Pilot Federation Sends Legal Notice to Reuters and Wall Street Journal Over Air India Crash Report
Pilot Federation Sends Legal Notice to Reuters and Wall Street Journal Over Air India Crash Report
The Federation of Indian Pilots (FIP) has sent a legal notice to Reuters and The Wall Street Journal for publishing what it says are “misleading” reports about the recent Air India flight AI-171 crash in Ahmedabad. The pilot group is also asking for a public apology and explanation from the two media outlets.
FIP President Captain C.S. Randhawa said the reports were not based on facts from the official investigation by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB). “They are not part of the investigation team, but they still made their own claims. This is wrong and unfair,” Randhawa told ANI.
He said the news stories wrongly blamed the pilots, even though the AAIB’s first report did not do so. “We’ve asked them to explain their reporting and publish a statement in the press. If they don’t, we’ll take further action,” Randhawa added.
Captain Randhawa also welcomed a statement from the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), which supported the AAIB and warned media not to jump to conclusions. NTSB Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy said, “Reports on the Air India 171 crash are too early and based on guesses. Full investigations take time, and people should wait for the official findings.”
Randhawa said the NTSB’s support would help stop false blame being put on Indian pilots. “We are happy with this statement. It shows that blaming pilots without full facts is not right,” he said.
The AAIB is still investigating the crash, and a full report will be released after the probe is completed.
