Pilots' body rebuts report, hints at bias

India's pilot community erupted in anger on Saturday over the preliminary Air India Flight 171 crash report, with aviation associations accusing investigators of rushing to insinuate wrongdoing on part of the flight crew for a disaster that killed 260 people.

- Neha LM Tripathi

"The tone and direction of the investigation suggest a bias toward pilot error," said Capt Sam Thomas, president of the Airline Pilots' Association of India (ALPA). "ALPA India categorically rejects this presumption and insists on a fair, factbased inquiry. We also renew our request to be included-at the very least, as observers-in the investigation process to ensure transparency and accountability." The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau's (AAIB) preliminary report revealed that cockpit voice recordings captured one pilot asking his colleague why he had cut off fuel to both engines, only to receive a denial in response. Indian experts condemned the selective release of just one paraphrased sentence from what be several minutes of recorded conversations.

"It is regrettable that the entire CVR transcript was not released by the AAIB, adding more confusion to the situation. Just releasing one sentence out of context was a disservice to the pilots and all passengers and crew of AI-171," said aviation expert Sanjay.

Lazar.