The Federation of Indian Pilots has served a legal notice to the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau, objecting to what it described as harassment and distress following a tragic air crash in Ahmedabad.
The notice relates to the bureau summoning Captain Varun Anand, a serving Air India pilot and nephew of the late Captain Sumeet Sabharwal, who was among those who died in the crash. The federation said the move caused additional trauma to a bereaved family and lacked procedural clarity.
According to the pilots’ body, the summons did not specify the purpose of Captain Anand’s appearance or clarify the capacity in which he was being asked to depose. Calling the action “wholly unwarranted”, the federation argued that such steps should be taken with sensitivity, especially when family members of victims are involved.
In response, the AAIB maintained that it is empowered under the Aircraft Rules 2025 to call and examine any individual it considers relevant to an investigation. The bureau stated that investigators are authorised to summon witnesses, seek information, demand documents, and pose questions necessary to establish the facts surrounding an accident.
Captain Anand, who is employed by Air India and is also a member of the Federation of Indian Pilots, was informed by his employer to appear before the AAIB on 15 January. Despite the federation’s objections, he agreed to respond to the investigators’ questions through a video conference.
The controversy stems from the crash of Air India Flight 171 on 12 June 2025. The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, bound for London, went down shortly after take-off from Ahmedabad, killing 260 people on board and on the ground.
The investigation into one of India’s deadliest aviation disasters in recent years is ongoing, with the pilots’ federation and the probe agency now publicly at odds over the scope and manner of witness examination.
