India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) reportedly prepared a cockpit voice recorder transcript, conducted a psychological autopsy and moved into the final stages of its probe into the deadly Air India crash in 2025 that killed 260 people, a court filing showed.
According to Reuters, the filing did not identify whose psychological autopsy was conducted or disclose any findings on the crash of the Air India Boeing 787.
As many as 260 people died — 241 of the 242 on board the plane and 19 on the ground — in the plane crash in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, on June 12, 2025.
Investigations so far
An analysis of data retrieved in late May from an engine monitoring unit was still awaited, and an assessment of certain organisational factors remained in progress, the AAIB said, according to Reuters, without providing more details.
The AAIB said investigators had interviewed Air India 787 pilots, crew members who had previously flown with the pilots of the crashed aircraft, technical personnel involved in preparing the jet, air traffic controllers, weather officials and human-factors specialists, Reuters reported.
The families of the flight crew were also approached at their residences during the early stages of the investigation, the AAIB said in the filing dated Tuesday.
One of the AAIB's home visits last year had upset Pushkar Raj Sabharwal, the father of the captain, who said officials implied his son cut the fuel to the plane's engines after takeoff.
He filed a lawsuit that led to the disclosures made by the AAIB in the court filing.
The AAIB said media speculation and narratives attributing blame to the pilots had caused some witnesses to become “restrictive and non-responsive”.
It said the probe was now in the analysis phase, with findings and conclusions being drawn across operational, technical, human-factors and organisational areas.
The AAIB said it expected the remaining investigation activities to be completed within about six weeks, subject to pending "external dependencies".
A draft final report is expected around October, after which it will be circulated to relevant participating countries for comments before being finalised and published, the filing said.
The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board is one of the parties due to receive the draft report.
According to US officials' early assessment reported by Reuters last year, the cockpit recording of dialogue between the two pilots supported the view that the captain cut the flow of fuel to its engines.
The AAIB said at the time it was “too early to reach any definite conclusions.”
The Air India plane crash
Air India's Boeing 787-8 flight AI171, en route to London's Gatwick airport, was operated by pilot-in-command Captain Sumeet Sabharwal and co-pilot Captain Clive Kunder.
The crash took place after the plane took off from Gujarat's Ahmedabad, killing 260 people — 169 Indians, 52 Britons, seven Portuguese nationals, one Canadian and 12 crew members — including 241 passengers and crew on board.
Former Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani was also among the victims. Only one person, Vishwashkumar Ramesh, survived the crash. A video showed him walking out of the plane as it burned following the crash. His brother died.
(With inputs from Reuters)
