The case of Air India Flight AI171 crash, which claimed 260 lives, has now reached the Supreme Court. An NGO named Safety Matters Foundation has filed a petition, raising serious concerns over the ongoing investigation into the accident.
The NGO alleged that the probe lacks impartiality and shows signs of bias from the very beginning. In its plea, the foundation has demanded that the investigation be conducted under the supervision of the Supreme Court and that all flight data be made public.
Key demands made by the NGO
- Full disclosure of the Flight Data Recorder information
- Complete transcript of the Cockpit Voice Recorder, including exact timings
- Public release of the Electronic Fault Recording and all reports on technical malfunctions
NGO seeks court-monitored probe
The NGO has further claimed that several critical aspects were overlooked during the initial investigation, including malfunctioning of the fuel switch, electrical faults, deployment of the Ram Air Turbine(RAT) and other electronic anomalies.
Another major concern raised in the petition is the alleged conflict of interest—the investigation team includes officials from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), which itself faces allegations of negligence in aviation safety.
The NGO insisted that the probe must be completely transparent and monitored by the court to ensure the truth is revealed to the public.
About incident
On June 12, 2025, Air India Flight 171, a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, crashed shortly after taking off from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in Ahmedabad. The flight was en route to London’s Gatwick Airport with 242 people on board, including 230 passengers and 12 crew members. Only a single person managed to survive the incident. 19 individuals on the ground were also killed in the incident.
