India top court hears plea for independent Air India crash probe

India's Supreme Court on Monday asked the government to respond to a plea seeking an independent investigation into the Air India plane crash on June 12 that killed 260 people.

The top court was responding to a public interest litigation filed by NGO Safety Matters Foundation, marking its first examination of the probe being carried out by Indian authorities into the incident.

In a hearing on Monday, lawyers for the NGO questioned the inclusion of officials from the aviation safety regulator on the probe panel, saying it created a "conflict of interest"

"The investigation necessarily involves a critical examination of DGCA’s own regulatory actions and possible lapses," the NGO's plea said.

The Air India-operated Boeing 787 crash killed all but one of the 242 people on board and 19 others on the ground, after the plane lost thrust shortly after takeoff from the Ahmedabad airport.

A preliminary investigation report released earlier by the Indian government showed pilot confusion in the cockpit shortly before the crash after the plane's fuel engine switches had almost simultaneously flipped from run to cutoff just after takeoff.

The report appeared to exonerate Boeing and engine maker GE Aerospace, but some family groups have criticised investigators and the press for being too focused on the pilots' actions.

"Three of the members are the serving officers of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (flight safety regulator), which creates a very serious conflict of interest," the NGO's lawyer Prashant Bhushan told the judges.

The court said it will review the demand for a "fair, impartial, and independent, and expeditious" investigation and it has asked the government to respond.

The case comes just days after a separate case was filed in the United States by families of four passengers against Boeing and Honeywell, which made the switches.