Pilots’ body sends notice to WSJ, Reuters over Air India reports, seeks apology

The Federation of Indian Pilots (FIP) served a legal notice to The Wall Street Journal and Reuters over their “baseless" and “defamatory" coverage of the Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad, which claimed the lives of over 260 people.

A preliminary report by India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) into the June 12 crash of the Dreamliner found that both fuel control switches on the Boeing 787 flipped to “Cutoff" shortly after takeoff. When one pilot asked why the fuel had been shut off, the other responded that he had not done it.

The report does not indicate who toggled the switches or assign any blame.

However, Reuters published an article dated July 17 with a headline: ‘Air India cockpit recording suggests captain cut fuel to engines before crash, source says’.