New Delhi, July 16:
The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) has told the Supreme Court that draft final report of the probe into the June 2025 Air India flight AI-171 crash in Ahmedabad, which killed 260 people, is expected to be ready in October this year.
In a detailed affidavit filed before the top court, the AAIB said there is an ‘absolute statutory prohibition’ on disclosing cockpit voice recordings and airborne image recordings from the June 12, 2025, Ahmedabad plane crash to any external committee or the public.
The AAIB said that sharing such material would violate Rule 17(1) and Rule 17(5) read with Schedule C of the Aircraft (Investigation of Accidents and Incidents) Rules, 2025.
It submitted that a serious accident involving an international flight is not a matter purely of domestic inquiry, but one of international inquiry governed by the Chicago Convention and Annex 13 of the International Civil Aviation Organisation’s rules.
Annex 13 prescribes the standard operating procedure to conduct an aircraft accident investigation.
Article 26 obligates the State in which the accident occurs to institute an inquiry into the circumstances of the accident, while Annex 13 read with Aircraft (Investigation of Accidents and Incidents) Rules, 2025, expressly contemplates the participation of the State of Registry, State of Operator, State of Design, and State of Manufacture, each of whom possesses defined rights and responsibilities in the investigative process through accredited representatives and technical participation.