A new public interest litigation has been submitted to the Supreme Court of India concerning the Air India crash that occurred shortly after take-off from Ahmedabad.
Filed by the non-governmental organisation Safety Matters Foundation, the petition demands that authorities release the full digital data retrieved from the aircraft, including the complete transcripts of the flight data recorder (FDR) and cockpit voice recorder (CVR).
The petition also calls for public disclosure of all technical malfunction messages from the ill-fated aircraft, accompanied by specific timelines.
It criticises the preliminary report issued by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), alleging serious lapses and non-compliance with the Aircraft Rules, 2017.
Significantly, the plea alleges that the AAIB entirely excluded the sole surviving passenger, 40-year-old businessman Vishwakumar Ramesh from Leicester, from its preliminary findings. According to the petitioners, the AAIB neither acknowledged nor included his testimony in the report released on July 12.
After releasing the report, the AAIB cautioned against drawing early conclusions, stating that the investigation was ongoing and the final report would confirm the root cause.
Doubts Cast on Probe’s Independence
The plea also raises concerns regarding potential conflicts of interest within the investigation team.
Three of the five investigators reportedly have ties to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), the authority that certifies and oversees the aircraft’s operations. This, the petition argues, may compromise the objectivity of the inquiry.
The Air India flight crashed barely five minutes after departing from Ahmedabad airport, plummeting into the Meghani Nagar area.
Aboard were 242 passengers and 10 crew members, including 53 British, seven Portuguese, and one Canadian national. Severe burns disfigured most bodies, complicating identification efforts.
Prominent figures on the flight included Gujarat’s former Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, Cargo Motors head Nanda, and Lubi Industries director Subhash Amin. Captain Sumit Sabharwal was in command, assisted by First Officer Clive Kundar.
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