India slams Western media coverage of Air India crash on eve of Modi visit to Britain

Civil aviation minister warns against premature conclusions amid reports of pilot error

India’s civil aviation minister has criticised Western media outlets for attributing blame in the Air India flight AI171 crash before the conclusion of an official investigation, calling such speculation premature and driven by “vested interests”.

Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu expressed full confidence in India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), which is leading the probe into the 12 June crash in Ahmedabad that killed 260 people – 241 out of 242 onboard and 19 on the ground – making it the deadliest Indian aviation disaster in four decades.

The comments come ahead of Indian prime minister Narendra Modi’s trip to the UK. He will be in London on Wednesday and Thursday where he is slated to hold meetings with Keir Starmer.

The aircraft crashed into a medical college hostel in a residential area of Ahmedabad. Of those killed, 52 were British nationals. The sole survivor was another Briton, named Vishwash Kumar Ramesh.

“AAIB has made an appeal to all, especially Western media houses, which may have a vested interest in the kind of articles they are trying to publish. I believe in AAIB. I believe in the work that they are doing,” he said, according to the Indian Express.

Tail of an Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner plane that crashed is seen stuck on a building (Reuters)

The minister commended the AAIB for decoding the aircraft’s black box domestically, describing it as a “huge success”, as previous incidents typically required the data to be sent abroad for analysis.

He reiterated the government’s commitment to aviation safety but insisted it would be inappropriate to draw conclusions before the final report is complete.

“Making any comments until the final report has come, I don't think it is a good exercise on behalf of anyone. We are also very cautious and studying the report thoroughly, and whatever necessary needs to be done in terms of safety, we are ready to do it,” he said, reported the Hindustan Times.

Mr Kinjarapu’s remarks came days after the AAIB publicly urged both the media and the public to “refrain from spreading premature narratives” about the crash.

Its Director General, GVG Yugandhar, noted that the preliminary report aimed only to present early findings and did not apportion blame. He also criticised “irresponsible” reporting by international media, accusing them of selectively using unverified information to suggest pilot error.

People console mother of Clive Kunder, co-pilot of the Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner plane, which crashed during take-off from an airport in Ahmedabad (Reuters)

The preliminary report, released on 12 July, revealed that both fuel control switches of the Boeing 787-8’s engines moved from “run” to “cutoff” within one second, moments after take-off, leading to an immediate loss of power. The cockpit voice recorder captured one pilot asking the other why the fuel was cut off, to which the second replied that he had not done so.

Father and mother of Sumeet Sabharwal, a pilot, who died when an Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner aircraft (Reuters)

The document does not state who, if anyone, moved the switches, using the neutral term “transitioned” and offering no conclusions on intent or fault. It also notes no technical fault in the aircraft. However, some international reports implied pilot error, prompting backlash from India’s aviation fraternity.

Captain CS Randhawa, president of the Federation of Indian Pilots (FIP), accused publications such as The Wall Street Journal and Reuters of “misleading the public” and publishing conclusions “not based on factual content”.

The FIP has issued legal notices to both outlets demanding a public clarification and apology, and warned of further legal action if no statement is made.

“They are not the investigative body,” said Captain Randhawa. “How can you jump to these conclusions which are not part of the preliminary report of the AAIB? How can you blame the pilots?”

Earlier, the head of the US National Transportation Safety Board cautioned against initial reports about last month’s Air India crash.

“Investigations of this magnitude take time," NTSB chair Jennifer Homendy said in a social media post on Friday. She called recent media reports on the crash “premature and speculative”, without providing any specifics about what exactly she was referring to.