ICPA defends pilots, slams suicide talk
Air India Suspends Direct Pune to Singapore Flight Until July 15 to Improve Flight Operations
Says the AI-171 crew acted in line with responsibility under challenging conditions
New Delhi: The Indian Commercial Pilots' Association (ICPA), the narrow-body fleet pilots’ body at Tata Group-owned Air India, on Sunday said the crew of the AI-171 flight that crashed last month acted in line with their training and responsibilities under challenging conditions, and the pilots should not be vilified based on conjecture. Strongly rejecting insinuations in some quarters about pilot suicide, the association representing narrow-body pilots of Air India stressed that until the official investigation is concluded and the final report is published, any speculation is unacceptable and must be condemned. It may be noted here that the Airline Pilots' Association of India also had on Saturday demanded a fair and fact-based probe into the Air India plane crash as it claimed that the tone and direction of the investigation into the Air India plane crash suggests a bias towards pilot error.
The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) has released its preliminary report into the fatal Boeing 787-8 plane crash on June 12 that killed 260 people. The report has found that the fuel supply to both engines of Air India flight AI171 was cut off within a second of each other, causing confusion in the cockpit and the airplane plummeting back to the ground almost immediately after taking off.
The 15-page report says that in the cockpit voice recording, one unidentified pilot asked the other why he had cut off the fuel, which the other denied.
In its preliminary report on the crash of Air India's AI-171 flight from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick on June 12 that killed 260 people, the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) on Saturday (July 12, 2025) said the fuel switches of the Boeing 787-8 aircraft were cut off soon after takeoff.
"In the cockpit voice recording, one of the pilots is heard asking the other why did he cutoff. The other pilot responded that he did not do some," the report said.
ICPA on Sunday said it is deeply disturbed by speculative narratives emerging in sections of the media and public discourse-particularly the reckless and unfounded insinuation of pilot suicide.
"There is absolutely no basis for such a claim at this stage and invoking such a serious allegation based on incomplete or preliminary information is not only irresponsible — it is deeply insensitive to the individuals and families involved," it said in a statement.
The association emphasised that pilots undergo extensive psychological and professional screening, recurrent training, and operate under the highest standards of safety, responsibility, and mental fitness.
Noting that ICPA trusts and respects the rigorous investigative protocols established by competent authorities, it said these inquiries are designed to uncover facts methodically and without bias. "Until the official investigation is concluded and the final report is published, any speculation, especially of such a grave nature, is unacceptable and must be condemned.
