Sources confirm that a bitter row has erupted over the cause of last month’s Air India disaster, with UK air accident investigators now stepping into the fray. The crash, which killed 158 people, has been mired in conflicting accounts from the Indian authorities and the airline’s own safety team. Documents uncovered by this newsroom reveal that the UK’s Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) has formally offered its expertise to the Indian government, a move that has raised eyebrows in aviation circles.
The dispute centres on whether the crash was caused by a catastrophic engine failure or pilot error. Indian officials have heavily pushed the engine failure narrative, but leaked internal reports from Air India suggest that the flight data recorder points to a series of pilot mistakes. The AAIB’s offer to assist has been interpreted by some as a tacit acknowledgment that the Indian investigation is struggling to reach a credible conclusion.
A senior aviation source told this reporter: “The AAIB doesn’t just offer help for the sake of it. They get involved when there’s a sense that the local investigation is being compromised or politicised. This crash is becoming a textbook case of how not to handle an air disaster.”
The timing is particularly uncomfortable for the Indian government, which has been touting its aviation safety record as it seeks to expand its international routes. The crash of Air India flight 101 has already led to calls for a full judicial inquiry, but the government has so far resisted, preferring to keep the investigation within the purview of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
Documents seen by this newsroom show that the DGCA’s preliminary report was riddled with inconsistencies. For instance, the report claimed that the aircraft’s engines had been inspected just hours before the crash and found to be in perfect condition. Yet a separate maintenance log, obtained from a whistleblower at Air India’s engineering division, shows that the same engine had been flagged for “abnormal vibrations” on three separate occasions in the preceding month.
Air India’s management has dismissed the whistleblower as a disgruntled employee, but the AAIB’s interest suggests that there is more to this story. The UK body has a reputation for being relentless in its pursuit of the truth, and its involvement will likely put pressure on the Indian authorities to release the full flight data and cockpit voice recordings.
Families of the victims have grown increasingly frustrated with the lack of transparency. One relative, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said: “They keep telling us that the investigation is ongoing, but we see no progress. We hear rumours about a cover-up. The UK investigators are our only hope for the truth.”
The AAIB’s offer is yet to be formally accepted, but sources say that the Indian government is in a difficult position. Refusing the help would look suspicious, but accepting it could be seen as an admission that the domestic investigation is not up to scratch.
This is not the first time that the AAIB has intervened in a foreign crash investigation where the local authorities were seen as compromised. In 2015, they helped unravel the cause of a Lion Air crash in Indonesia that had initially been blamed on pilot error but was later found to be due to a design flaw in the aircraft’s flight control system.
For now, the world waits to see whether India will accept the UK’s helping hand. But as this newsroom has learned, the clock is ticking. The longer the dispute over the cause of the crash continues, the more questions will be asked about what exactly is being hidden.
One thing is certain: I will be following the money and the bodies. And I don’t trust anyone in a suit.
