NEW DELHI, June 27 — India has declined an offer from the United Nations’ aviation agency to involve one of its investigators in the ongoing probe into the Air India crash that killed 260 people earlier this month in Ahmedabad, two senior sources told Reuters.
The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) had taken the rare step of offering investigative assistance without being formally invited—an unusual move typically reserved for high-profile global incidents such as the 2014 downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 or the 2020 Ukrainian jet crash in Iran.
In this case, ICAO requested observer status for an investigator already in India. The Indian authorities, however, rejected the proposal, the sources said. The development was first reported by Times Now on Thursday.
India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), which is leading the inquiry into what is now considered the deadliest aviation disaster worldwide in over a decade, did not respond to a request for comment. ICAO was also unavailable.
The crash of the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner on June 12, which left no survivors, has already drawn criticism from aviation safety experts, particularly over delays in recovering and analyzing black box data. The flight data recorder was recovered a day after the crash, while the cockpit voice recorder was found three days later, on June 16.
According to India’s civil aviation ministry, the data from the flight recorders was downloaded nearly two weeks after the crash. Critics have questioned not only the delay but also the lack of transparency from Indian officials. Only one official press conference was held after the tragedy, and no questions were taken.
“The ministry has been following all ICAO protocols,” an unnamed aviation ministry official insisted earlier this week, adding that journalists had been informed of key developments.
Despite the involvement of the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), it remains unclear whether the black boxes were decoded in India or abroad. International protocols under ICAO’s Annex 13 require immediate decisions on recorder analysis, especially when swift findings could help prevent future accidents.
A preliminary report is expected within 30 days, though experts caution that most air disasters stem from a complex mix of causes that require thorough investigation.
