Air India Plane Crash | 'Don't Go By Media Reports': Supreme Court Calls For Restraint On Comments Against Particular Brand Of Aircrafts

In the Air India Plane Crash matter, the Supreme Court today called on the Union of India to file within 3 weeks a report on the procedural protocol followed to enquire into the tragic accident, which claimed 260 lives.During the hearing, CJI Surya Kant also suggested that the parties not be swayed by media reports on technical glitches in aircrafts, and further, exercise restraint in commenting on any particular brand of aircrafts."This very unfortunate accident...261 innocent lives [lost]...it's not a small tragedy for any nation. For a parent losing a pilot son like this, we can understand...we have fully sympathy with the father and we really do not know how he will be able to come out of such a shock and void created. But let us also be very very conservative in making observations against any particular brand of aircraft. There was a time Dreamliner was treated as one of the best and safest aircraft", the CJI orally opined.A bench of CJI Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi passed the order calling for the report, after hearing Senior Advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan (for pilots' federation and pilot Sumeet Sabharwal's father), Advocate Prashant Bhushan and Solicitor General Tushar Mehta.Advocate Prashant Bhushan argued that even as per government's own rules, incidents like the Air India crash require a Court of Inquiry. He further highlighted that in the ongoing Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) enquiry, 5 members are officials of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) (actions of which are also under question).Subsequently, Bhushan alleged that since the Air India plane crash, 3 other Boeing 787s have suffered similar problems (technical glitch). "Don't go by the media reports", replied CJI on this.The CJI recalled that a few days back, there were reports of a Boeing 787 (from London to Bangalore) suffering an issue related to a switch, but later the airline came out with an official statement that the switch was in order. "I have been following closely...on Sunday only, I was on a Dreamliner going from Paris to Delhi...", he said.Bhushan then claimed that 8000 pilots have written to the government saying the Boeing 787s are unsafe and should be grounded. "Nobody has told us" retorted SG Mehta. "We will strongly recommend to travel by different airlines..." said the CJI in a lighter vein.Gopal S, on the other hand, highlighted two crash cases pertaining to Boeing 737s, where blame was placed on the pilots. Eventually, he said, the FAA in the US found there was fault in both aircrafts, but the document which showed the defect was withheld from the public and the matters settled for a hefty sum. He also gave a list of air crashes in India, where Courts of Inquiry were ordered by the Supreme Court, which were headed by former judges.When the senior counsel raised an issue regarding the nephew and niece of the pilot Sumeet Sabharwal's father, who are themselves pilots, being issued notice as part of the enquiry, CJI deprecated the disclosure of such aspects in Court.The matter was re-listed as SG Mehta informed that the AAIB enquiry is at the fag end and sought some more time. Before parting, the bench impressed upon the petitioners to await the outcome of the AAIB enquiry. With regard to Bhushan's assertion that 5 DGCA officials are members of AAIB investigation team, Justice Bagchi reiterated that the purpose of the enquiry is to find out the cause of the accident and not to apportion responsibility."Let's see what kind of Court of Inquiry is necessitated based on outcome [of the AAIB enquiry]", said CJI Kant.In September, 2025, the Court had expressed concern over selective leak of AAIB's preliminary inquiry report, which fueled a media narrative blaming pilot error for the crash. It orally observed that the selective and piecemeal publication of the preliminary inquiry report was "unfortunate". Till the enquiry is complete, it is important to maintain absolute confidentiality, the Court stressed.In November, the Court orally said that no blame could be attributed to pilot Sumeet Sabharwal.Case Title: SAFETY MATTERS FOUNDATION v. UNION OF INDIA & ORS., DIARY No.53715/2025 (and connected cases)

Air India Plane Crash | 'Don't Go By Media Reports': Supreme Court Calls For Restraint On Comments Against Particular Brand Of Aircrafts

Debby Jain

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