India’s Parliament intensified scrutiny of aviation safety after the 12 June crash of Air India Flight 171, a Boeing 787 that went down 32 seconds after take-off from Ahmedabad, killing 260 people and leaving one survivor. During hearings on 8–9 July, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture questioned senior officials from the Civil Aviation Ministry, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, Air India and other stakeholders, demanding a clear timetable for the analysis of the aircraft’s black boxes and a broader audit of security and maintenance practices. The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau released a 15-page preliminary report on 11 July. Flight-data and cockpit-voice recordings showed that the fuel-control switches for both engines transitioned from “RUN” to “CUTOFF” within one second of each other, just three seconds after lift-off, prompting one pilot to ask, “Why did you cut off?” The switches were returned to RUN ten seconds later, but the aircraft had already lost thrust and altitude. The report offered no findings on why the switches moved and issued no safety recommendations. A Wall Street Journal article on 17 July, citing U.S. officials’ early assessments, suggested the captain may have manually turned off the fuel supply. The story triggered sharp push-back from India’s pilot unions, including ALPA-India and the Federation of Indian Pilots, which called the claim speculative and warned that premature blame undermines morale and public trust. The International Federation of Air Line Pilots’ Associations echoed those concerns, noting that the AAIB’s document is only an early fact-finding summary. Air India Chief Executive Officer Campbell Wilson told employees the probe is “far from over,” stressing that investigators have found no evidence of mechanical or maintenance lapses to date. Separately, the DGCA ordered airlines to verify that locking mechanisms on fuel switches across all Boeing 787s operating in India are functioning correctly, referencing a 2018 U.S. advisory that some switches could be installed with the lock disabled. Responding to the media dispute, the AAIB and the Civil Aviation Ministry urged outlets to avoid “selective, unverified” reporting and reminded the public that the final report—expected to identify root causes and recommend corrective action—will follow a full technical investigation. Until then, officials said, drawing conclusions about pilot intent or systemic faults is premature.