INDIA's civil aviation minister Ram Mohan Naidu said on Friday that the investigation into the Air India Boeing Dreamliner crash in Ahmedabad, which killed 260 people last year, is in its final stage and the report is expected within a month.
Speaking on the sidelines of an event at GIFT City in Gandhinagar, Naidu said the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) is carrying out an independent investigation into the June 2025 crash of Air India flight AI 171.
“Investigation is going on very strongly. We have to understand one thing: when foreign nationals were travelling on the plane that crashed, it (the probe report) will be up for scrutiny by any country. Any country or organisation can raise questions,” Naidu told reporters.
He said the investigation has to be conducted with seriousness, fairness and transparency, and that it is being done in that spirit.
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The minister said the final report into the crash will “mostly” be released within a month.
On June 12 last year, Air India flight AI 171, a Boeing 787-8 aircraft flying to London Gatwick, crashed into a medical college hostel complex shortly after taking off from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in Ahmedabad. The aircraft caught fire, killing 241 of the 242 people on board and 19 people on the ground.
“The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) is conducting independent investigations and, whatever resources they have asked for, we have been providing,” Naidu said.
He also said the ministry is monitoring issues raised by families of the victims and has set up a special cell to coordinate compensation and related matters linked to the crash.
“We are monitoring the situation. We have a cell in the ministry which is coordinating compensation and other things announced at that time. If someone has any issue, we will look into it,” he said while responding to questions about dissatisfaction expressed by some victims’ relatives with Air India.
Around 30 families of the crash victims from across Gujarat have written to prime minister Narendra Modi seeking the release of the Cockpit Voice Recorder and Flight Data Recorder black box data to determine the cause of the crash.
(With inputs from agencies)
