Air India crash investigation update reveals few details

The investigation into the Air India crash which left 260 people dead is ongoing, with the final report to be "released upon [its] completion", India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) has said on the first anniversary of the disaster.

The statement said "significant progress" had been made, in particular to "the examination and analysis of aircraft systems, flight recorder data, engine-related components, maintenance and operational records".

But it did not give a date for the investigation's completion.

The exact cause of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner crash shortly after taking off from Ahmedabad en route to London on 12 June 2025 has been the subject of widespread speculation.

The plane came down about 6km (3.7 miles) away from the airport, crashing into a building used as doctors' accommodation at the Byramjee Jeejeebhoy Medical College and Civil Hospital, and causing an explosion.

It left 19 people dead on the ground, as well as killing 241 on board. Of the passengers and crew killed, 169 were Indian nationals and 53 were Britons.

One person survived - Viswashkumar Ramesh, from Leicester.

Friday's update gives few extra details - instead simply saying the team "has undertaken an extensive and rigorous examination of all relevant technical, operational, organisational and human factors associated with the accident".

"Every aspect of the accident will be examined with the utmost care and diligence," it adds.

The statement, which extends its condolences to the "families and loved ones" of the deceased, also emphasises the fact the "sole purpose of an accident investigation is to enhance aviation safety through the identification of lessons and safety recommendations, and not to apportion blame or liability".

An initial preliminary report was published on 12 July last year, finding that just seconds after take-off, fuel-control switches abruptly moved to the "cut-off" position, starving the engines of fuel and triggering total power loss.

Audio recordings from the cockpit captured one pilot asking the other why he had done it, with the other replying that he had not. Investigators did not identify which pilot made either statement.

In the days after its release, attention turned to the pilots. The Wall Street Journal and Reuters news agency reported that new details in the investigation were shifting attention towards the senior pilot in the cockpit - Capt Sumeet Sabharwal.

"A cockpit recording of dialogue between the two pilots of the Air India flight" that crashed last year supports the view that the "captain cut the flow of fuel to the plane's engines", the Reuters report said, citing unnamed sources.

The media reports prompted a strong backlash from pilots' associations in India, which criticised the coverage and rejected suggestions that the senior pilot had caused the crash, as well as the AAIB.

This week, Capt Sabharwal's father told the BBC he was determined to keep protecting his son's reputation in the face of the allegations.

"You see, every time an accident takes place, the pilot is blamed. Why? It's the simplest way to close the chapter. He is no more and cannot defend himself," Pushkar Raj, who is his 90s, said.