'When Billions of Dollars Are Involved…': Aviation Experts on Italian Newspaper's Claim on AI-171 Plane Crash Probe

New Delhi: A day after an Italian newspaper reported that the Indian investigation into the Air India AI-171 plane crash has been completed, claiming that the final report may point towards one of the pilots’ actions to intentionally switch off the fuel control, aviation experts countered these reports, saying that every time an event has to happen, such a report is generated by a foreign media, and when billions of dollars are involved, they ask for input from many people and go with whichever suits them.India witnessed one of its worst aviation disasters on June 12 last year when Air India's Boeing 787-8 aircraft operating flight AI171 to London Gatwick crashed soon after take-off from Ahmedabad, killing a total of 260 people, including 241

passengers.Speaking to Times Now on Italian newspaper reports and claims on the AI-171 crash, Captain Amit Singh, aviation expert and founder of Safety Matters Foundation, said that every time an event has to happen, such a report is generated by a foreign media. So, on the 11th, the Supreme Court was hearing the public interest litigation matter regarding the independence of the investigation. And just at that time, this news broke in, clearly blaming the pilots.”“While they are blaming the pilots, there is no supporting evidence to it. It is basically quoting some western kind of, not even journalists, we don't know where the source is. But clearly, this is half-baked technical information which has been supplied to them.""This particular journal publication, they contacted me a couple of times last week and wanted a quote from me. I gave them the quote, but that surprisingly hasn't appeared here. Because that was not supporting their narrative,” he said."So, that is very clear that they want to toe somebody else's narrative... India or the AIB has to come out with a statement that the data is secured and no leak has happened," Captain Amit Singh said.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3Dx7G2dp9c&t=552s

'When Billions of Dollars Are Involved...': Group Captain Dr MJ Augustine on Italy Media Report

Sharing his view on western media claims on the AI-171 plane crash, Group Captain Dr. MJ Augustine Vinod said that in terms of mathematics, we know, ICAO Annexure 19, which is a safety management document, is the mother document which FAA, IASA, IATA, and DGCA, they all take a leave from there."And we need to comply with ICAO Annexure 19. So, it talks about accidents per million departures. So, usually it is expressed in departures per million departures,” he informed."So, let's talk about this Italian document that has come out and Italian numbers. If you look at India, we are, you know, I mean, as on today, holding somewhere at 1.86 in terms of accidents,” Group Captain Vinod said."And you'll be surprised, people who write this, they should look at what they are, Italy is at 2.38. We are 1.86. You know, where the United States is 3.33. Look at where 3.33 is where 1.86 is. That is a kind of number difference. I am not talking about the volume of traffic," Aviation Expert Vinod mentioned."I’m talking about accidents per million departures. So, inherently, worldwide, just because of DGCA's, you know, Hawkeye, I would say, our safety, aviation safety, is much better than the United States. Much, much better than Italy,” he said."Even better than European safety standards. So, whom are they pointing their finger at? Now, I can take one accident in isolation and shred it to pieces, till cows come home. I can take four accidents of Italy and shred it to pieces right now,” he said while hitting out at the Italian media report."But that is not our aim… the money involved is in billions of dollars… when billions of dollars are involved, they ask for input from many people and whichever input that suits them, they will keep it," Group Captain Vinod said.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0nhYHMmeqo&t=33s

Joining the conversation, Captain Randhawa, when asked if there is a desperate attempt at trying to cover up and trying to push the entire investigation in a particular direction, he said, "We've been saying it right from the beginning after the crash that they are even when the preliminary report was given by the AIB, they had given a clean chit to Boeing, Honeywell, and GE, all three are American companies.""Now, another point is that after reiterating the fact that the aircraft should be checked for electrical systems, neither the AIB nor the DGCA has ever done it. That is quite evident, because even if you see the 737 crash of MAX in Indonesia and Ethiopia, they tried to put the blame on the pilot, because there are billions at stake by these companies. And to safeguard themselves, they want to put the blame on the pilots, so that they are totally scot-free," said Captain Randhawa.

Incorrect Reports, AI-171 Probe Still On, Says AAIB After Italy Media Reports

Earlier today, the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) clarified that the investigation into the Air India AI-171 accident is still ongoing, dismissing media reports claiming the probe is complete as "speculative and incorrect." The aviation probing body said that no final conclusions have been reached into the investigation of the Air India Ahmedabad-London Boeing-787 flight and urged media outlets to avoid unverified reporting until the final investigation report is officially released.