Air India Crash Investigation Under Scrutiny as Supreme Court Plea Seeks Full Data

The petition in Supreme Court argues that complete transparency is essential for public faith in aviation safety, accountability, and preventing future accidents, affecting the right to life and safety for all travelers.

New Delhi [India]: A plea has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking directions to the Centre to disclose the complete data retrieved from the crashed Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, which met with a fatal accident on June 12, 2025, in Ahmedabad, killing 260 people. The plea filed by the NGO Safety Matters Foundation has flagged certain issues with the preliminary report released by the Ministry of Civil Aviation over the air crash.  It contends that the report has failed to disseminate all data obtained during the early stage of the air crash investigation, as it is required to do under Aircraft (Investigation of Accidents and Incidents) Rules, 2017. Thus, it seeks a full disclosure of all basic factual data pertaining to the accident.

"To direct the Respondents to forthwith disclose and make available to the public and to this Hon'ble Court all basic factual data pertaining to the accident, including but not limited to the complete Digital Flight Data Recorder (DFDR) output, the full Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) transcript with timestamps, and all recorded fault messages and technical advisories relating to the aircraft in question", the plea prays.  Additionally, the plea also alleges that the preliminary report fails to incorporate or even acknowledge the testimony of the sole surviving passenger, Vishwashkumar Ramesh, a 40-year-old businessman from Leicester.

Public Faith in Civil Aviation Under Scrutiny

Moreover, the plea asserts that the case concerns not merely the investigation of an isolated accident but the preservation of public faith in the safety of civil aviation in India. "When hundreds of lives are lost in a single catastrophic event, the nation not only mourns the dead but also looks to the investigative process as a source of truth, accountability, and assurance that such a disaster will not recur. The stakes, therefore, are not limited to the families of the victims but extend to every citizen who relies on aviation as a mode of transport", it adds.  Further, the plea also highlights that in such circumstances, the need for a comprehensive inquiry cannot be overstated, as it affects the right to life, dignity and safety under Article 21 and the confidence of the travelling public in the institutions meant to protect them.

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