Aviation expert Sanjay Lazar voiced concern on Thursday regarding the leak of sensitive details from the Air India AI171 crash investigation in the United States. His reaction came after The Wall Street Journal published a report claiming that the flight commander may have intentionally turned off the aircraft’s fuel controls—an allegation not fully addressed in India’s official report.
According to Lazar, the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) of India released only a brief pilot denial in its preliminary findings. He stressed that the report lacked the full transcript from the cockpit voice recorder (CVR), which is crucial for understanding the sequence of events.
“Worrying That U.S. Knows More Than India”
In an interview with ANI, Lazar said, “The Wall Street Journal this morning has released a report, which suggested that the commander of the flight AI171 had undone the fuel switches. The preliminary report of the AAIB of India has only released a single statement, a very bold statement, which says, ‘Why did you cut it off?’ And the pilot replied, ‘No, I did not.’ Given this single statement, I do not believe that there is ample scope for us to make a determination.”
He further questioned how such detailed information could be available to foreign media when Indian authorities and the public have been left in the dark. “What is strange is that the AAIB preliminary report is being disclosed and leaked in the United States… Yet the Wall Street Journal seems to know more about it than any of us in India, our parliament, or the Civil Aviation Ministry,” Lazar added.
Call for Judicial Probe
Lazar joined the Federation of Indian Pilots in criticizing the AAIB’s handling of the case. He urged for a judicial inquiry, led by a sitting High Court judge, to ensure transparency and accountability.
“We should make an appeal to the Prime Minister of India, seeking complete transparency and a judicial probe into this matter…,” Lazar said.
Cockpit Recording Raises New Questions
A Reuters report, citing WSJ, stated that the cockpit audio revealed a troubling moment. The first officer allegedly questioned the captain about moving the fuel switches to the “cutoff” position shortly after takeoff. The exchange reportedly left the first officer panicked, while the captain remained calm.
The crash on June 12 killed all 260 people on board the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. The two pilots involved were Captain Sumeet Sabharwal and First Officer Clive Kunder, who had logged 15,638 and 3,403 flying hours, respectively.
Inspection of Fuel Switches Completed
In response to safety concerns, Air India announced on Wednesday that it had completed precautionary checks on the fuel control switch locking mechanism across its Boeing 787-8 fleet.
So far, India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), Boeing, and Air India have not issued any public response to the WSJ report.
