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No instant answers in air crash investigations
June 1st 2025
Commercial airlines operate the safest form of transport known to man. Read More » Declining accident rates indisputably illustrate this trend.
Yet 100% airline safety is impossible to achieve. The complex nature of the business, the intricate technical and mechanical systems involved in today’s modern jets and the potential for pilot and maintenance hangar errors mean accidents, however rare, are inevitable.
The worst aviation accident in more than a decade, the crash of Air India flight AI171 on June 12, is a shocking reminder of these threats to safe travel.
The frenzy of speculation that has followed the accident also is to be expected, especially as investigators are now attempting to understand why the fuel switches of the aircraft were turned off at the start of its take off.
Media, aviation professionals and the flying public cannot help but ask if the mental health of the captain was a factor in the disengagement of the switches.
Yet those who clamour for and demand answers about why the tragedy occurred should remember air crash investigations do not produce conclusions overnight.
The task of crash investigators must be a deliberative search for the truth. They must look at every conceivable angle, from clues in the wreckage to the two “Black Boxes”.
They must talk to potential witnesses and air traffic controllers, view videos available and examine maintenance records and the backgrounds of the cockpit crew.
None of this happens quickly with some investigations taking months to complete.
There is another complicating factor that may or may not relate to AI171. Within days of the accident, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) ordered Air India to remove three executives from its scheduling department for repeated flight and duty time rule violations.
It then issued a stern warning to Air India for repeated violations of pilot flight duty time regulations, highlighting significant lapses in crew scheduling and oversight.
In a sweeping surveillance exercise conducted less than two weeks after the crash, the DGCA uncovered serious safety and compliance violations across India’s aviation ecosystem.
It revealed multiple operational, technical and safety related shortcomings at airlines, airports, MRO shops and ground handlers.
All in all, it raises serious concerns about India’s aviation safety systems that must be addressed because the country’s aviation industry has been dealt a serious blow to its reputation.
TOM BALLANTYNE
Associate editor and chief correspondent
Orient Aviation Media Group
