Pilots should be filmed during flights to monitor actions, says former BA chief
Willie Walsh, who now heads the International Air Transport Association (Iata), said cockpit video could be a valuable tool for investigators trying to piece together the cause of the Boeing 787 crash in Ahmedabad.
'Based on what little we know now, 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 said in Singapore.
India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) is probing whether one of the pilots cut fuel to both engines seconds after take-off, killing 241 people on board and 19 on the ground.
The crash has reignited debate over cockpit cameras, long resisted by pilot unions who argue they threaten privacy and could be misused. But advocates say that video recordings would complement voice and flight data recorders already used by accident investigators.
Video footage has already helped solve crashes elsewhere. Investigators in Australia recently used footage from a fatal 2023 helicopter crash to determine the pilot was distracted by his phone and food before the aircraft broke up mid-air.
The idea is not new, either. After the EgyptAir Flight 990 disaster in 1999, where the co-pilot deliberately crashed a Boeing 767 killing 217, Jim Hall, the then-chairman of the US national transportation safety board, urged mandatory cockpit cameras.
'In the balance between privacy and safety, the scale tips toward safety, unequivocally,' argued air safety expert and former commercial pilot John Nance.
Anthony Brickhouse, another expert, said footage from Air India flight 171 'would have answered lots of questions' but acknowledged that commercial pilots have real concerns, particularly about privacy.
Pilots' unions, including the Air Line Pilots Association (Alpa) and the Allied Pilots Association (Apa), have argued cameras would add little value and could be misused.
Calls for cameras are an understandable reaction to 'the stress of not knowing what happened immediately after an accident,' said Apa spokesman Dennis Tajer, who is also an American airlines pilot.
'I can understand the initial reaction of 'the more information, the better,' he said, adding that investigators already have enough data that comes from a black box.
John Cox, a safety expert and former Alpa official, warned videos could be leaked or even misused by airlines. A pilot's death being broadcast on 'the 6 o'clock news is not something that the pilot's family should ever have to go through,' he said.
It comes after a preliminary report into the deadly Air India crash found there were no mechanical or maintenance faults on board the plane.
Campbell Wilson, chief executive of Air India, said it was unwise to jump to any conclusions after the initial report found fuel to the engines of the plane appeared to have been cut off shortly after take-off.
Investigators have been looking into the medical records of the pilot whose plane crashed in Ahmedabad amid claims that he suffered from depression and mental health problems.
Captain Sumeet Sabharwal, who was 56, was months from retirement but had been considering leaving the airline to look after his elderly father following the death of his mother in 2022, The Telegraph previously revealed.
The pilot, who had more than 15,000 flying hours, last undertook a Class I medical exam on Sept 5 last year.
His records have been handed to investigators, whose initial report said their focus was on the actions of the pilots rather than a technical fault with the plane. The Airline Pilots' Association of India said it rejected the 'tone and direction' of the inquiry.
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