Final Air India Crash Report Due In October, Probe Body Tells Supreme Court

Where the investigation stands

AAIB officials told the Supreme Court the probe has entered its final phase after analysts prepared cockpit‑recorder transcripts and completed human‑factors reviews, court filings and news organizations reporting from those filings say. The agency is working to finalize technical analyses and draft conclusions before assembling the draft final report.

AAIB published interim paperwork and a preliminary factual report earlier in the probe, but the full draft that typically contains analysis, probable cause and safety recommendations remains under preparation. Investigators have described several external dependencies that could affect timing as they coordinate with foreign authorities and outside experts.

Families and legal challenges

Relatives of those killed in the crash and pilot groups have sought more transparency and additional investigative steps, including simulator tests to reconstruct the sequence of events. Petitioners in the Supreme Court have asked the court to oversee aspects of the probe, while other parties have urged the AAIB to consider independent analyses submitted by outside experts.

Those demands have increased public scrutiny and pressured investigators as timetables shifted. AAIB and government lawyers have opposed calls for a separate judicial inquiry, saying the statutory investigation remains the appropriate forum for technical findings.

Timeline questions and what to watch next

The October timing was described in court submissions and reported by multiple outlets as an expected or target month for a draft final report; reporting varies on whether that date is a firm deadline or an operational estimate dependent on outstanding technical work.

Key public milestones include whether AAIB files a formal court document or transcript that fixes an exact delivery date; whether the agency discloses whether simulator tests were conducted and, if so, who ran them; and whether AAIB releases or summarizes primary records such as CVR/FDR transcripts, ATC recordings or maintenance logs.

Publication of the draft report — even in sealed form to the court — or a new interim statement would substantially reduce current uncertainty.