AI 171 crash: Why is the probe taking so long? Experts weigh in

2 days ago

One year after the Air India flight 171 crash in Ahmedabad resulted in 260 fatalities, the exact cause remains unknown. The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) issued an interim statement citing progress in analysing flight records and engine components, but the final report is delayed.

Transcript

00:00Good evening, hello and welcome. You're with the news today, your prime time destination.

00:05News, newsmakers, talking points. Friday night, ahead of the weekend, we've got plenty on the show today.

00:11This year, one year ago, the Air India 171 crash that killed 260 people.

00:17Still no interim report. Why is that probe taking so long?

00:22Will the AI 171 probe be an eyewash? Will the truth ever come out?

00:28We'll ask that question with a stellar panel of guests today.

00:32Also on the show today, all the other top stories.

00:35But first, as always, it's time for the nine headlines at 9 to 9.

00:41One year of the horrific Air India crash that killed 242 passengers in Ahmedabad.

00:47Probe report delayed. Final report only in the next two months.

00:51Aviation body says that they are closely examining the probe.

00:56Hope to bring it out within a few months.

01:03More trouble for Mamata Banerjee as Bengal Chief Minister.

01:07Suvendu Adhikari set to meet rebel TMC MPs on Sunday.

01:12Dissident MPs likely to approach Lok Sabha Speaker and seek recognition as the real Trinamul Congress.

01:23Setback for Congress leader Meenakshi Natarajan.

01:26Supreme Court dismisses her plea against rejection of the Rajya Sabha candidature,

01:30saying she should go to the High Court and file an election petition.

01:36The Congress leader says the election commission is totally compromised.

01:42After two Indian ships were attacked in Strait of Hormuz, U.S. President condemns the attack,

01:48blames Iranian drones for the attack in which three Indian sailors were killed.

01:52MEA summons the U.S. envoy for a second time since the incident.

01:59First threatened, then takes a U-turn.

02:03Donald Trump cancels strikes on Tehran, claims progress in talks,

02:07says peace deal has been approved by Iran, but Tehran denies it.

02:14Massive outrage over huge stand-up comedy show.

02:17F.I.R. now registered against comedian Praneet Moray for objectionable content.

02:23N.C.W. takes the lead.

02:28Indian Shuking loses one of its biggest stars.

02:31Former world champion, renowned coach and mentor Jaspal Rana

02:35passes away at the age of 49 due to a cardiac arrest.

02:39Tributes pour in from across the sporting world.

02:45Former New Zealand captain Kane Williamson

02:47will play no further part in international cricket.

02:51decides to retire from all international cricket with immediate effect.

02:56He was his country's top scorer.

03:00And the world's first trillionaire, Elon Musk,

03:03is now richer than Taiwan after the SpaceX IPO.

03:07The mice stole places Musk in a financial league of his own.

03:33But our top story today, exactly one year ago,

03:37AI-171, an Air India plane crashed just outside Ahmedabad airport

03:43on its way to London, killing 260 people.

03:49A year on, we still don't know the exact reasons for that crash.

03:54The Aircraft Accident Investigating Bureau today issued an interim statement.

03:59The AIB says that they've made significant progress

04:04in the analysis of the flight record, data, engine components and other evidence.

04:10For the families of the victims, though, the wounds remain as raw as ever.

04:14They still don't have closure because we still don't know

04:18what happened to flight AI-171.

04:22Is the government or is the Accident Bureau delaying it for some reason?

04:27Will the truth ever come out as to what happened to flight AI-171?

04:33That's going to be our top focus.

04:35First, take a look at our top story.

04:38First, take a look at our top story.

04:57Mere 32 seconds, and that altered life forever.

05:07For survivors, for family members, who were left to trace the lost remains of their loved ones.

05:22And as life moved on in its own pace, those fatal 32 seconds on air of AI-171

05:31has got frozen in a time bubble for most of these people.

05:42After spending many years in London, Bhavesh Modi came back to Ahmedabad to live with his mother and sister.

05:55He was on his way back to London on 12th June, 2025.

06:04Within a minute of take-off, his sister Sunita and his nephew and niece were trying to trace his last

06:12remains.

06:42He was on his way back to the hospital.

06:43Toh usi ke sahar hai, mere bachon ko bhi usnehi bada kiya hai.

06:48Rohmil Bohara had just made goodbye to his brother Parvez Bohara

06:52and his five-year-old daughter on 12th June 2025,

07:00when the news splash of the crash on his mobile phone shook the ground beneath his feet.

07:07Parvez Bohara had another daughter

07:09and his wife was pregnant at the time of the accident.

07:14They were in London.

07:16Parvez's wife and elder daughter came hoping he and his younger daughter were alive.

07:57Former Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani was going to London on 12th June 2025

08:05to spend time with his daughter.

08:09The pain of a father is not able to do it in the words of a father.

08:17But I can tell you that a mark-darshak, a path-darshak

08:22and a mentor's loss is so big for me and for my family.

08:33Raising concerns over Air India's compensation process,

08:36the former CM's daughter Radhika Mishra urged Tata Sons Chairman N. Chandrasekharan

08:42not to put pressure on the families of victims to choose between financial support and the pursuit for truth.

08:50Air India in its response to Rupani's daughter clarified,

08:52there is absolutely no deadline or pressure on any family or individual to accept our offer within a set time

09:02frame.

09:03It is for this reason that our offer of final compensation did not set out any timetable for acceptance.

09:11Families are entirely free to wait until the investigation report has been released, as some have chosen to do.

09:1712th June 2025 was the day which shook the entire world.

09:24The horrible day for the more than 200 families who lost their close ones, near and dear ones.

09:30We are at the site after a year.

09:32This is the situation of the site which still shows the pain and the grief of the family, how the

09:40damage was done.

09:43There was one miraculous survivor.

09:46British citizen Vishwas Kumar Ramesh was seated next to an emergency exit.

09:53In seat 11A, he escaped through a breach in the fuselage,

09:59while everyone, including his brother, perished.

10:06With Brijesh Doshi in Ahmedabad and Amit Bharadwaj in Delhi, Bureau Report, India Today.

10:15Okay, let me go to my first guest today and Rinkesh Patel joins me.

10:20Rinkesh lost both his parents in the AI-171 crash.

10:24Rinkesh, before anything else, whatever I can say today,

10:28nothing can compensate for what you and your family have suffered in the last one year.

10:33So, our thoughts and prayers, Rinkesh, are with you and your family.

10:37I just want to thank you for joining me today on the show.

10:40I just want you to express your thoughts, Rinkesh.

10:43How difficult has it been for the last year for you and your family,

10:48not knowing what exactly caused the crash of flight AI-171?

10:53How, how has that, how have you tried to come to terms with what happened on June 12th, 2025, Rinkesh?

11:07Yes, sir. I appreciate, sir. I appreciate.

11:19So, Rinkesh, as I said, how difficult has, has it been for you the last one year?

11:28It's completely rotated, like, they converted into night.

11:37Like, all family is, like, now have some grief, pain.

11:44I mean, they, even today itself, I can see my parents roaming here and there in my house,

11:53but I cannot touch, I cannot even, like, I can see them, but feel them,

12:02but cannot, like, what, I don't have the words, sir.

12:09Yeah, I mean, what, now, what you are saying,

12:11what you are saying, what you are saying, what you are saying is that you are in front of your

12:12family,

12:12but you can't touch them.

12:17So, so the loss is, is what is weighing still heavily on you.

12:21Right.

12:23Every day, the mother and father were all for us.

12:29So, it seems that the patient is sitting here with me and is doing something.

12:35But their memories are the same.

12:39We have to share something now.

12:59what happened that one year ago you want to know what happened that one year ago

13:11will be reached?

13:12Is this very big thing, until you don't know what will happen in the flight of AI-171?

13:22Yes, there is no child, the mother-in-law is always a poor child.

13:55I don't know what was that maybe it is technical

14:00cleach or human error or technical error, sir, I just want to know this.

14:07Yes, I have trust in my government, in India, in India, in the media.

14:15Sir, we will remain together, so everything will happen.

14:22Okay, that was Rinkeesh Patel whom I spoke to a short while ago saying all he wants to

14:28know is what really happened to flight AI-171 and that really is what most people want to

14:34know, what happened to flight AI-171.

14:38It brings me to our big question that I want to ask today.

14:40Why is the AI-171 crash probe taking so much time?

14:45Every few months we are told the report is about to come, but it hasn't.

14:49Is there pressure on the investigators because of the high stakes involved?

14:53Is there an attempt to a cover up as some allege?

14:57Will AI-171 air crash probe be an eye wash in the end as some fear?

15:02Is more transparency needed in the way the probe is being conducted by the Air Accidents Bureau?

15:08I am joined by Captain M.R. Wadia.

15:11He is founder, President of the Federation of Indian Pilots.

15:14Captain Sam Thomas, President, Airline Pilots Association of India.

15:19Mirza Faizan is Aerospace Scientist, Aviation Safety Expert.

15:24And Captain C.S. Randhawa is the present President of the Federation of Indian Pilots.

15:31So good to have all of you on the show today.

15:34But before I come to you, a short while ago, I spoke to Captain Gopinath, who founded Air Deccan.

15:41And he has very strong views on the subject.

15:44I want you to listen to him.

15:45And then I'm going to widen this debate.

15:47Listen in.

15:52But before I come to my my guests, my live guests, I earlier spoke to Captain Gopinath,

15:58formerly, of course, the founder of Air Deccan and someone who spent a lifetime studying aviation.

16:05Captain Gopinath, do you find it unusual that it's been a year and we still don't really know what happened

16:11to that Air India flight

16:13that crashed soon after takeoff in Ahmedabad airport?

16:17Yeah, it is unusual in the sense, all over the world, especially in the US and Europe mainly,

16:27they put out a preliminary report after five to six months.

16:32So that the people who are involved in aviation are warned or cautioned against the preliminary report

16:45so that they can immediately take corrective action.

16:50And normally they'll put out a report after one year.

16:55Sometimes it may be longer.

16:58But I think in India, unfortunately, not just during this comment, I think since many, many years,

17:08reports are not circulated widely because of our archaic laws, which says that it has to be approved by the

17:17parliament,

17:18apart from the fact that the investigation itself is slow.

17:23So, therefore, I think it is unusual that the preliminary report was officially not released by the government or the

17:30ministry.

17:32And I think that's troubling because people should know so that you can put to end your speculation

17:39because everybody is speculating, you know.

17:42But there was...

17:45Yeah.

17:46So, are you saying even before the final report comes in, there should have...

17:52Because the government, you will recall, sir, in June of 2025, late June,

17:59the preliminary finding had allegedly revealed that the Boeing 787's engine fuel control switches

18:05moved almost simultaneously from run to cutoff, cutting the fuel supply to both engines shortly after takeoff.

18:14The moment those findings were made public, the pilots were irate, suggesting that there was an attempt to blame the

18:22pilot

18:22or pilot error in allowing the manufacturers to get away.

18:26So, the Federation even filed a writ petition in the Supreme Court on this.

18:30So, there are dangers in perhaps not giving the full picture.

18:34Should we be waiting for the full picture as the AIB is requesting rather than jumping to conclusions?

18:41No, no.

18:42What I'm saying is, officially, the government normally, that's why I said normally, in the US and in Europe,

18:51they release an official preliminary report which gives some indications.

18:58But here, it was not done in that professional manner because, as you know, there are conflicting interests

19:06and the conspiracy theories.

19:08Everybody is jumping onto that.

19:10As everyone knows, it could be largely three main reasons.

19:15One is the aircraft malfunction, the manufacturing defect, which Boeing wants to protect.

19:23And there was also people who are knowledgeable people, wrote articles, editorials saying that it is a strategic decision

19:36because there's pressure from Trump to ensure that Boeing is not affected, that will affect the sales of Boeing.

19:45Because Boeing was already under severe pressure because of many other mishaps.

19:50Then there could be a maintenance issue, which will then point to the fact that Tata's maintenance was bad.

20:00The third is the pilot error.

20:02There is also a possibility because of the FDR that came out, which said that the pilots are talking to

20:09each other,

20:10where one pilot said, did we switch it off?

20:12And the other says, no, I did not switch off.

20:14So that report was released, but it was not an official report released where all the three investigating agencies, which

20:25were in all,

20:26where the NDSB from the USA, which is because it's from the US, they joined in the report, DGCA and

20:33the Tata's, and Boeing itself.

20:36So they should have put together a tentative report because of these conflicting issues and conflicting interests.

20:47It was not put out because the moment the pilots went up in arms, then the government, you know, backtracked.

20:55The reason why pilot went up in arms was, they said, you have done a harsh job of it.

21:04And I think the larger question here is that there is a credibility issue of the Indian investigation agencies.

21:13Just like, you know, in other cases, if it is a state police investigating, the center doesn't accept it because

21:21they think the state will be, you know, not bipartisan.

21:26It will be partial to protect a state's interest.

21:30And similarly, the CBI investigates, the states are against it because they think the center will use the CBI and

21:37the ED to come after them.

21:38So the investigating agencies have lost their credibility.

21:42And similarly, I think in the DGCA, it is not coming out in shining colors because firstly, the DGCA is

21:51loaded with the top echelon is all the IAS people.

21:56You know, they're all administratively brilliant.

21:59Some of the best minds go there. I'm not denigrating them.

22:01But why should an IAS guy who was in animal hospitalry or some other department take over as a DGCA,

22:11right?

22:12If you have an ISRO as a scientist, if you are an army chief of the army, if you have

22:16the CSIR as a scientist,

22:19Automic Energy Commissioner as a scientist, why do you put a, to use a derogatory term which has become derogatory,

22:28you have Babu there.

22:29So you're, I take your point.

22:33I take your point. You're calling for expertise. You're calling for a need for, for transparency.

22:38You're calling for a need for greater expertise to ensure that the process of finding out what really happened in

22:46that air crash is seen to be as credible as possible.

22:52We'll wait and see whether that actually happens, but good to talk to you, Captain Gopinath on the show today.

22:59Thank you, Rajdeep.

23:01Okay, let me go to my live guest.

23:03I want to go to you, Captain Sam Thomas, President Airlines Pilot Association of India.

23:07I know you've been among those who strongly questioned the way in which that the preliminary findings were, were being

23:13put out as if to suggest pilot error.

23:15One year later, we still don't know what happened to AI 171. The speculation continues. What do you, what is

23:23your response?

23:23How do you see what's happened over the last one year?

23:28Good evening, Rajdeep. Good evening to all the panelists and my seniors.

23:33It's an absolute joke. And I know that Captain Randhawa and Captain Wadi are going to tear into that report.

23:39So I'll refrain from that. And I'll just point out to you that if you look at the system and

23:46what is lacking thereof,

23:48just mark the first thing is we do not have a professional aircraft accident investigation body.

23:56We have some Air Force officers, engineering officers on deputation to this body.

24:02It's not an independent body. It comes under the Ministry of Civil Aviation, I think.

24:07And they have co-opted officers from DGCA, which they are not supposed to do.

24:13And sure enough, they came up with that preliminary report, which is an insult to a tissue paper, actually.

24:21Post that, what is glaring now with you have interviewed the passengers or the survivors' kin is the lack of

24:33any kind of support system for them to tide over this trauma.

24:38It's enormous. And we don't have a professional body that looks into the trauma that the families are going through.

24:46And the pressure from Air India to sign away some of their rights in order to get the compensation is

24:54absolutely reprehensible.

24:56And the clarification that they have given is not acceptable at the moment.

25:04And I do not hope that a proper report will come out.

25:09A proper report can only come out if you have a professional body handling this particular case. Rajdeep.

25:18Those are very strong words from you. I want to come to you, Captain Wadia, because you are founder, president

25:23of Federation of Indian Pilots.

25:25And when you all went to the writ, filed a writ petition in July 2025 in the Supreme Court, you

25:31accused the AIIB, the Accidents Investigation Bureau, of a biased, non-transparent investigations and leaking unverified data.

25:41A year later, do you think anything has changed?

25:45Nothing has changed at all. And please listen to what Sam Thomas has just said.

25:51And I hope you can repeat it 10 times over and over again.

25:55Not today, not today, not for this accident. For the last 50 years, we've been asking the government and asking

26:01the Prime Minister to have an independent safety board.

26:05That is what is prevailing all over the advanced countries in the world.

26:09Why do we not have or want to have an independent safety board?

26:15Do you want to just keep on protecting the DGCA or the Airport Authority or the Ministry of Aviation so

26:23that the truth never comes out?

26:25That is the fundamental problem, not for this accident alone, for all the accidents that have happened in the past.

26:31And that's the most important point.

26:33As far as this accident is concerned, please understand that there are huge financial losses to a lot of agencies.

26:42And let's not speculate. Let me give you some evidence.

26:45Right from the second day itself, all the Western media were harping on the fact that the pilots made some

26:51mistake, that the pilots put the switches off.

26:54There was an attempt to suicide.

26:58It's all totally rubbish, and no one should pay any attention to that.

27:04What the facts are, that there is a malfunction that has happened.

27:07Please investigate a flight that took only 30 seconds.

27:12You've wasted one year to find out you couldn't get some information from the CVR.

27:17Why can't it be made public?

27:20Only two seconds with your call has been understood by the public, that the pilots asked whether the switches were

27:27put off, and they said no.

27:29So that is a fact. The switches were not put off.

27:32So then why have the engines failed?

27:33There is a tremendous amount of investigation to be done, and the facts will not come out unless there's a

27:42lot of independent pressure on the investigating agencies.

27:49So what you're calling for is an independent air safety board.

27:54Yes.

27:54No, you seem to be suggesting, Captain Wadia, that the CDR transcript should be made public?

28:02You're saying that the cockpit data recorded transcript should be made public?

28:06Why not? What is the secret about it?

28:08What's the secret what has transpired in the cockpit for just about 5 to 10 seconds?

28:13Why can't it be made public? What is there to hide in that?

28:16And also what is important, I believe Sam Thomas is now the India director for AIFA ALPA.

28:23Now the AIFA, that's the International Federation of Airline Pilots Associations.

28:26And to my mind, that is the most professional body in the world.

28:30And all the countries that have least failures or accidents are the ones who have an independent safety board.

28:37And that has to be done by professionals and not by people who are mandated or appointed by the government.

28:43Right.

28:47You know, I want to come to you, Captain Radhava, because you're also from the Federation of Pilots.

28:52Are you convinced that the investigation as it's gone on so far has been free or fair?

28:56Or do you fear, given the stakes involved, that there is pressure not to make the findings public?

29:03Do you believe that the time has come to put out whatever has come, even an interim report in the

29:09public domain?

29:10Because pilots, I am told, have opposed an interim report.

29:14You see, the thing is, first and foremost thing, what the ICAO NXJ 13 says, they have to first submit

29:22to the stakeholders a draft report.

29:24After the draft report has come, it will be again, it will take 30 to 60 days and they have

29:32to disseminate the final report.

29:34So before they put it on the public domain, they have to make sure that they share the draft report

29:40with the stakeholders.

29:43But we don't even have a draft report yet. We don't have a draft report yet. That's why there is

29:48so much of speculation as to what happened to the flight.

29:52No. So that means you can imagine from the day you get the draft report, it will take 30 to

29:5760 days.

29:58So they have not given. I believe there is some statement by the minister today that they are still investigating,

30:04so it will take longer.

30:06Yeah, there is just a general statement that it will take a couple of months more, but I'll repeat my

30:11question.

30:12Is the fear that the pilot's association has that someone is being protected or that the revelations, if they come

30:18out, will be of a nature that will be hugely damaging to big stakeholders?

30:22Why is the report not coming out in any form in your view so far?

30:28The report is not coming out. As I said, they lack the expertise, which we have been saying since June

30:35last year.

30:36We have been making one statement that they do not have that kind of expertise in the present investigation board.

30:44That is one of the handicaps. Secondly, I have told you that they are investigating other crashes also because they

30:52can't close all the crashes.

30:54They're insufficient, man. I would say last year when they came out with the preliminary report, it was too premature

31:03to give a clean shit to Boeing, Honeywell and to GE, all three American companies.

31:09And green shit was given. You just now started the investigation last year and you gave a green shit.

31:14So we have been asking the government how the green shit has been given and what does that indicate?

31:20That means you made up your mind that you are to blame the pilots and close the inquiry.

31:26So we are skeptical the way the investigations are going on.

31:31And we have been, we have been airing our views and we have.

31:36Mirza Faisan, you want to respond because you've been someone who's been a safety expert, trained on air and trained

31:43air crash investigator.

31:45How do you see the investigation that has taken place in AI 171 compared with global investigations?

31:52Have we been, where have we gone wrong and where have we gone right?

31:58Good evening, Rajdeep.

32:01I totally agree with the point Captain Wadia just made that it was just a 32 seconds of flight.

32:08There are 32 seconds of FDR and CVR data.

32:14Why are we keeping it secret? It should not take so long.

32:20Competency, as Captain Sam mentioned, I definitely agree to that.

32:26There is a lack of competency.

32:29Indian Investigation Agency AIB…

32:32But if we make it public, there will be speculation.

32:34Just a minute. No, no, just a minute, sir.

32:37Sir, if we make the data recorder transcripts public, the government could say that could lead to more speculation.

32:44Was it pilot error? Was it malfunction? And they don't, they want to avoid that, they say, till a final

32:50report is ready.

32:55Now, if the data is put in the public domain, it will actually lead to less speculation, Rajdeep, not more

33:04speculations,

33:05because there are experts who are going to analyze that data.

33:08For example, let me tell you something.

33:10If we have the FDR data, let's say, as they tried to blame on pilot that the pilot cut off

33:18the switch.

33:19Now, a pilot cannot cut off both the switch with one hand.

33:23If the pilot has cut off the switch with one hand, two switches, it will take a couple of seconds

33:28between the two switches being cut off.

33:30When we have that data, what is the time gap between the two switches going off, if the switch has

33:36ever gone off, right?

33:37That will tell us clearly that it was not the pilot, it was the plane.

33:42So, there are some critical data which will tell us, which will point us in the direction which is the

33:49right direction, right?

33:50That's number one.

33:51Number two, the preliminary report which was published, in my opinion, in fact, earlier when I was with you on

33:59your show, I told and I reiterate the fact,

34:01that was an attempt to test the waters by blaming it on the pilot who are no more alive to

34:08defend themselves and see how the world reacts.

34:11If the world would have reacted silently or accepted it, they would have put it on the pilot.

34:20Because sometimes an air crash becomes a matter of national prestige.

34:26Sometimes an air crash becomes a matter of the prestige or even the survival of large corporates.

34:33Boeing cannot afford a crash at this point of time, right?

34:38So, some data, if they would have made more public, speculation could be avoided.

34:51Okay, so you're making the point that actually putting out data in the public would avoid the speculation.

34:56Just to put this out there and then I'll come to you, Captain Thomas.

34:59Air crash probes in this country in recent times.

35:02AI Express from Dubai crashes in Kodiko, 21 kill.

35:06Final report was submitted 13 months after the crash.

35:10In 2010, an AI Express overshot runway in Mangalore, 158 kill.

35:15Probe report was submitted 5 months after the crash.

35:19In July 17, 2000, plane crash landing in Patna, 60 dead.

35:24Report was released 9 months after the crash.

35:27November 12, 1996, two planes crash collided near Delhi, Charki, Dadri, 349 kill.

35:33Court of inquiry report submitted 8 months later.

35:37Do you believe that one year is sufficient time in a case like this to have got the report?

35:43Is that the reason why many pilots fear that someone is being protected by constantly delaying the report?

35:49Or some adverse findings that could shake the nation are not being put out?

35:56Rajdeep, it's not unusual for investigations to take more than one year.

36:01Now, the speed of the investigation, the thoroughness of the investigation is directly proportional to the intellect of the investigators.

36:09That is the reason why we've been harping on the fact that you must have subject matter experts.

36:15I was shocked to see a headline day before yesterday which said AAIB says no necessity for subject matter experts

36:22to be on board.

36:24So I don't know how they're going to do with this.

36:26And as far as the crashes that you mentioned, not all the data is absolutely accurate.

36:31It has taken more time and most of that has been wrong.

36:35That is one of the reasons.

36:36And in fact, it is the Air India Express, that Mangalore crash that brought about this AAIB.

36:45Like everything in India, after the hijack of IC814, we formed BCAS.

36:50What does BCAS do?

36:51If there's a hijack, they'll sit and issue passes for all the hijackers also.

36:55So all these bureaucratic bungling that we've been doing is not helping the cause at all.

37:02Therefore, we reiterate that we are not here blindly like some people are thinking to protect the pilot.

37:08We want the truth and I'm going out on a limb.

37:11And as I said on the other channel, they are going to come out with a report under political pressure,

37:17blaming the pilot somewhere down the line.

37:19Captain Randhawa is already in court.

37:22We will also go to court.

37:23And just like the Air France 447 that you just had the result,

37:29about five, six years later, we will win the case.

37:32By then, it will be justice delayed, therefore denied.

37:40So you're saying there will be political pressure to not to give the full report, is it?

37:47You're saying you fear there will be political pressure to protect someone.

37:52Always, as always.

37:54Not just this crash.

37:55Why did the MAX crash go against the pilots till they actually found out?

37:59Every crash has a political angle to it.

38:02And, you know, every OEM is entitled to defend himself.

38:08But in these big corporates, what happens?

38:11The governments get involved.

38:12And it's very clear, it is not the first time that it's going to happen.

38:15And neither is it the last time that it's going to happen, Rajdeep.

38:21You know, that's a very serious charge that you're making.

38:24But Captain Wadia, your sense, therefore, do you believe that we need, as you said,

38:31a drastic change in the way air safety, air accident investigations are conducted in this country?

38:39Because otherwise, it's all about credibility at the end of the day.

38:43Do you believe whatever report comes out, will it be treated by the pilot community as credible?

38:48What if, God forbid, the report says it was pilot error in some form?

38:52Will the pilots accept it?

38:54Why not?

38:55Why not?

38:55If it's a fact, why not?

38:56We will accept anything which is factual.

38:58But let me reiterate what Sam just told you.

39:02It is not a drastic statement.

39:04It is a factual statement.

39:06And let me clarify.

39:08First of all, all of the previous speakers have said that there are not credible investigators.

39:12Let me clarify that very clearly and properly.

39:15All countries in the world which have proper independent safety boards have aviators,

39:20not necessarily only pilots, aviators, maybe engineers, air traffic controllers,

39:25who are trained in accident analysis, who do the accident investigation thoroughly and properly.

39:31Not the political people, not the judges in the High Court, but these accident analysis specialists.

39:37And let me also tell you, we've been insisting on that.

39:40And because we did not have any people who were earlier trained,

39:44I arranged from ICAO a team to come to India and ask the DGCA to let maximum number of pilots

39:51attend the training course,

39:52which was brought in from ICAO, that is at the United Nations.

39:57Can you imagine that the DGCA did not permit a single pilot, not a single pilot to attend the course?

40:04Only the bureaucrats sat in that course for a formality of it and wasted everyone's time and money.

40:10And that is criminal, absolutely criminal.

40:17Mirza Faizan, therefore, in conclusion, if there was one advice that you would give the ministry or those who are

40:23handling the investigation,

40:24what would it be? A quick response.

40:27Get the experts.

40:32Now is the time we must get the experts.

40:34There are some great air crash investigators.

40:36They know the arts and science of it.

40:39They figured out a lot of things by looking at the aircraft site.

40:45So please get the experts.

40:47That is my advice to the authorities, to the ministries, to the government.

40:53Please get the experts.

40:59You are saying give the experts.

41:00Remember, just to put it in context, the 32 seconds of AI-171 disaster.

41:05It was just 32 seconds.

41:06Remember, one minute, 38 seconds before the crash.

41:10Just the chronology here.

41:11Before the crash, the aircraft was cleared for takeoff.

41:1432 seconds before the crash, aircraft takes off from the Ahmedabad runway.

41:1929 seconds before crash, aircraft achieves maximum recorded airspeed of 180 knots.

41:25Immediately thereafter, both fuel switches move from run to cutoff.

41:2924 seconds before crash, Ram air turbine starts supplying hydraulic power to aircraft.

41:3419 seconds before crash, left engine fuel switch moves from cutoff to run position.

41:4017 seconds before crash, air inlet door of auxiliary power unit begins opening.

41:4615 seconds before crash, right engine fuel switch moves from cutoff to run position.

41:516 seconds before crash, one of the pilots transmits a May day message.

41:56Flight data recorders stop recording at 1.39.11 seconds.

42:01Captain Thomas, in your view, do you believe this is extremely highly unusual?

42:06You're saying avoid the speculation, come with the hard facts. Am I correct?

42:13Rajdeep, as an accredited air accident investigator, I am prohibited from giving you any kind of speculative answers

42:23because I could lose my accreditization.

42:26Now, as the details that you have put out, it is very clear that a lot needs to be looked

42:34into and not by bystanders.

42:37A lot needs to be looked into by subject matter experts on a lot of aspects, including the EFR, which

42:47must be tallied with the CVR, the EHM, the ACARS messages and the ATC transcript.

42:54And also you will be shocked to hear that one of the, or rather the only surviving witness or a

43:03survivor of the crash was interviewed only after about four, five months.

43:10Now, that's against the basic tenets of air accident investigation because the witness must have his preliminary statement recorded as

43:20quickly as possible so that it's fresh in his mind and he does not get a chance to bring other

43:27thoughts into his mind.

43:28So, therefore, I once again reiterate that only and only subject matter experts like all the panelists have pointed out

43:36can get you anywhere close to the actual reason for this particular disaster.

43:46Let me end on that slightly sobering thought that you've given us there.

43:51I hope that those in power, the Ministry of Civil Aviation and others are listening to what our top pilots

43:58are telling them.

43:59We want credibility. We want a credible investigation and a clear, transparent probe that will give some kind of closure

44:09to the families who've been grieving for the last year.

44:12I appreciate all my guests joining us and I really hope that someone out there realizes that human life doesn't

44:19come cheap in this country.

44:21All the 260 who died, their families surely deserve better, much better than just bureaucratic statements saying that the probe

44:30is going on.

44:32I appreciate my guests joining us.

44:34Let me turn from there to our top political story because amidst growing rumblings within the Trinamul Congress, reports now

44:42coming in that the rebel faction could meet the speaker and claim separate recognition on Monday.

44:48Today, Abhishek Banerjee has finally broken his silence. Mamta Banerjee's nephew asserted today that the TMC cannot be intimidated or

44:58broken by central agencies or political pressure.

45:00He also reacted to criticism from senior party MP Kalyan Banerjee, who had said that Abhishek was arrogant and high

45:09-handed.

45:09Abhishek Banerjee, who was today once again interrogated by the CID, spoke out a short while ago. Listen in to

45:16what he had to say.

45:22Abhishek Banerjee, the president of the United States of Blerk, said his statement was hard to say that he was

45:29not far from the political process.

45:33I can't...

45:34I'm sorry...

45:37I can't get this one...

45:42What kind of crime?

45:45I'm asking for CID, CBI...

45:49They're lying...

45:51They're lying...

45:52They're lying...

45:53They're lying...

45:56party office dhokhol kore badi bhenge ghar jaliye

46:01tiramul kongres ke domiyo dhobo cpmir birudhye lorai kore

46:06chonti rishbachore jagad dal pathod ke shodiye tiramul kongres

46:09khomota yes che manushar ashirbad nige

46:12tough talking there from abhishek banerji we'll wait and see of course

46:16what happens now on monday okay let's turn to the other big political story

46:21where the supreme court today refused to intervene

46:24in the madhya pradesh rajasabha election rao which has seen the congress

46:29candidate menakshi natarajan being disqualified allegedly because she

46:34hadn't disclosed a criminal case against her in telangana the congress is

46:39alleging seat chori and targeting the election commission which has stayed

46:44silent right through the supreme court said that menakshi natarajan should file

46:49an election petition before the high court if she felt there was

46:52malefied action take a look at our top political story

47:08no relief for congress leader menakshi natarajan from the supreme court

47:13no relief for congress leader menakshi natarajan from the supreme court

47:26with the court dismissing natarajan's plea all three bjp candidates stand elected

47:32to the rajasabha from madhya pradesh

47:37natarajan whose nomination papers were rejected by returning officer said the issue was bigger

47:42than a personal setback

47:44dans a personal setback

47:52manani

48:13The Congress hit out at the election commission after the verdict.

48:17Rahul Gandhi accused the BJP and election commission of working in tandem, alleging seat chori.

48:24He claimed the contest was fixed before it even began, while Malikarjun Khadge called the rejection of nomination illegal and

48:32anti-democratic.

48:34First, the election commission, then the High Court, then the Supreme Court.

48:41We wanted to give the Supreme Court a relief.

48:47They said that we will go to High Court.

48:52This is their rejection.

48:55It is illegal.

48:56It is moral.

48:58It is anti-democratic.

49:01Natarajan's nomination was rejected after the BJP filed a complaint claiming papers were not in order.

49:08The controversy centers on an alleged non-disclosure in her affidavit.

49:14Natarajan apparently failed to mention a pending Telangana case.

49:18Citing that disclosure of all cases is mandatory, the returning officer ruled the affidavit has incomplete information.

49:28The Congress argues no FIR is filed against Natarajan, but only a notice was issued by a court in a

49:35private case.

49:35The complainant, whose case triggered the controversy, now says she feels sorry for Natarajan.

49:43In the first place, I am really very sad that everything happened with Meenakshi.

49:52But another thing is that I feel very sad for that.

50:01And the second part is that some people are putting some allegations on which I am not responsible for.

50:10Adding twist to the tale, the BJP hinted the information against the Congress candidate came from sections within the Congress.

50:18The wrong thing is that you have done.

50:20You have done the wrong thing.

50:23What is wrong with the wrong thing?

50:26What is wrong with the wrong thing?

50:27Now, people have told us that if we have done the wrong thing, we have done the wrong thing.

50:34Supreme Court may have closed one door, but the political slugfest is wide open.

50:39With Congress crying foul and the BJP launching a counter-attack, the Rajasava nomination route is far from over.

50:49Bureau Report, India Today.

50:52To our continuing Get Real India series, where we are looking at the drinking water crisis in several parts of

50:58the country.

50:59Today, we travel to Madhya Pradesh once again to Dhar district, where women are still climbing down a 50-foot

51:05ravine in scorching heat for finding a few drops of drinking water.

51:11Ravi Shpal Singh has today's Get Real India story.

51:30These images are not from Otawa village in Madhya Pradesh's Dhar district.

51:35The Jaljeevan mission pipeline is here.

51:38Water is not.

51:40In searing 43 degree heat, women are forced to depend on water that seeps slowly through the cracks in the

51:48earth.

52:10Far from the village, at the bottom of the ravine sits a tiny pit.

52:15This is where water collects.

52:18To understand the reality on the ground, India Today's Ravi Shpal Singh took the same route these women travel everyday.

52:33.

52:45Water waits at the bottom are startling.

52:49There is no flowing stream, no functioning tap, just water dripping one drop at a time.

53:20The women know the risks. But they also know they have no choice. The pipeline was laid two years ago.

53:28The promised water never arrived.

53:43The local MLA says the slogan of Harghar Nal, Harghar Jal, remains confined to speeches, while villagers continue to risk

53:52their lives for drinking water.

54:02It has been revealed to the people's blood, and it has been revealed to the people's blood. The public health

54:15engineering department, however, says a 1.17 crore rupee Jal Jeevan mission project was completed and handed over to the

54:23Gram Panchayat.

54:24Officials blame the shortage on falling ground water levels.

54:49On paper, crores have been spent. On the ground, women are still climbing into a 50-foot ravine for water.

54:57In Ottawa, every drop tells a story.

55:02With Ravish Pal Singh, Bureau Report, India Today.

55:10Continuing series on drinking water crisis in the country, the real stories that matter. I want to leave you though

55:17with a happier story. Now, in this season of government exams, most job aspirants dream of clearing just one government

55:25exam.

55:26But today, I want to bring you the story of a young woman who in Chhattisgarh has cracked 19 of

55:32them. That's right, one nine. From SSC and banking to railways and state recruitments. This is a remarkable success story

55:40which could inspire many others. Take a look. Stay well. Good night. Shubratri. Jai Hind. Namaskar.

55:52For Charupande, cracking government recruitment exams has almost become a shorter foby. The mathematics graduate from Chhattisgarh has cleared 19