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'Strong argument' for video in cockpits, says IATA chief

Willie Walsh said he saw a strong argument for putting video cameras in cockpits (Stock image)
Willie Walsh said he saw a strong argument for putting video cameras in cockpits (Stock image)

There is a "strong argument" for putting video cameras in airline cockpits to assist in accident investigations, the head of global aviation industry group IATA has said.

The comments by Willie Walsh, director-general of the International Air Transport Association, followed the release of a preliminary report on last month's Air India crash, which found that the plane's engine fuel switches had been turned off.

The report, issued on Saturday by India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), did not offer any conclusions or apportion blame for the 12 June disaster, but indicated that one pilot asked the other why he cut off fuel, and the second pilot responded that he had not.

Aircraft landing gear at the crash site of Air India Ltd. flight AI171 in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India, on Thursday, June 12, 2025. An Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner traveling from Ahmedabad to London's Gatwick airport crashed shortly after taking off, in what stands to be the most serious accident in
The Air India airline crashed shortly after take-off on 12 June

The crash killed all but one of the 242 people on board as well as 19 people on the ground.

Mr Walsh, a former commercial airline pilot, said he understood the reluctance of pilots to put video cameras in the cockpit.

But "on a personal basis, because we've not discussed this at IATA, I can see that there is a strong argument for the inclusion of video in the cockpit to assist in accident investigations", he told reporters.

"It's quite possible that a video recording, in addition to the voice recording, would significantly assist the investigators in conducting that investigation," Mr Walsh added.


Read More:
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Asked if IATA would recommend a redesign in the cockpit to prevent any accidental turning off of the engine fuel switches, Mr Walsh said the industry body will have to wait for a more detailed report and not speculate.

"I think it's important that we allow the accident investigators to conduct a full and proper investigation and to wait for them to publish their report and then deal with it at that stage," he said.

But he also lauded the preliminary report for containing "more information than most people were expecting".

The initial probe's findings sparked speculation by several independent aviation experts that deliberate or inadvertent pilot action may have caused the London-bound Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner to crash soon after take-off from Ahmedabad in western India.