025, killing 260 people.
A source familiar with the probe said the final report was “likely to take a few more months”. The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) is expected to issue an interim statement on Friday.
Local people will hold a prayer meeting for the victims at the crash site on Friday morning. The London-bound Boeing 787 Dreamliner had crashed into the B.J. Medical College student hostels, about 2km from the runway, killing all but one of the 242 people on board and 19 on the ground.
Air India has asked its employees to observe two minutes’ silence in the afternoon at their workstations, granting exemptions to staff at the check-in counters and those engaged in essential ground or flight duties.
AAIB director-general G.V.G. Yugandhar declined to share investigation details but confirmed the bureau would abide by International Civil Aviation Organisation norms relating to investigations.
According to the ICAO’s Annexure 13, if a crash report cannot be made public within 12 months, the investigation bureau should issue an interim statement on each anniversary of the incident, detailing the progress of the probe and any safety issues raised.
A month after the crash, the AAIB’s preliminary report had said that fuel to both engines had got cut off seconds after the takeoff, apparently leaving the two pilots confused about who had initiated the cutoff.
This had led to wild media speculation about possible pilot error and even suicide, drawing protests from pilots’ bodies and a rap from the Supreme Court.
Some suggested the “unfounded and irresponsible” gossip about the pilots was diverting attention from possible technical snags attributable to Boeing, a US company.
Fleets of Boeing Dreamliners have one after the other flagged safety concerns, prompting the Federation of Indian Pilots to demand the grounding of all Air India Boeing 787s.
The FIP recently wrote to the AAIB requesting it not to submit any further interim report that might trigger greater confusion and speculation.
“Moreover, such a report cannot be conclusive due to further investigations being carried out,” the federation said.
It added that a statement on the progress of the investigation would be better than an interim report.
Aviation expert Subhash Goyal said crash investigations often took a long time because of the need to thoroughly analyse flight recorder data, the wreckage, maintenance records, human factors and operational procedures.
“The investigators also conduct technical testing and coordinate with international experts and manufacturers. This detailed process helps ensure that the final report accurately identifies the probable causes of the accident and provides reliable safety recommendations to prevent similar tragedies in the future,” Goyal told this newspaper.
He suggested the final crash report might differ substantially from the preliminary report.
“While the basic sequence of events is unlikely to change dramatically, the final explanation of why those events occurred could be significantly different from early conclusions,” Goyal said.
Air India said it had provided an interim compensation of ₹25 lakh each to the families of “96 per cent” of the dead to help them address their immediate financial needs. Most of the remaining victims’ cases are tangled in incomplete documentation or continuing family disputes.
“With most of the interim payments having been disbursed, Air India began the process for final compensation and is engaging with families. Families or individuals have absolutely no deadline or pressure to accept our offer within a set timeframe,” the airline said.