Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu: ‘Will Look Into All Theories Behind Air India Crash’

Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu: Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu, in his first briefing after the Air India flight crash in Ahmedabad on Thursday, said that the black box data from the ill-fated aircraft is being decoded, while multiple agencies and high-level panels are conducting an extensive probe into the incident. The black box data is expected to provide crucial information about the cause of the crash.

Naidu said the Centre has also set up a high-level multi-disciplinary panel to ascertain the “root cause” of the crash of the London-bound Air India flight 171 in Ahmedabad and assess any contributing factors including mechanical failure, human error and regulatory compliances, in addition to the probe conducted by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Board (AAIB).

The panel, headed by Union home secretary Govind Mohan, was mandated to give its report in three months, Naidu said.

Separately, officials said India is also exploring plans to create a new “aviation safety board” on the lines of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), an American agency that has a wide remit to probe accidents, including the aviation sector.

One of these officials said the new aviation safety board will likely supervise other regulators in the sector, such as the director general of civil aviation (DGCA).

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“The Ministry is taking the utmost seriousness to the incident. The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) was immediately mobilised. The DG AAIB immediately rushed to the site to take stock of the situation. One update from the technical investigation team which is happening through AAIB is the recovery of the black box from the accident site at around 5 pm yesterday," the minister said.

He added, "the AAIB team believes that this decoding of the black box is going to give a, in depth insight into what would have actually happened during the process of the crash or moments before the crash itself. We are also eagerly waiting for what the results or the report is going to be once the AAIB goes through its full investigation".

The plan involves the collaboration of ministries of civil aviation and home and it is likely to be discussed in the meeting of the committee headed by the home secretary. “The officials are discussing and trying to decide exactly what the responsibilities and limits of the safety board will have,” one of these officials said, adding that the scrutiny could extend to the policies and regulations of DGCA.

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A second official added: “These (discussions on the constitution of the board) are initial talks and are aimed for the future. It will not be associated with the DGCA.”

To be sure, the AAIB is an independent aviation safety body, empowered with the ability to make recommendations for future safety. But the AAIB’s remit does not cover scrutiny of DGCA policies.

Civil Aviation Secretary Samir Kumar Sinha, who also addressed the media ahead of the minister, said that the crashed Air India flight had completed its Paris-Delhi-Ahmedabad journey without any incident.

"As far as the entire history of the plane is concerned, before this accident, the plane had completed the Paris-Delhi-Ahmedabad sector without any accident," the Aviation Secretary said.

The Boeing 787 Dreamliner (AI 171) flight with 242 passengers and crew members on board crashed into a medical hostel and its canteen complex in Meghaninagar moments after taking off from the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport on Thursday afternoon. A total of 270 people were killed in the crash

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