Air India Crash: AAIB Onboards Human Factors Specialists To Assist Probe

The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau has roped in human factors specialists to assist with its ongoing investigation into the AI-171 Ahmedabad crash, the government told Parliament on Thursday.

“B787 type-rated experienced pilots, type-rated engineers, aviation medicine specialists, human factor specialists, and flight recorder specialists have been taken on board as subject matter experts to assist the investigation," Minister of State for Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol said.

This move follows multiple reports in Western media blaming the senior pilot for the fatal crash.

A human factors specialist studies how people behave and make decisions during flight. Their job is to understand how human behaviour, emotions, and workload can affect safety. When investigating a plane crash, they examine whether pilots followed proper procedures and find out if human mistakes contributed to the accident to help prevent future accidents.

It was less than a minute after Air India flight 171, bound for London, took off from Ahmedabad airport on June 12 that it lost momentum and dropped from the sky, exploding into flames, killing 241 people on board and 19 on the ground. The accident, involving a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, marked the first ever complete loss of that aircraft type.

The preliminary report into the crash found that both switches that controlled fuel going into the engines were cut off just after takeoff, causing the plane to fatally lose altitude. The authorities withheld the full cockpit voice recorder transcript, revealing only a single, telling line from the final moments—one pilot asked the other why "did he cut off," to which the person replied that he didn't. The 15-page report does not mention the involvement of human factors specialists assisting the probe nor assign any blame at this stage. The full transcript, expected in the final report, is expected to provide clearer insight into what truly happened.

Meanwhile, this selective disclosure of cockpit conversation and unanswered questions over whether the switches were moved manually or due to a faulty mechanism has led to speculative leaks. The Wall Street Journal has reported that "new details in the probe of last month's Air India crash are shifting the focus to the senior pilot in the cockpit." Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera claimed that its sources had told them the first officer repeatedly asked the captain why he "shut off the engines."

Sumeet Sabharwal, 56, was the captain on the flight, while Clive Kunder, 32, was the co-pilot who was flying the plane. Together, the two pilots had more than 19,000 hours of flight experience—nearly half of it on the Boeing 787. Both had passed all pre-flight health checks before the crash.

The rush to blame the pilots has rattled investigators and angered pilots.

The Indian Commercial Pilots' Association condemned the "reckless and unfounded insinuation" that pilot suicide might be the cause of the tragic crash. As long as the investigation continues and until the final report is published, "any speculation, especially of such a grave nature, is unacceptable and must be condemned," the ICPA said in a statement.

Sam Thomas, head of the Airline Pilots' Association of India, representing over 800 pilots, said he was "surprised at the secrecy" surrounding these investigations. "We are also reiterating the fact that suitably qualified personnel are not taken on board for these crucial investigations."

A five-member team appointed by the AAIB is probing the crash.

The AAIB, the lead investigator, also urged restraint in drawing conclusions and spreading "premature narratives" until the final report is out.

"Certain sections of the international media are repeatedly attempting to draw conclusions through selective and unverified reporting," it said in a statement on July 17. The AAIB further described these actions as "irresponsible, especially while the investigation remains ongoing."