Silverlining Rights Greenlights "Air India Flight 171 Tragedy: How Safe Is Your Plane?"

Leading independent production finance broker and distributor Silverlining Rights has brought together nine international funding partners to greenlight a fast-turnaround, one-hour documentary from Emporium Productions exploring the recent tragic loss of an Air India Flight.

"Air India Flight 171 Tragedy: How Safe Is Your Plane?" (1x60’) investigates what might have led to the devastating crash which killed everyone on board apart from one survivor who miraculously was able to walk away, along with dozens more victims on the ground. Through exclusive interviews with experts, victims’ families, and whistleblowers, along with UGC and archive footage, the documentary unpacks every aspect of the fatal crash and examines possible causes including engine and electrical system failures, pilot error, Air India’s maintenance programme, and even hacking. Drawing on 18 months of research into manufacturing problems at Boeing and the 787 Dreamliner and other planes’ safety records, the film also explores more widely, just how safe is your plane?

Silverlining has brought in nine international funding and co-production partners, led by Channel 4 (UK), who will bill the programme as "Air India Crash: What Went Wrong?", and a US Network, alongside SBS (Australia), DR (Denmark), DPG (Belgium), CNN (Portugal), HOT8 (Israel), Movistar (Spain), and a pan–Southeast Asian channel (brokered in association with Still Road Media). The documentary is due to deliver next month.

Silverlining has previously partnered with Emporium Productions to provide co-financing for several internationally successful fast-turnaround documentaries including "The Sinking of a Superyacht: How Safe Is Your Voyage?" (1x60’) following the sinking of the superyacht Bayesian, and "Turbulence: How Safe Is Your Flight?" (1x60’) which looked into the Singapore Airlines air turbulence disaster and the safety implications for future air travellers.

Bethan Corney, Founder and MD, Silverlining praised their partners: 'Emporium Productions have demonstrated regularly just how good they are at pulling together high-quality, fast-turnaround documentaries which provide viewers with the best investigations into stories which have made the headlines around the world. This is why we have been able to pull together financing from international broadcasters from the US, Australia, Europe and elsewhere, with more presales in the pipeline," commented.

Emma Read, Founder & Managing Director, Emporium Productions emphasized that the documentary raises questions that the victims' families still need to resolve: "'The "Air India Flight 171" tragedy is the world’s deadliest air disaster in a decade, killing hundreds of people on board and on the ground, and there are important questions about plane safety which the victims’ families and the audience need answering. Following our partnership with Silverlining to bring in international funding to greenlight previous fast-turnaround documentaries, we are delighted to be working together again, and in production so quickly on "Air India Flight 171 Tragedy: How Safe Is Your Plane?";  noted.

Louisa Compton, Head of News and Current Affairs, Specialist Factual and Sport at Channel 4 underlined the social component of the title: 'This documentary will be a powerful and unflinching look into one of the most tragic and mysterious aviation disasters in recent memory. With the loss of so many British passengers, the tragedy has had a devastating impact on many across the UK, with numerous unanswered questions still remaining surrounding the crash. We’re proud that Channel 4 will be the UK home of this important film, which we’re titling "Air India Crash: What Went Wrong?," stated.