South Central 36 | Vijay in TN politics, pilots question Air India crash cockpit report

In this episode of South Central, hosts Dhanya Rajendran and Leena Raghunath first discuss actor Vijay’s entry into Tamil Nadu politics and the Air India Ahmedabad plane crash, the controversy surrounding what may have happened in the cockpit in the final moments.

Published on:

18 Jul 2025, 3:13 pm

In this episode of South Central, hosts Dhanya Rajendran and Leena Raghunath first discuss actor Vijay’s entry into Tamil Nadu politics. They are joined by senior journalist Kavitha Muralidharan and TNM’s Tamil Nadu bureau chief Shabbir Ahamed, who speak at length about whether Vijay will impact the state’s politics and if his party’s followers, who are predominantly fans of his films, are politicised enough to give him an election win.

“Is Vijay still not seen as a daily politician–someone who interacts every day with his voters and goes fully into the personality and life of a politician?” asks Dhanya. Kavitha says that Vijay has not had a full-blown press meet, though it's been a year after the official launch of his political party, Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK). “He seems like a reluctant politician because though he appears politically ambitious, it remains unclear if he is prepared for the full heat of what it takes to be a politician,” she adds.

Shabbir says that press meets and public appearances take a lot of planning for a superstar like Vijay. “Fans flock to the venue each time he makes an appearance. It is a hassle to manage the crowd,” he observes.

“But is that a valid excuse? Haven’t actors like Pawan Kalyan or even Chiranjeevi done this before and gotten into politics?” Dhanya asks.

In the second part of the episode, the hosts are joined by Captain Amit Singh and Captain Sam Thomas, who weigh in on the Air India Flight 171 and the controversy surrounding what may have happened in the cockpit in the final moments. A preliminary report on the crash raised doubts about whether the crash was caused by human intervention, dividing the media, as well as pilots and aviation experts.

“The first doubt after the probe report was that the crash might have happened because of fuel cut-off switch transitions. There is no mention of which pilot said what, except that one of them asked why the other cut off fuel,” says Dhanya.

Captain Sam Thomas says that the report itself is dubious, as it was released at night. “It gives a clean chit to Boeing by casting a shadow over the pilots. That is misleading,” he adds.

Leena asks if this preliminary probe report ensures fixing insurance liabilities and helps victims, or if there is to be a long wait before the final report comes out. Sam Thomas says that a final report could be totally off, and speculation will not give answers.

Captain Amit Singh, founder of Aviation Safety Matters, says that aviation is a safe industry and that there are signals before a huge accident happens. “Passengers cannot do anything about the aircraft, but they definitely can demand safety, ask for answers,” he says.

All this and more—tune in.

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Audio Timecodes

00:00:00- Announcement

00:03:08- Introduction

00:03:35- Headlines

00:11:23 - Vijay in TN Politics