Aviation minister backs probe body, rejects US media reports on Air India crash

Union Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu on Sunday once again slammed the Western media's narrative that sought to pin the blame on the senior pilot in connection with the Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad. He said he placed his trust in the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) — the central agency responsible for probing air accidents.

"I believe in the AAIB. I believe in the work being done by the AAIB. They have done a wonderful job decoding the data here in India. It was a huge success," the Union Minister said, commending the agency for its preliminary findings.

Targeting The Wall Street Journal and Reuters for reports suggesting pilot error, Naidu said, "The AAIB has made an appeal to all, especially Western media houses, which may have a vested interest in the kind of articles they are trying to publish."

Naidu further warned against peddling unfounded theories before the final report was published. "Making any comments before the final report has come is not good exercise on behalf of any one. We are cautious...Regarding the incident and the investigation we have to wait for the final report to come out," he said.

He said that coming to any conclusion before the final report is premature and urged caution. "Stick to the report. Whatever the report says is final. Preliminary report is out. They need time. Lot of data has to be corroborated. Need to give them time," the minister remarked.

Naidu also highlighted India's progress over the years when it came to investigating airplane crashes. "Earlier black box was always sent abroad to get the data out. It was the first time data has been decoded in India," he said.

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