Air India Crash Investigation Report Delayed Past One-Year Deadline as 260 Victims' Families Await Answers

Jun 10, 2026

The final investigation report into the June 2025 Air India crash that killed 260 people in Ahmedabad is delayed past its one-year deadline, frustrating victims' families who await answers. An interim report is expected as engine analysis continues. The delay prolongs a fierce debate over the cause, pitting a preliminary finding that pilots cut the fuel against theories of a catastrophic electrical failure in the Boeing 787.

Air India Flight 171 crash

▪A British national, Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, was the only person to survive the crash.
▪The London-bound plane struck a hostel at Byramjee Jeejeebhoy Medical College near the Ahmedabad airport.
▪The crash killed a total of 260 people, comprising 241 passengers and crew on board and 19 people on the ground.
▪Air India Flight 171, a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, crashed seconds after takeoff from Ahmedabad, India, on June 12, 2025.

Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau

▪The cockpit voice recorder captured one pilot asking the other why he had cut the fuel; the second pilot denied doing so.
▪The AAIB's preliminary report, released in July 2025, stated both fuel control switches moved to "cutoff" three seconds after takeoff.
▪India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) is leading the official investigation into the crash.

Pilot suicide theory controversy

▪The Federation of Indian Pilots (FIP) has argued that blame is often placed on dead pilots to protect manufacturers from liability.
▪The preliminary report's findings led to widespread media speculation that the crash was a pilot-suicide incident.
▪Captain Sumeet Sabharwal's family and the FIP petitioned India's Supreme Court, demanding a judicial investigation.

Electrical failure alternative theories

▪The specific Boeing 787 aircraft involved had a documented history of technical issues, including an electrical fire in 2022.
▪The aircraft was reportedly permitted to fly with a known fault in its "core network," which connects its computer systems.
▪The sole survivor recalled the plane's lights flickering just before it started to fall, suggesting a possible electrical fault.

Investigation report deadline delays

▪The delay is officially due to an incomplete analysis of the plane's engines being conducted in the United States.
▪Investigators did not formally interview the sole survivor until March 29, 2026, eight months after the incident.
▪An interim status report is expected to be released on the anniversary in place of the final report.
▪The final investigation report missed its one-year deadline of June 12, 2026.

Transparency concerns

▪A full transcript of the cockpit voice recorder, also known as the black box, has not been released to the public.
▪Sole survivor Vishwash Kumar Ramesh has publicly demanded "honesty, transparency and answers" from investigators.
▪Victims' families are awaiting the report's findings to proceed with lawsuits filed in the UK and US against Air India and Boeing.