4 months ago
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Pilots' assemblage FIP has served a ineligible announcement to the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) regarding the summoning of a nephew of Sumeet Sabharwal, 1 of the pilots who died successful an Air India level crash astatine Ahmedabad successful June past year.
In transportation with its probe into the crash, the AAIB has summoned Captain Varun Anand, nephew of the precocious Sabharwal and a aviator of narrow-body craft with Air India. Anand is besides a subordinate of the Federation of Indian Pilots (FIP).
Sabharwal was 1 of the pilots who operated the ill-fated Boeing 787-8 level that crashed into a aesculapian hostel analyzable connected June 12, 2025, soon aft take-off from Ahmedabad for London Gatwick. As galore arsenic 260 people, including 241 connected committee the plane, were killed successful the AI171 crash.
"Captain Varun Anand is neither a factual witnesser nor a method witnesser nor an adept witnesser successful narration to the said accident. The sole ground for calling Captain Varun Anand appears to beryllium his familial narration with the deceased Pilot-in-Command, which is impermissible successful instrumentality and renders the summoning arbitrary and unsustainable," FIP said successful the ineligible notice, dated January 11, to AAIB, sent done its Counsel APJ SLG Law Offices.
In a connection connected Thursday (January 15, 2026), AAIB said that, arsenic per Aircraft (Investigation of Accidents and Incidents) Rules 2025, the researcher has the powerfulness to telephone and analyse immoderate witnesser applicable to the investigation.
AAIB besides said that nether the rules, the researcher tin necessitate specified a witnesser to furnish oregon nutrient accusation oregon grounds oregon to reply oregon instrumentality to immoderate inquiries helium thinks acceptable to make.
In the ineligible notice, FIP said the intimation does not disclose the statutory provision, intent oregon relevance nether which Mr. Anand has been sought to beryllium summoned, nor does it specify the capableness successful which his beingness is required.
"Mr Varun Anand is simply a commercialized aviator by assemblage and has nary relation whatsoever with the aircraft, the formation successful question, its planning, dispatch, operation, maintenance, certification, airworthiness clearance oregon unit composition," the ineligible announcement said.
FIP besides said that Mr. Anand was not contiguous astatine the tract of the mishap and does not person immoderate factual, method oregon operational cognition relating to the circumstances of the accident.
"The summoning of the nephew of the deceased aviator and his relatives, irrespective of their deficiency of nexus with the incident, reinforces the apprehension that specified actions are not rooted successful immoderate lawful investigative necessity," it noted.
