Rejecting news reports, Minister Naidu said the Indian and Western media were "trying to promote their own narrative, their own viewpoint, their own considerations."
Published Jul 21, 2025 | 1:18 PM ⚊ Updated Jul 21, 2025 | 1:18 PM
Union Minister for Civil Aviation Kinjarapu Rammohan Naidu.
Synopsis: Rammohan Naidu said the government was not differentiating between the crash victims. The compensation has been the same for passengers and others, including medical students, who were killed on the ground, he told the Rajya Sabha.
Discarding media reports on the cause of the 12 June crash in Ahmedabad, Union Minister for Civil Aviation Kinjarapu Rammohan Naidu told the Rajya Sabha on Monday, 21 July, that he could not provide a definitive answer until he receives the final report of the probe from the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB).
“To have a definitive answer and definitive future correction measures, we have to look at the final report,” the minister told the Upper House.
Responding to specific query, Naidu said that “the AAIB has a very definitive, thorough, rules-based process. They are very transparently looking into the process right now and they are totally unbiased. The AAIB is totally unbiased and looking into the facts”.
Rejecting news reports, he said the Indian and Western media were “trying to promote their own narrative, their own viewpoint, their own considerations, but I have to tell you that the way we are seeing the investigation is through the facts. We want to stand by the truth”.
Naidu said the exact reason for the crash would be known once the final report was submitted. “We have to respect the process of investigation, and once that process of investigation has happened, then we can talk about what happened and how it happened and the corrective measures”.
The minister said the probe was being carried out thoroughly and without any negligence. “We have thoroughly followed all the corrective and suggestive measures from the ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization) protocol,” he told the House.
Replying to another question, Naidu said the government was not differentiating between the crash victims. The compensation has been the same for passengers and others, including medical students, who were killed on the ground, he said.
Air India’s Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner flight 171 with 242 people on board to Gatwick from Ahmedabad crashed into a building shortly after takeoff on 12 June, killing 260 people. One passenger, an Indian-origin British national, Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, escaped with minor injuries.
On Sunday, Minister Naidu had slammed the Western media for their coverage of the crash. He said India will wait for the final probe report before arriving at any conclusion. The minister further lauded the AAIB for its efforts.
Meanwhile, AAIB has roped in Air India’s former director of operations Captain RS Sandhu as a domain expert in the ongoing probe.
AAIB’s preliminary investigation report revealed that shortly after takeoff, fuel supply to the aircraft’s engines was cut off, causing both engines to shut down, leading to the crash.
