3 min readNew DelhiUpdated: Jul 12, 2025 10:09 PM IST
After the release of the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau’s (AAIB) preliminary report on the Air India flight AI 171 fatal crash in Ahmedabad, Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol on Saturday said that the report was a preliminary one and conclusions should not be drawn based on it.
Speaking to reporters in Pune, the Minister said, “This is a primary report… This is not the final report, therefore there is nothing more to say about it.”
The report, released on Saturday morning, raised many questions over the mysterious crash. It said that both the fuel control switches were changed from the “RUN” to “CUTOFF” position just after lift-off, causing the aircraft to lose thrust. Further, the AAIB report also provides quotes from the pilot confirming the switch transition – “In the cockpit voice recording, one of the pilots is heard asking the other why did he cutoff fuel. The other pilot responded that he did not do so.”
#WATCH | On AAIB’s preliminary report on AI 171 crash, MoS Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol says, “The AAIB has brought out a preliminary report. This is not the final report. Until the final report comes out, we should not arrive at any conclusion. AAIB is an autonomous… pic.twitter.com/ypIWnzb6Gt
— ANI (@ANI) July 12, 2025
Aircraft experts suggested that there was almost no chance of the switches turning off accidentally, as they are protected.
Mohol insisted several times that conclusions should not be drawn from the report and added, “Whatever discourse has started because of the contents of the report, AAIB has to say that this is not the final report and a lot of investigation is still pending. Many things will crop up in due investigation. They are an autonomous authority and their work is not interfered with. They are conducting an unbiased investigation without interference.”
Praising the investigating agency’s work, Mohol said, “AAIB has done an excellent job. The accident happened on June 12 and within a day on June 13, the black box was successfully found. After that, through AAIB, the black box was decoded and the final data was obtained. Within a month they have given a primary report.”
Mohol said that in the past, even for helicopter crashes, India had to send the black boxes abroad, but this was not the case anymore and the data was extracted in India.
He also said that the report was submitted earlier than expected. “The primary report has come out before time, within a month. This is a success for our organisation AAIB. It was not an easy job to do this investigation, finding the black box and the voice recorded. We were at the location, it was not easy to find anything there… I feel that we should speak only on the basis of definite information. I hope you will cooperate in this, in whatever is in favour of the country. And that it does not create barriers for our country.”
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