Indian pilots demand further probe of Air India crash, to investigate if cause was electric failure not pilot mistake

MUMBAI, May 5 — An Indian pilot group has submitted a letter to the aviation ministry suggesting that electrical failure, and not pilot action, could have caused the deadly Air India crash last year.

The submission by the Federation of Indian Pilots (FIP), which has more than 5,000 members, comes ahead of the expected final report into the crash of the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner that killed 260 people shortly after takeoff on June 12, 2025.

As required by international law, India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) published a preliminary report on July 12, one month after the disaster, when the plane exploded into flames shortly after takeoff from Ahmedabad in western India.

That 15-page document said the fuel supply to the jet’s engines was cut off moments before impact, raising questions about possible pilot error.

It did not mention whether the turning off of the fuel switches could have been caused by pilot manoeuvre, or by any kind of malfunction.

The FIP letter, dated May 1 and seen by AFP, offers what it called a “technical note” that “suggests a credible cause” requiring further investigation.

“A prelift-off electrical disturbance could have caused unintended relay operation and dual engine fuel cut-off without pilot input”, it reads.

“Media reports…continue to suggest pilot action,” it adds.

“However, the International Civil Aviation Organisation… requires all credible technical causes be ruled out first.”

The final report is expected by next month, within a year of the crash.

“It is submitted that this may be treated as a testable hypothesis and examined through detailed electrical analysis… Technical causes cannot be ruled out till this analysis is made,” it argues. — AFP