The Air Accident Investigation Bureau is expected to complete its probe into the Air India AI-171 crash last year within six weeks, with a “final draft report” prepared by October, the Center told the Supreme Court on Tuesday.
The draft could not be made public immediately, the center said in an affidavit filed ahead of a hearing on Friday on a group of petitions demanding an independent investigation into the accident that killed 260 people, including 241 on board.
The government cited the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Framework and Aircraft (Investigation of Accidents and Accidents) Regulations 2025, which mandate that a draft aviation accident investigation report be distributed to countries participating in the investigation – in this case, the US National Transportation Safety Board as the authorized representative of the state of design and manufacture – to obtain their “substantial and substantiated comments”. The center stated that the consultation could take from 30 to 60 days depending on the complexity of the responses.
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The affidavit, filed on behalf of the Ministry of Civil Aviation and AAIB, opposed the petitioners’ demands for an independent investigation under court supervision, arguing that the investigation strictly follows international standards and Indian law and leaves no room for judicial oversight or a parallel investigation. The matter will come up on July 17 before a bench led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant.
“In all likelihood, investigative activities, subject to the resolution of outstanding external dependencies set forth therein, are expected to be completed within approximately 6 weeks,” the affidavit said, adding that the draft final report “is expected to be ready approximately October 2026” after the analysis phase.
Read also: Why the AAIB AI-171 investigation is facing a major crisis of confidence
The AAIB said aviation accident investigations exist only to prevent future accidents, not to determine civil or criminal liability, and that Indian law explicitly separates them from judicial or criminal proceedings. She added that appointing another investigative body or ordering judicial supervision would violate the principle of “sole investigative authority” under Annex 13 of the ICAO Framework for Action, noting that it alone has legal custody of the wreckage, flight recorders and other investigative materials. Of the 66 mandatory procedural steps for investigating a serious incident, the AAIB said it had completed 49 of them.
She said all safeguards – preservation of evidence, recovery and analysis of flight recorders, involvement of authorized representatives, technical inspection of aircraft systems, consultation with stakeholders, and distribution of the draft report – are being “scrupulously followed”.
The office also defended the secrecy surrounding the investigation, saying cockpit voice recordings, crew communications, witness statements, medical records and the contents of the draft report are protected from public disclosure to maintain the integrity of the investigation and meet India’s international obligations.
Read also: Final investigation report pending, questions about AI 171 crash remain unanswered
Since its establishment in July 2012, the Accident Investigation Bureau has completed 218 investigations – 97 accidents, 120 serious incidents and one incident – a record number which it said proves its technical competence and fully capable of investigating the Ahmedabad crash.
Air India Flight 171, a Boeing 787 Dreamline, crashed moments after takeoff on June 12, 2025. Except for one person, all on board and 19 people on the ground were killed.
Among the petitions seeking an independent investigation is the father of Captain Sumit Sabharwal, one of the pilots, who has challenged the Australian Bureau of Investigation’s initial report on speculation it raised about possible pilot error.
The NGO Safety Matters Foundation has requested the establishment of a formal court of inquiry. In the previous hearing, the Supreme Court had asked the Center and the DGCA to record the procedural protocol governing the AAIB probe, observing that the proceedings should not become a “blame game” and that it would first examine whether the probe complies with the prescribed legal and international framework before considering any parallel probe.
