‘Irresponsible, Unverified’: Govt Calls Out Foreign Media Over Air India Crash Coverage

Last Updated:July 17, 2025, 18:26 IST

The Ministry of Civil Aviation criticized foreign media for "irresponsible" reporting on the Air India crash. The Wall Street Journal alleged a senior pilot cut off fuel supply.

Air India crash report: AAIB details how data was recovered from black box (PTI Image)

The Ministry of Civil Aviation on Thursday called out foreign media outlets for “irresponsible" reporting on the Air India flight crash.

In a statement, the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), a wing of the Civil Aviation Ministry, said some international media outlets are accused of drawing premature conclusions through selective and unverified reporting. “Such actions are deemed irresponsible while the investigation is still ongoing," it said.

The probe gained public attention after a Wall Street Journal (WSJ) report claimed that a senior pilot may have accidentally cut off fuel supply to both engines, leading to the crash. The article, citing anonymous officials familiar with the matter, alleged that the pilot’s action was not in response to an emergency — a move described as “inexplicable" by observers quoted in the report.

Another report by the WSJ now puts the blame on the senior pilot. It says the cockpit recording between the two pilots indicates that the flow of fuel to the plane’s engines was cut by the captain of the flight. This came even as the preliminary probe report hasn’t established the fault of the pilots, or underlined if the fuel switch control was the cause of the crash.

The first officer, who was flying the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, asked the more experienced captain why he moved the fuel switches to the “cutoff" position seconds after lifting off the runway, the report said.

The first officer expressed surprise and then panicked, while the captain seemed to remain calm, it added.

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