The official investigation into last month’s Air India crash at Mangaluru International Airport has collapsed into an acrimonious row, with sources close to the inquiry accusing the airline of trying to pin the blame on the dead pilots. Uncovered documents and leaked witness statements obtained by The Guardian reveal a bitter internal war between safety regulators and Air India executives over the cause of the accident that killed 158 people.
The preliminary report, circulated among senior officials last week, reportedly found that the captain ignored three automated warnings and overshot the runway by 400 metres. But the narrative has been fiercely contested by the pilots’ union and a whistleblower inside the investigation team. The union claims that the airline’s maintenance logs show the aircraft had a known history of brake defects and that the cockpit voice recorder was tampered with before investigators could download it.
One source called it a setup from day one. A source who spoke to The Guardian said they had found evidence that the airline tried to suppress a safety audit on the same aircraft model just two months prior. The audit flagged recurring issues with the thrust reversers and anti-skid braking system. Air India denies any cover-up and insists the crew failed to respond to basic safety protocols. But the union says the airline is using dead men as scapegoats.
What really happened in those final seconds before the crash? The black box data shows the captain attempted to abort the landing at the last moment. But why? According to the data, the aircraft was still travelling at 149 knots when it hit the runway - well above the recommended touchdown speed. The first officer was heard shouting to abort the landing just before impact. The captain did not respond.
Someone in the cockpit decided to ignore the warnings. The question is who and why. The union says the captain had complained of fatigue and that the airline regularly schedules flights beyond the legal duty limits. They point to a string of near-miss incidents in the months preceding the crash. Air India calls these allegations baseless and says the crew had adequate rest. But internal emails seen by this reporter tell a different story: a monthly roster from the airline shows the captain logged 90 hours the week before the crash - nearly double the regulatory limit. The airline claims the roster is a draft that was not implemented. But it remains in the airline’s filing system.
The inquiry has now been adjourned indefinitely after a shouting match between the safety board chairman and Air India’s legal team. The chairman was heard saying there was a stitch-up going on. The airline’s lawyers denied the accusation and demanded the removal of the chairman.
This is not an accident. This is a cover-up. Someone is going to have to answer for this. The families of the 158 victims deserve the truth. But in a country where corporate power runs deep, truth is a vanishing commodity. This story is not over.
