The investigation into the crash of Air India 171 in Ahmedabad on June could take as long as one year, says Capt. Sam Thomas, president of the Airline Pilots Association of India.
In a conversation on The Gist, Capt. Thomas faulted the release of some details by the investigating authorities, which gave the impression that pilot error caused the crash.
“What was released is a marked example of how you could make a document without applying your mind,” he said. “There is a template or a broad guideline under which preliminary reports are released, it is advisory and not mandatory.”
It created an uproar and raised questions in various quarters that pressure from some where resulted in these points being made public.
It didn’t help that while all accident investigations are carried out independently, in India the Accident Investigation Board is under the Civil Aviation Ministry. There is also the tendency of any bureaucracy to want compliant people in charge, regardless of their competence, when sensitive matters are under investigation.
“It led to a lot of angst among the serving pilots,” Capt Thomas said, “is there pressure from say OEMs like Boeing, yes if I were Boeing I would have put even more pressure because that’s their job if I somehow want to extricate myself from here and I throw two Indian pilots under the bus.”
He says in the public mind, the dead pilots may be seen as blameworthy and “since the narrative is already set there’s very little we can do. I don’t see much hope.”
Thomas suspects there was nothing wrong with the switches since these were found in “run” position, meaning on, after the crash. He also called out the excessive secrecy surrounding the investigation.
“Is it some spy game that is going on? Invite journalists, top notch engineers, pilots, everybody … and keep it on camera … you should appear to be doing something transparently.”
Tune in for more in this conversation with Capt Sam Thomas, president of the Airline Pilots Association of India.
