Aviation Minister: AI-171 Crash Probe Transparent, Western Media Promote Its Own Viewpoint

Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu has dismissed speculation of the preliminary report on the Air India crash being biased and slammed western media for pushing their “own narrative”. Speaking in the Rajya Sabha, Naidu urged the public and media to refrain from jumping to conclusions while asserting that the final findings would give a clearer picture of what led to one of the worst aviation disasters in India. “The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) is carrying out the investigation in a transparent manner. I have seen multiple articles, not only by the Indian media, but also by the Western media trying to promote their own viewpoint,” Naidu said amid hectic sloganeering by the opposition. The initial probe into the crash, which claimed 260 lives, revealed that three seconds after the AI 171 flight took off from Ahmedabad, fuel supply to both engines got cut off. However, the report does not mention if the shift in the fuel control switches, which regulate fuel flow into a plane's engines, was inadvertent or deliberate. The report does mention one pilot asking the other why he cut off the fuel supply, with the other responding he did not. The full transcript of the conversation has not been released, prompting several theories on social media.