Congress MP accuses Centre of obfuscating probe details in Air India 171 crash

Six months after the skies over Ahmedabad turned fatal, the mystery surrounding the crash of Air India Flight 171 continues to cast a long shadow — and Congress MP Manish Tewari has now sharpened his attack on the Centre, accusing it of stonewalling the truth to spare itself further embarrassment.

Raising the issue on Thursday, Tewari said the government has failed to explain the “actual reasons” behind one of India’s worst aviation disasters, even half a year after the London-bound aircraft plunged to the ground moments after take-off on 12 June. The tragedy claimed more than 260 lives, including over a dozen people on the ground, leaving behind unanswered questions and shaken public confidence.

The ill-fated flight, carrying 230 passengers and 12 crew members, crashed shortly after departing Ahmedabad airport for Gatwick, triggering a massive investigation into possible technical failures. Yet, Tewari alleged, no clear or incriminating findings have been placed before the public so far.

Taking to X, the Chandigarh MP said the silence was inexcusable. “Over six months have elapsed since Air India 171 tragically crashed in Ahmedabad. We still do not know what exactly happened,” he wrote, while also flagging concerns in the Lok Sabha about alleged lapses, poor coordination between Indian and US agencies, and the absence of visible steps to restore global confidence in India’s aviation safety framework.

Responding in Parliament, minister of state for civil aviation Murlidhar Mohol said the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) was probing the crash strictly in line with International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) norms, a process that involved multiple stakeholders and expert scrutiny.

The minister informed the House that both the rear and front Enhanced Airborne Flight Recorders — combining the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder — were recovered within days of the crash and handed over to the AAIB under tight security. Since their retrieval, he said, the devices have remained under constant surveillance.

The explanation, however, did little to satisfy Tewari.

While the AAIB released a 15-page preliminary report on 12 July — a month after the crash — it offered only fragments of insight. The report noted that the aircraft’s engine fuel control switches shifted from ‘RUN’ to ‘CUTOFF’ shortly after take-off, but stopped short of clarifying whether the switches were physically moved or why.

Adding to the intrigue, the report cited cockpit conversations in which one pilot questioned the other about cutting off fuel, only to be told that no such action had been taken.

For the Congress MP, the unanswered questions loom larger than ever. As grieving families wait for closure, Tewari’s charge is blunt: the nation deserves clarity, not obfuscation, on what brought Flight 171 crashing down from the skies.

With IANS inputs