FIP slams WSJ over Air India AI 171 crash report, calls claims on pilot actions unfounded

According to Reuters, the WSJ article claimed the recording suggested the captain had manually cut off fuel to the engines—a claim now drawing sharp rebuttal from India’s pilot body.

The article had cited unnamed sources familiar with US officials' early assessment of evidence in the investigation into the June 12 crash, which claimed 260 lives, Reuters reported.

Among those killed were 229 passengers, 12 crew members, and 19 people on the ground.

The WSJ story reportedly described a cockpit voice recording in which the first officer questioned the captain—who was more experienced—after he found certain switches in the “cutoff” position shortly after take-off.

The first officer appeared confused and later panicked, while the captain remained calm, the report said.

The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau’s (AAIB) preliminary findings, released last week, noted confusion in the cockpit moments before the crash and flagged the placement of the fuel cutoff switches for further scrutiny.

The two pilots in the crash were Captain Sumeet Sabharwal and First Officer Clive Kunder, with a total flying experience of 15,638 hours and 3,403 hours respectively. So far, India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), Boeing, and Air India have not issued a response.

FIP President Captain CS Randhawa condemned the WSJ article, stating that it drew conclusions not supported by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau’s preliminary report.

“...Nowhere in the report has it been mentioned that the fuel control switch was turned off due to the pilot's mistake. I condemn the article. They said it was the pilot's mistake. They have not read the report properly, and we will take action against them through FIP,” Randhawa told ANI.

With around 5,500 pilots as members, the FIP urged restraint in public commentary on the preliminary findings.

“We had issued a press statement yesterday that no channel, commentator or president of any agency should give such an opinion that has no basis. The detailed report will take time; till then, people are giving their own opinions without any basis, which is not right,” Randhawa added.

He drew parallels with an earlier incident involving ANA flight NH985 in 2019, where both engines shut down without any action by the pilot on the fuel control switches.

“Neither the report nor the Civil Aviation Minister has said that it was pilot error...You must relate this to the incident of ANA NH985, which occurred on January 17, 2019. At the time of landing, when the pilot selected thrust reversers, both engines shut down without the pilot moving the fuel control switch.

"I am quite clear that this is a repetition of the TCMA (Throttle Control Malfunction Accommodation) malfunction, and this needs a thorough investigation of the TCMA. Boeing has not taken any action yet and has not even tried to issue a directive that all these aircraft should be checked for TCMA functions. Secondly, there is not a single pilot in the investigation committee,” he said.

Randhawa said FIP would be urging the Civil Aviation Minister to reconstitute the board of inquiry and include type-rated experts—pilots, engineers and air safety specialists.

"Indian pilots are among the best in the world. I did not give my opinion to the Wall Street Journal, which had approached me as well, because I am against this American media. They are deliberately giving their own opinion, their own views from this report, while there is nothing like this in the report. So I very strongly condemn this report of the Wall Street Journal and we will take action on it," he said.

FIP had earlier expressed “serious” concern over both the preliminary findings and the commentary surrounding the AI 171 crash, particularly the absence of pilot representatives in the investigation.

“At the outset, we would like to register our dissatisfaction with the exclusion of pilot representatives from the investigation process. We also firmly object to the way in which the preliminary report has been interpreted and presented publicly,” the federation said in an official statement.