Unvarnished facts: On the Ahmedabad air crash, AAIB investigation
The full and raw cockpit voice recorder transcript must be released
The pushback by pilot bodies and the agencies that are investigating the Ahmedabad air crash, to the damaging leaks by sections of the media could well turn out to be a tepid attempt to staunch the flow. While these leaks have been dismissed as “selective, unverified, irresponsible and baseless reporting” and triggered legal responses, they have, in a way, set a narrative going. There is no fathoming of what more the cockpit voice recorder could contain — especially relating to the troubling possibility of ‘human intervention’ in the crash of Air India flight AI171 on June 12. In this the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) has to turn the spotlight on itself for its presentation of the key findings in its preliminary report. Its sparse detailing of an unusual “transitioning” of the two separate fuel control switches, from “run to cutoff’ and back, a standalone snatch of conversation, reflecting unease and denial, between the crew in the unfolding disaster — that has been left open to endless interpretation — and, finally, a near blanket signing-off of no recommended actions concerning the aircraft type, the engine, and the manufacturers, only point to one direction — of the need for the release of a full and raw cockpit voice recorder transcript.
In a legal analysis, if credible evidence of ‘human intervention’ does emerge, the investigation could shift, with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Annex 13 inquiry, that is focused on safety, moving alongside a parallel criminal probe under domestic law. It must be noted that in 2015, following the Germanwings flight 9525 accident — a case of definite ‘human intervention’ — the Government of India was mulling “mid-term” psychometric tests. Then Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation Mahesh Sharma had said that psychometric tests should be carried out on pilots in India from time to time. He added that the Ministry would hold consultations with the regulator, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, to facilitate the preparation of fresh rules keeping in mind the crash of the German plane. A senior counsellor at the Kolkata-based Indian Institute of Psychometry (founded in 1978) had also favoured having a repeat of psychometric tests “if a person, especially a pilot or cabin crew, was undergoing mental stress or had had a tragedy on the personal front”. On July 17, in a letter of appeal, the AAIB had said that it would publish updates, as and when required, which would have content of technical and public interest. While it is understood that an air accident investigation would be meticulous, at the same time, the hope is that the AAIB clears the fog in the AI171 accident and presents the unvarnished facts — as promised in Parliament on Monday.