New Delhi, July 17 -- The Federation of Indian Pilots (FIP) has taken strong exception to The Wall Street Journal's reporting on the Air India AI 171 crash, accusing the US publication of misrepresenting pilot actions in the absence of any such conclusion in the official investigation.

Among those killed were 229 passengers, 12 crew members, and 19 people on the ground.

The WSJ story reportedly described a cockpit voice recording in which the first officer questioned the captain-who was more experienced-after he moved certain switches to the "cutoff" position shortly after take-off.

The first officer appeared confused and later panicked, while the captain remained calm, the report said.

FIP President Captain CS Randhawa condemned the ...