'No manipulation or dirty business happening': Aviation minister on Air India plane crash probe

A London-bound Air India flight crash in Ahmedabad on June 12. (File photo/PTI)

Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu on Tuesday dismissed concerns raised over the ongoing investigation into the Air India plane crash that killed 260 people on June 12 and said there is "no manipulation or dirty business" happening in the probe.

His assertion comes against the backdrop of concerns expressed in certain quarters about the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) probe into the fatal crash.

Naidu said everyone has to wait for the final AAIB's final probe report to know what exactly happened. "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, PTI reported.

Naidu added that it will take some time for the final AAIB report into the crash and added, "We don't want to pressure them into coming up with some history report".

He was speaking on the sidelines of a book launch function in the national capital.

Air India plane crash

A total of 260 people, including 241 passengers, died after Air India's Boeing 787-8 aircraft operating flight AI171 to London Gatwick crashed seconds after take off from Ahmedabad on June 12.

AAIB, in its preliminary report released on July 12, had said the fuel supply to both engines of the plane was cut off within a gap of one second, causing confusion in the cockpit soon after takeoff.

"In the cockpit voice recording, one of the pilots is heard asking the other why did he cut off. The other pilot responded that he did not do so," it had said.

As the initial probe cast a shadow on the pilots, on August 29, Pushkaraj Sabharwal, father of Captain Sumeet Sabharwal, who was one of the pilots of the ill-fated Air India Dreamliner, demanded a 'formal investigation' by the central government.

Later on September 22, the Federation of Indian Pilots (FIP) urged the government to order a judicial probe into the Air India Dreamliner crash, alleging that the ongoing investigation is "compromised" and should be halted, PTI reported.

The Supreme Court, on September 22, termed as "unfortunate and irresponsible" the selective publication of a preliminary report on the June 12 Air India crash, which outlined lapses on the part of pilots and paved the way for a "media narrative".

(With inputs from PTI)