NEW DELHI: The Federation of Indian Pilots (FIP) has written to the Civil Aviation Ministry demanding a judicial probe into the June 12 Air India flight AI171 crash in Ahmedabad that claimed 260 lives. The federation also plans to file a PIL in this connection in the Supreme Court shortly.
It is demanding a court of inquiry (judicial probe) under Rule 12 of the Aircraft (Investigation of Accidents and Incidents) Rules, 2017. “We will also be moving the Supreme Court early next week with a similar request,” a source told this reporter.
The response follows the Supreme Court’s castigation of the Aircraft Accidents Investigation Bureau (AIIB) on Monday for suggesting that pilot error caused the crash in its preliminary report submitted a month later (July 12).
The bench was responding to a plea by an NGO, Safety Matters Foundation, seeking an independent probe. The letter, dated September 22, is signed by the president of the FIP, which represents over 5,000 professional pilots and aviation professionals.
It suggested that the probe panel can be on the lines of the Court of Inquiry set up after the Mangalore accident on May 22, 2010, involving an Air India Express flight, which claimed 158 lives. “A Presiding Officer which must be a retired Judge of the Supreme Court and a panel of unimpeachable, independent experts with knowledge of operational, aircraft maintenance, avionics and flight control systems,” it said.
The letter to the ministry recalls that it had made a preliminary request in the aftermath of the accident for inclusion of subject-matter experts and a judicial inquiry. “This letter serves as a formal and urgent escalation of that position in light of grave and alarming developments,” it said.
It charged that the actions by the AAIB have violated statutory rules and ethical norms. The letter alleged that a delegation of the AAIB had made “an unsolicited visit” to the residence of Pushkar Raj Sabharwal, the 91-year-old bereaved father of deceased Pilot-in-Command Capt Sumeet Sabharwal, under the guise of offering condolences.