MUMBAI: The investigation into the deadly crash of Air India Flight AI171 by the Plane Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) is dealing with authorized challenges. A second case, this time a writ petition, has been filed earlier than the Supreme Court docket of India demanding an unbiased, judicially monitored inquiry into the lack of the Boeing 787-8 (VT-ANB) on June 12, 2025, in Ahmedabad, which claimed 260 lives.The petition was filed by Pushkaraj Sabharwal, father of the deceased pilot Capt Sumeet Sabharwal, and the Federation of Indian Pilots. It straight challenges the preliminary report issued by the Plane Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), which attributed the crash to “pilot motion.” The petitioners allege the AAIB report is technically flawed, incomplete, and biased.A month in the past, a Public Curiosity Litigation (PIL) was filed within the Supreme Court docket by the NGO Security Issues Basis searching for full disclosure of flight information, cockpit voice transcripts, and technical information. associated to the Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner accident. The PIL sought the appointment of unbiased professionals to watch the investigation. It alleged that the preliminary report launched by India’s Plane Accident Investigation Bureau a month after the accident was “selective”. The unfinished disclosure of vital info, coupled with the untimely attribution of pilot error whereas overlooking systemic faults is a violation of the articles of the Indian Structure and worldwide legislation governing. accident investigations.The writ filed by the Capt’s father alleges technical flaws and system failure performed a task within the accident. The petition focuses on a number of vital technical inconsistencies that recommend a catastrophic system failure occurred earlier than any crew enter, comparable to untimely RAT deployment, as an example. The Ram Air Turbine (RAT) deployed throughout take-off, an occasion which usually signifies a significant electrical or digital energy failure, predating any alleged pilot error. One other level was a few doable complete methods collapse. The simultaneous failure of all energy and information methods, together with the Emergency Locator Transmitter (ELT), factors to a single-point electrical collapse, it mentioned. As for the gas management switches, the AAIB report’s discovering of each gas management switches shifting from RUN to CUTOFF inside one second is named bodily inconceivable below take-off situations, it mentioned. The petition suggests these factors to an automated or corrupted FADEC (Full Authority Digital Engine Management) command. The writ petition acknowledged that the AAIB allegedly failed to analyze a recognized danger within the Boeing 787’s Widespread Core System (CCS)—the unified software program that hyperlinks all avionics, flight controls, FADEC, and electrical energy. This can be a essential line of inquiry for potential cascading or common-mode failures. The petition cites anomalies in forensic proof, together with thermal harm to the Enhanced Flight Recorder with out soot deposits. This implies battery-induced combustion, not an exterior gas hearth, as the reason for harm.Past the technical arguments, the petitioners assert that the AAIB’s investigation violates worldwide requirements for independence. Battle of curiosity was dropped at focus, the petition argued the investigation breaches the authorized doctrine of nemo judex in causa sua (“nobody ought to be a choose in their very own trigger”). It highlights that DGCA officers and representatives of the producers (Boeing and GE) are a part of the probe, compromising its objectivity. This association allegedly violates ICAO Annex 13 ideas for an unbiased investigation.Addressing the media stories in sure international publications that appeared earlier than the preliminary report was made public, the petition accused the AAIB of unlawfully leaking confidential cockpit voice information. (CVR) in violation of the Plane Investigation Guidelines, 2017 (Rule 17(5)). The selective leaks, the petition mentioned, had fueled a prejudiced media narrative towards the deceased flight crew. The petition in the end prays for the structure of a Judicially Monitored Committee, to be headed by a retired Supreme Court docket Choose, with the inclusion of unbiased aviation and methods specialists. This transfer goals to make sure a clear, technically sound, and unbiased inquiry in line with international security requirements.