In brief
The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau has filed an affidavit with the Supreme Court stating the draft final report for the Air India Boeing 787 crash may be ready by October after finishing the analysis stage in about six weeks. The tragedy, which killed 260 people on June 12 2025 near Ahmedabad, is being investigated in full compliance with the 66 mandated steps; 49 steps have already been completed. The preliminary report had pointed to an abrupt fuel cut, leading to a sudden engine power loss, and investigators are still probing the role of pilots and the exact mechanism. No date has yet been set for the public release of the findings, and questions about pilot performance and human factors remain in focus.
Indian investigators say a draft final report on the 2025 Air India crash may be ready by October, after the analysis stage is completed in roughly six weeks.
The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau filed an affidavit with the Supreme Court for the first time and confirmed the investigation is now in an "analysis phase" that is expected to finish within the next month-and-a-half. The report is not yet scheduled to be released publicly.
The tragedy occurred on 12 June 2025 when a Boeing 787 Dreamliner taking off from Ahmedabad airport crashed about six kilometres away, striking a medical‑college building and killing 260 people, 241 on board and 19 on the ground. Only one passenger survived.
An earlier preliminary report, published a month later, indicated that a sudden shift of the fuel‑control switches to the "cut‑off" position caused the engines to lose power within seconds of take‑off. Audio from the cockpit recorded a pilot questioning another about the action, but no pilot was named.
The affidavit notes that 49 of the 66 mandatory steps in the accident investigation have already been taken, including site examination, wreckage analysis, flight‑data recorder recovery, and review of crew medical and training records. A psychological autopsy of one or more crew members is also part of the human‑factors study, with the psychologist’s final report now on file.
Other evidence prepared by the bureau includes a transcript of the cockpit voice recorder and a complete copy of the flight‑data recorder, although the bureau has not yet disclosed details of the findings.
Speculation about the pilot’s role—particularly that of senior pilot Captain Sumeet Sabharwal—has heightened media attention and led to backlash from the pilot’s family and professional bodies. The bureau states that "media speculation has, regrettably, caused some witnesses to become restrictive and non‑responsive".
