The
Supreme Court (SC) on Monday said it was “unfortunate” that selective
information suggesting pilot error was leaked from the preliminary inquiry
reports on the Air India plane crash earlier this year, reported LiveLaw.
A
bench of Justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh made this observation while
hearing a plea by an aviation safety organisation, Safety Matters Foundation.
The plea seeks an independent investigation into the June 12 crash, which
claimed the lives of 265 people.
Advocate
Prashant Bhushan, appearing for the organisation, alleged that three members of
the probe panel formed after the crash were from the Directorate General of
Civil Aviation (DGCA), raising concerns about a possible conflict of interest.
“How can officers of the very organisation whose
role is likely to be examined be part of the inquiry?” he asked.
Bhushan
said the pilot’s family had approached him with concerns over the preliminary
inquiry report, which attributed the crash to a fuel cut-off and suggested
pilot error. He added that several media outlets, including international ones,
reported the same, reinforcing the impression of pilot fault.
Responding
to this, Justice Kant said, “It was very unfortunate. Instead of piecemeal
leaking of information, somebody should maintain confidentiality till a regular
inquiry is taken to logical conclusion.” He added that such reporting was “very
irresponsible.”
The
plea also sought disclosure of the aircraft’s flight data recorder to clarify
the cause of the crash.
It
alleged that the preliminary report withheld key details, including the
complete output of the Digital Flight Data Recorder (DFDR), full transcripts of
the Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) with time stamps, and the Electronic Aircraft
Fault Recording (EAFR) data.
On
these demands, the SC, while stressing the need to await the final crash
report, noted that the matter involves issues of confidentiality as well as
concerns of privacy and dignity.
Justice
Kant added that releasing critical information may cause harm to one airline,
while flight manufacturers might not be blamed.
“When this kind of tragedy happens, one
airline would be blamed. Boeing and Airbus will not be attributed with fault,
and so the entire airline is run down,” Justice Kant said.
The
bench then issued notices to the Centre and the DGCA on a plea demanding an
independent probe into the crash.
Air
India flight AI171, a Boeing 787-8 aircraft bound for London, crashed into a
hostel shortly after take-off from Ahmedabad airport.