Aviator and technocrat Captain Bob steers the attention to pertinent questions regarding the infamous AI 171 crash of Ahmedabad, in his upcoming film ‘Big Players’
KALYANI JHA | NT BUZZ
One year after the tragic Ahmedabad AI 171 crash that sent shockwaves across the country and the world, many questions still remain unanswered. And the popular narrative of the pilots being at fault does not sit well with everyone, including technocrat and aviator Captain Bob who has 55 years of experience in the aviation field.
“I am still not convinced that the pilots were to blame for the crash. Why blame pilots after they have died and cannot answer for themselves?” he asks. He further points out that this is not the first time that pilots have been blamed for air crashes, in particular mentioning the 1978 crash of Air India 855 near Bandra, when he was in air traffic control.
“Immediately, on the second day it was claimed to be pilot’s error. I was taken aback and had many questions. So, my mind has been in compendium for a number of years,” says the 80 year old.
With this in mind, Captain Bob is all set to make a film with a focus on the Ahmedabad crash. While his script is already done, he is looking for further assistance to begin the Hinglish venture which is will be shot in Goa and US with local Goan artists and people from the medical fraternity.
In this film, he also wants to touch upon technical questions that were not taken in consideration before misinterpreting the black box’s conversation between pilot and his assistant. “I am now teaching students to become pilots, air hostesses and ground staff. I also teach incident and accident investigation. So I felt it was important that I addressed all of these questions,” he says, adding that with the film he is also trying to expose the malfunctioning of the system today. “There should be someone qualified sitting on the chair and making the enquiry. I have not seen anybody from aviation holding that particular chair. My humble plea is that the Prime Minister of India should change this,”
he says.
He also points out that besides the regulatory authority, the company and the manufacturer also have to be focused on and he will try and bring that in, in the film.
He adds that the film, which will be a court-based drama will be simple. “I’m not going to throw technicalities at the audience. I’m going to make it using simple terms,” he says.
This is not Captain Bob’s first venture in the filmmaking sector. His previous film ‘Vazir’ inspired from the story of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s personal assistant R. K Dhawan, was bestowed with six Maharashtra State and three Filmfare Awards. But releasing it was not without challenges as the Censor
Board at first banned it.
“I had to go to Justice Lenton to get it released,” says Captain Bob, adding that after the release of the ban, the film ran full house for 15 weeks and created
ripples in society.
His second film ‘In the name of the Tai’ based on the life of correspondent Navleen and her husband who were killed was also banned as the case was in sub judice.
This Ahmedabad crash case is also sub judice, he notes. “So perhaps they could stop me from releasing it. But they cannot stop me from making the
movie,” he says.
