In June 2025, we saw an Air India Boeing 787-8 crash shortly after takeoff from Ahmedabad (AMD), killing 260 people. It was a bizarre accident, as the plane lost power to both engines shortly after takeoff, and the preliminary report suggested that fuel control switches were shut off seconds after takeoff, which suggests a chilling cause to the accident.
It has now been months since the public has received any sort of a meaningful update as to what happened, and at least publicly, it feels like the investigation is stalled. That brings us to some interesting new details about what’s happening in the background of the investigation.
In this post:
US & Indian authorities aren’t on same page about investigation
The Wall Street Journal has an interesting story about what has been going on in the background of the Air India flight AI171 crash investigation. As you’d expect, the investigation is being led by India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB). However, the United States’ National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is also involved in the investigation and is providing support, since the aircraft was manufactured in the United States.
We knew that there had been disagreements between the AAIB and NTSB, though we’re now learning details about just how bad they were. It would appear that investigators in the United States fear that investigators in India are trying to cover-up the cause of this accident, ignoring evidence.
As it currently stands, the NTSB reportedly believes that evidence points to the captain having shut off the engines and having made no effort to rescue the plane, with the fear being that the Indian government will seek to obstruct findings and instead blame mechanical faults with the plane. After all, in November 2025, an Indian supreme court judge ruled that the captain can’t be blamed for the crash, dismissing “nasty” reports that he turned off the plane’s engines.
According to the WSJ report, here’s what happened early in the investigation:
- The head of the AAIB is said to have told NTSB officials that they were “not a third world country” and “can do anything you all can do”
- American investigators were banned from taking photos of the wreckage, some of which was moved before they could examine it
- Indian officials wanted to analyze the black box data in the small town of Korwa, to stay away from media attention; however, the NTSB insisted that they do this in New Delhi or Washington, over concerns of terrorism in the region
- US State Department officials had to intercept NTSB investigators at the airport in Delhi, to prevent them from boarding a military flight to Korwa arranged by the Indian government, and then gave India an ultimatum about where to analyze the data, or else US support for the investigation would end
- The AAIB insisted on conducting some aspects of the investigation sequentially, greatly slowing things down, while the NTSB wanted a broader and faster review, to determine if there was an issue with the 787 that would require the plane to be grounded
It’s dismaying to see how this investigation is being handled
Ultimately the work that aircraft accident investigators do is what makes our aviation ecosystem as safe as it is. It’s incredibly important that investigations are performed impartially, and that we learn from every accident, to do everything possible to prevent a similar thing from happening in the future.
There’s no denying that the NTSB has a phenomenal track record with performing impartial investigations into accidents. Of course in this case, the NTSB is simply providing support to the AAIB, which is (understandably) leading the investigation.
The AAIB has definitely been lacking when it comes to transparency with its investigation, and what has been communicated with the public. For that matter, based on what we know, this investigation has been performed at a very slow pace.
The thing is, it increasingly feels like this is becoming political theater, more than an actual investigation, with India’s supreme court getting involved, at the request of the father of the captain and unions representing pilots.
So far, only very limited information has been shared about what was heard on the cockpit voice recorder. We know that just seconds after takeoff, the fuel cutoff switches were turned off, one after the other, with a gap of just one second. The first officer was heard asking the captain why he cut off the engines, to which the captain responded that he didn’t do so. The first officer tried to pull up on the nose, while the captain didn’t.
On the Indian side, the claim seems to be that there was some sort of an unheard of mechanical issue that caused fuel to be shut off without the pilots manually doing it. One detail that hasn’t been released — which seems like it would be pretty conclusive — is if the sound of the fuel cutoff switches being moved was heard on the cockpit voice recorder. Moving the switches makes quite a loud noise, and this would certainly have been heard on the cockpit voice recorder.
If the sound of the switches moving was heard, then I don’t understand how anyone can claim that it wasn’t one of the pilots who shut off the engines. If it wasn’t heard, then that’s a major detail that would exonerate the pilots.
Bottom line
The investigation into the crash of Air India flight AI171 has certainly left the public confused, given the lack of updates, plus the involvement of Indian courts in deciding what investigators can and can’t say.
A new report suggests that there have been quite some tensions between US and Indian authorities. According to the report, US investigators seem confident that the captain intentionally sabotaged the aircraft, while Indian investigators believe it was something else.
It’s really unfortunate to see the direction this investigation is taking. I hope this investigation doesn’t end up taking the same direction as EgyptAir 990…
What do you make of the investigation of the crash of AI171?
Boeing and GE (also an American company and supplier of the engines) knew exactly what happened within minutes of the accident since data from the aircraft was being transmitted whether AI chose to receive it or not.
Boeing was not spotless but that doesn't mean that valid concerns do not exist w/ this investigation as the WSJ and Ben have noted.
The real question is what happens long-term if the cause of this...
Boeing and GE (also an American company and supplier of the engines) knew exactly what happened within minutes of the accident since data from the aircraft was being transmitted whether AI chose to receive it or not.
Boeing was not spotless but that doesn't mean that valid concerns do not exist w/ this investigation as the WSJ and Ben have noted.
The real question is what happens long-term if the cause of this accident is not accurately determined - and I strongly suspect that little will happen. Aviation in India will still grow by huge amounts, AI will be burdened by a culture of safety doubt that they probably will overcome in time, and other airlines in India as well as foreign airlines will benefit (or not be as impacted by AI's growth) because of the doubts.
I suspect that India has already calculated the cost of their approach over the one the US is pushing and have decided they can make their approach work w/o admitting that a human factors incident occurred that likely could not have been foreseen let alone prevented even in other cultures.
India is gonna India. no surprises here.
Surely bias without knowledge is simply bigotry, yes?
What this show is the US investigators have lost all credibility after the lopsided investigations after 737-MAX accidents where NTSB was functioning more like an extension of the wishes of Boeing management.
This won't have in the case 20 years ago. Unfortunately this is what you get when you lose all your credibility.
@Ben - you are repeating inaccurate tabloid news reports that the Supreme Court in India ruled that "the captain can’t be blamed for the crash".
The actual ruling was that the preliminary report did not make any finding of blame, neither against the captain nor against Boeing, hence there was no standing for the father of the captain to request that those findings were voided (as they were never made), nor to request that...
@Ben - you are repeating inaccurate tabloid news reports that the Supreme Court in India ruled that "the captain can’t be blamed for the crash".
The actual ruling was that the preliminary report did not make any finding of blame, neither against the captain nor against Boeing, hence there was no standing for the father of the captain to request that those findings were voided (as they were never made), nor to request that the court should appoint an independent enquiry. The court further ruled that reports in foreign media fell outside the jurisdiction of the Indian courts, and that the father should not "carry any emotional burden" by virtue of those reports which may have jumped to conclusions that were not explicitly stated in the AAIB report. It also ruled that leaks to the WSJ presumably from the NTSB were "irresponsible" but also fell out of their jurisdiction.
The court actually ruled AGAINST the claim that the pilot should not be blamed (stating that the AAIB has to determine that), although many reports have completely mixed that point up by trying to condense the minutae of the ruling into a single headline.
TLDR; upto this point the AAIB has only issued one preliminary report which stated the facts and no conclusions as to the cause of the accident.
I am not surprised by how India is handling it. If it is really the pilot's fault, it would be an embarrassment for them and in a typical way for them, they try to find a scapegoat and that's Boeing. I am not saying US is much better but yeah.
Point of order Lily …. how many times did Boeing attempt to “Scapegoat” the pilots before the truth was published?
How very Indian of them to try and cover up this tragedy and blame it on Boeing.
How very American for anyone to assume that Boeing has no case to answer without knowing all of the facts …. a very poor show Julia, yes?
This one is kinda simple in my book…. I would have never flown Air India before and I will for certain not fly them now - regardless of the conclusion of the investigation. There is no points redemption in the world that could convince me. Air India is still an operational pariah. Let’s see where they are in 10 years…
KL, do you feel the same way about Boeing Max aircraft or are you just displaying some sort of bias?
While I don’t have plans to fly Air India, if the outcome of the investigation doesn’t affect whether you fly Air India, why bother commenting? If it was the captain, it’s hard to blame the airline for that. Airlines all over the world have seen comparable actions in the cockpit, it’s difficult to see how a determined captain or pilot can be prevented from acting to bring down a jet. Whether that’s the case here remains to be seen.
In the past, I would have absolutely blamed India. Now, with the current state of the US, I’m inclined to think if there is a cover up, it’s on the American side. Let’s not forget how the B737 Max crashes were blamed on pilots from developing nations not knowing how to fly it in an effort to exonerate Boeing. History repeating itself?
I’m inclined to agree. The U.S. destroyed their own credibility with how they handled the 737 MAX failures. I’m not one to trust India, either. I’ve long opined that Britain should be involved because many of their nationals were on board, too, but I guess the government’s coffers are stretched thin already
I will say thar I’m not avoiding the Dreamliner, but I just got another reason to avoid Indian airlines
I am pleased to note that there are those who post herein who actually have real brain cells holding their ears apart.
Maybe countries not fully and transparently cooperating on the investigation should have their airlines banned from flying to US, EU etc. That might teach them to avoid these shenanigans.
Peter, playing the ‘Devil’s Advocate’ here, are we so sure that the U.S. is any more apt at “Transparently cooperating on the investigation”?
I get your point, but basics like not allowing photos being taken or having a judge rule what must not be stated as the cause of the accident? Maybe investigations should be led by third parties/countries instead.
You make some very valid points there Peter.
Surely, that is another good conversational article which Ben, will probably explore sometime soon.
Will there ever be an absolute conclusion, two very different countries and cultures, let’s hope that in the end of all the investigations we get a definitive answer