Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu Kinjarapu on Tuesday firmly stated that there is "no manipulation or dirty business" involved in the ongoing investigation into the tragic Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad, which claimed 260 lives. His comments address concerns surrounding the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau's (AAIB) probe into the fatal incident that occurred in Ahmedabad’s Meghaninagar area.
The controversy intensified following allegations made in late September by Pushkar Raj Sabharwal, the 91-year-old father of Captain Sumeet Sabharwal, one of the two pilots on Air India Flight AI 171. The flight crashed shortly after takeoff from Ahmedabad’s Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport.
Pushkar Raj Sabharwal claimed that AAIB officials visited his home on August 30, ostensibly to offer condolences, but instead insinuated that his son was responsible for the crash by cutting off the fuel supply to the plane’s engines post-takeoff.
In an email dated September 17 to the Federation of Indian Pilots, Pushkar Raj Sabharwal detailed the interaction, stating, "During this interaction ... they went beyond their mandate – speaking in innuendos and insinuating, on the basis of selective CVR interpretation and a so-called 'layered voice analysis', that my son had moved the fuel control switches from RUN to CUTOFF after take-off."
He further criticised the investigators for their "selective" release of information, which he believes fueled speculation about his son’s actions. Prior to this, he had also written to the civil aviation ministry, urging the government to launch an additional probe into the crash to address these concerns.
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Addressing reporters on Tuesday, Minister Kinjarapu sought to reassure the public about the integrity of the investigation. "There is no manipulation, or there is no dirty business, happening in the investigation. It is a very clean and very thorough process that we are doing according to the rules," he said.
He emphasised that the AAIB is conducting a "very transparent and independent study" for the final report, which is expected to take some time to complete. "We do not want to pressure them into coming up with some hasty report. So they are going to take the necessary time for it," Kinjarapu added.
The Air India crash involved a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, bound for Gatwick, which took off from Ahmedabad’s Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport. Minutes after departure, the aircraft crashed into a medical college building in Meghaninagar, killing 241 of the 242 people on board and 19 others on the ground, resulting in a total death toll of 260.
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