Can't Share Cockpit Voice Recordings: AAIB To SC On Air India Crash

The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) has informed the Supreme Court that legal and statutory provisions prevent it from sharing cockpit voice recordings and other sensitive records related to the June 2025 Air India AI171 crash with the public or any outside committee.

In an affidavit filed before the apex court, the AAIB said there is an "absolute statutory prohibition" on disclosing cockpit voice recordings and airborne image recordings connected to the crash. It stated that any disclosure would violate Rule 17(1) and Rule 17(5), read with Schedule C of the Aircraft (Investigation of Accidents and Incidents) Rules, 2025.

Chicago Convention

The bureau also submitted that the investigation is governed by the Chicago Convention and Annex 13 of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), and is not merely a domestic inquiry.

"Article 26 obligates the State in which the accident occurs to institute an inquiry into the circumstances of the accident, while Annex 13 read with Aircraft (Investigation of Accidents and Incidents) Rules, 2025, expressly contemplates the participation of the State of Registry, State of Operator, State of Design, and State of Manufacture, each of whom possesses defined rights and responsibilities in the investigative process through accredited representatives and technical participation," the affidavit stated.

"Thus, the inquiry is not confined to an internal municipal exercise, but assumes the character of an internationally structured, treaty-governed investigation undertaken by the State of Occurrence in coordination with all concerned States having a legally recognised nexus to the aircraft, operator, design, or manufacture," it added.

Probe Seeks Safety

The AAIB reiterated that the objective of an aircraft accident investigation is to improve aviation safety and prevent future accidents, and not to assign blame or determine civil or criminal liability.

It further stated that both domestic and international laws require strict confidentiality of witness statements, cockpit voice recorder recordings and transcripts, air traffic control communications, medical information and other protected investigative records. According to the bureau, disclosure of such material could compromise the integrity of the ongoing investigation and future aviation safety inquiries.

The submission came in response to petitions seeking a court-monitored probe into the June 12, 2025 crash of the London-bound Air India AI171 flight from Ahmedabad, which claimed 260 lives. The Supreme Court is hearing pleas filed by Pushkaraj Sabharwal, father of pilot Captain Sumeet Sabharwal, and the Federation of Indian Pilots seeking a "fair, transparent and technically robust" investigation.