The Plane Accident Investigation Bureau has rejected objections raised by the Federation of Indian Pilots over its resolution to summon Captain Varun Anand within the Air India Flight 171 crash probe, asserting that it’s empowered to query any particular person related to an ongoing investigation.
Responding to the pilots’ physique, the AAIB mentioned it “can name and look at anybody within the ongoing probe,” pushing again towards claims that the summons amounted to harassment. The bureau confirmed that the summons to Captain Anand was issued on January 9 as a part of the investigation into the crash.
The clarification follows a public standoff triggered earlier this week, after the FIP objected to the AAIB calling Captain Anand, nephew of the late Captain Sumeet Sabharwal, describing the transfer as unjustified and intrusive. The federation had despatched a authorized discover to the AAIB, arguing that the summons focused a person solely due to familial ties to the deceased pilot.
Captain Anand, a serving Air India pilot and FIP member, was knowledgeable by his employer that he had been requested to seem earlier than the AAIB on January 15. The pilots’ physique mentioned the discover did not spell out the statutory foundation of the summons, its goal, or the capability through which Captain Anand was required to seem.
In its communication to AAIB officers, the FIP mentioned: “Summoning Capt. Varun Anand, particularly when he has no affiliation with the incident and with out satisfactory discover, is wholly unwarranted. It quantities to harassment and misery within the aftermath of a tragic loss and exposes our shopper to skilled and reputational prejudice.”
The federation maintained that Captain Anand has no operational or investigative hyperlink to the Air India Flight 171 crash and questioned why a serving pilot with no direct connection to the incident was being examined.
The AAIB, nonetheless, has stood by its authority beneath the crash investigation framework, making clear that objections raised by skilled our bodies don’t restrict its mandate to assemble proof or look at people it deems needed.
Regardless of the dispute, Captain Anand has indicated that he’ll cooperate with the probe. The FIP has mentioned he has agreed to seem through video convention to reply to any queries from investigators.
