The furious dispute over what caused Air India flight 171 to crash

Here is the latest breaking news from around the world: The furious dispute over what caused Air India flight 171 to crash19 minutes ago Share Save Add as preferred on GoogleTheo Leggett International Business CorrespondentBBCA year ago, Air India flight 171 crashed less than a minute after taking off from Ahmedabad airport in the western Indian state of Gujarat, en route for London. 260 people lost their lives. The official investigation that followed has sparked intense controversy, in India and beyond, with some questioning its integrity amid claims of conflicts of interest.

It is not the first time such an investigation has proved contentious. So is it time for a different approach when investigating air crashes? It was a hot and dry afternoon on 12 June last year, when Flight 171 left the terminal at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Airport in Ahmedabad.

The Details

Settling into their seats for the nine-and-a-half-hour journey to London were 230 passengers, 53 of them British citizens. Looking after them were 10 cabin crew. On the flight deck were Captain Sumeet Sabharwal, a pilot with decades of experience, and his younger colleague, first officer Clive Kunder.

Just 32 seconds after take-off the plane crashed, killing all but one of those on board. Another 19 people on the ground were also killed. CCTV footage from the airport and a social media video show the aircraft taking-off in what looks like a normal fashion, but rather than gain height it appears to hang in the air, before gliding gently downwards.

It disappears from view behind buildings and trees. Seconds later a huge cloud of flame and black smoke appears, and the magnitude of the disaster becomes apparent. What is not at all clear from the footage, however, is what actually caused the crash.

What Experts Say

PA MediaThe crash killed all but one of those on board, Vishwash Kumar RameshFinding out why so many people died is the job of India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), part of the country's Ministry of Civil Aviation. Under international law, as set out in Annex 13 of the Convention on International Civil Aviation, the country in which an accident occurs is directly responsible for the official investigation. Other parties, including the country where the aircraft or its engines were built, can also take an active part as "accredited representatives".

In the case of AI171, that means the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). The NTSB sent a delegation which included technical experts from Boeing, which made the plane itself and GE Aerospace, which built the engines, as well as the US aviation regulator, the Federal Aviation Administration. According to Annex 13, "the sole objective of the investigation of an accident or incident shall be the prevention of accidents or incidents.

It is not the purpose of this activity to apportion blame or liability". Nevertheless, there is a great deal at stake.

The story has become one of the most prominent items on the global agenda.