Air India crash: Supreme Court to examine whether probe is being conducted in fair manner

The Supreme Court of India on Monday agreed to examine whether requisite measures are being taken to ensure a fair, impartial, and expeditious investigation into the June 12 Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad which killed 260 people including 19 on the ground [Safety Matters Foundation v. Union of India and ors].

A Bench of Justices Surya Kant and NK Singh sought the response of the Union Civil Aviation Ministry, the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau, India (AAIB) and the Director General Of Civil Aviation (DGCA) in the matter.

The Court issued notice on a public interest litigation (PIL) plea filed by Safety Matters Foundation, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) that works towards promoting aviation safety in India.

The Court, however, expressed reservations about the NGO's plea for making all investigation material public, including all recorded fault messages and technical advisories relating to the aircraft in question.

"Suppose tomorrow, it is said pilot 'A' is responsible? The family of pilot is bound to suffer," Justice Kant observed.

The Court proceeded to seek a response from the government authorities only on the limited question of whether the probe being undertaken into the matter is proceeding on the right path.

"Issue notice to the respondents for the limited purpose of ensuring a free, fair, impartial, independent and expeditious investigation," the Court ordered.

In its plea, the petitioner-NGO flagged concerns that the AAIB's "selective" release of its preliminary report on the air crash investigation and its failure to disclose critical information could mislead the public into prematurely believing that pilot error was responsible for the crash.

It claimed that vital details that could point to a manufacturing error in the Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner and failures to carry out inspections that have been recommended internationally, have not been disclosed.

It added that if blame is prematurely attributed to human error instead of documented mechanical vulnerabilities of the aircraft, the credibility of the investigation into the air crash could be compromised.

"Such an approach not only misleads the public but also undermines the fundamental purpose of accident investigation, which is to uncover systemic faults and prevent recurrence ... (the preliminary) report continues to focus solely on alleged human error, thereby suppressing technical findings that point to deeper systemic instability," the plea said.

It also claimed that the AAIB has failed to factor in the testimony of the sole survivor of the air crash, further raising concerns about the credibility of the preliminary investigation report.

Moreover, the petitioner also raised been raised that three out of the five members of the investigating team belong to the DGCA, Air Safety, Western Region.

"By allowing its own officers to dominate the investigation, a direct conflict of interest arises, since the inquiry would inevitably require examination of whether the DGCA discharged its oversight duties diligently," the plea explained.

These concerns were expressed by the NGO's counsel, advocate Prashant Bhushan today during the court hearing as well.

"It has been more than 100 days since the crash occurred. All that has been done so far is preliminary report....it doesn't say what has happened or what may have happened and what precautions should be taken ... The result is all passengers who are travelling on these Boeing planes are at risk today," he added.

The petitioner-NGO's prayers are two fold - one being to disclose all relevant records forming part of the investigation and the second to appoint an independent investigation team to inquire into the crash under the supervision of the Supreme Court.

The plea was filed through advocate Pranav Sachdeva.

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