The Indian Air Accidents Investigation Agency (AAIB) will not be able to release the final report on the Air India plane crash on time for one year (June 12), because the engine inspection of the Boeing 787 in the US has not yet been completed.
According to sources, AAIB is likely to release a status report this week, focusing on explaining the reasons for the delay. A source said that India is expected to cite the need to complete the engine appraisal process as the reason for not being able to draw a final conclusion.
An Air India Boeing 787 on its way to London crashed shortly after taking off from Ahmedabad on June 12, 2025, killing 260 people. This is the world's most serious aviation disaster in a decade.
Preliminary reports released last year showed that the engine's fuel control switches had almost simultaneously switched from "RUN" to "CUTOFF", causing both engines to cut off fuel shortly after the plane took off.
According to published information, the final report may be completed within the next 3 months, when the engine research process of GE Aerospace is completed. The inspection was carried out in the US because only a few facilities in the world possess the necessary equipment to dismantle and analyze engines according to proper procedures.
According to international regulations, the final report must be published within one year after the accident. If the investigation is not completed, functional agencies need to issue a temporary report on each anniversary of the incident.
The investigation is also considering the actions of the crew before the plane crashed. Initial assessments by US officials based on cockpit voice recordings once supported the opinion that the captain cut off the fuel flow to the engine. However, AAIB then emphasized that it was too early to draw any definite conclusions.
The captain's father has asked the Indian Supreme Court to request an independent investigation, considering other causes besides the pilot's intentional action hypothesis.
On June 5, the Indian Federation of Pilots sent a letter to the Minister of Civil Aviation, the aviation regulatory agency and the Prime Minister's office, requesting not to publish the temporary report. The organization also called on investigators to collect more technical data from Boeing and Air India to refute the pilot suicide hypothesis that AAIB is considering.
The previous preliminary report did not provide any safety recommendations for Boeing or GE Aerospace, indicating that technical problems had not been detected at that time. This is also the first accident in the world involving the Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft line since this aircraft model was put into operation in 2011.
