Air India crash probe misses deadline as engine tests continue in US

The investigation into Air India Flight AI171 missed its one-year reporting benchmark because critical engine examinations were still unfinished in the United States. That delay leaves families, regulators and airlines with no final explanation for how a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner fell out of the sky 32 seconds after takeoff and killed 260 people.

The June 12, 2025 crash happened shortly after departure from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, on a scheduled flight to London Gatwick. Of the 260 dead, 241 were on board and 19 were on the ground. One passenger survived. The aircraft struck the Byramjee Jeejeebhoy Medical College hostel area and damaged multiple buildings, turning the investigation into a test of how quickly India can establish the cause of a disaster of this scale.

A preliminary report released on July 12, 2025, pointed to the fuel system. It said both engine fuel control switches moved from RUN to CUTOFF within about one second of each other, starving the engines of fuel. Cockpit voice data also captured confusion in the final moments, including one pilot asking why the fuel had been cut off and the other denying he had done it. The report did not reach a final conclusion on whether human action, a technical failure or a combination of factors caused the crash.

The missing piece is the engine examination. Investigators have had to send the GE Aerospace engines to the United States because only a few facilities have the specialized tools needed to dismantle them properly. That cross-border dependency has slowed the timetable, even as the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau prepares to issue a status update rather than a definitive report. Bloomberg reported the final report could still come within three months if the engine studies are completed.

The delay also underscores how international aviation rules handle unfinished probes. Under ICAO Annex 13 guidance, if a final report cannot be made public within 12 months, the investigating state should release an interim statement on each anniversary explaining progress and any safety issues. For Air India, Boeing, GE Aerospace and India’s aviation regulators, the result is another round of scrutiny without closure. Families of the victims have continued to press for answers, while criticism has also mounted over compensation handling and what some relatives described as pressure to waive legal rights in exchange for interim payments. The anniversary has sharpened a central question: whether a disaster this severe will be explained in weeks, months, or much longer.