The government’s high-level multi-disciplinary committee for examining the causes behind the crash of Air India flight AI 171 in Ahmedabad on Thursday is set to have its first meeting on Monday, Civil Aviation Minister K Ram Mohan Naidu said Saturday. Aviation secretary Samir Kumar Sinha that the technical investigation into the crash, being led by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), is already on and “going smoothly”.
On being asked why a government committee has been constituted when the AAIB-led probe is already on, Naidu said that the AAIB investigation is technical and specific to the tragic plane crash in , while the government’s high-level committee will take a more holistic approach and look at further strengthening of the aviation safety ecosystem.
The committee is headed by the Home Secretary and includes senior officials from the civil aviation ministry, home ministry, Gujarat government, the Indian Air Force, and various other departments and agencies including the Intelligence Bureau, Bureau of Civil Aviation Security, and Directorate General of Civil Aviation, among others. It is expected to submit its report within three months.
“The Committee will examine the existing Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and guidelines issued to prevent and handle such occurrences and suggest comprehensive guidelines for dealing with such instances in the future. The Committee will not be a substitute to other enquiries being conducted by relevant organisations but will focus on formulating SOPs for preventing and handling such occurrences in the future,” the civil aviation ministry said late Friday.
Meanwhile, the AAIB investigation is progressing well, Naidu said. The ill-fated aircraft’s flight data recorder (FDR) was found on Friday evening and is expected to provide in-depth insights into what happened in the moments leading to the crash, the deadliest aviation disaster involving an Indian aircraft in decades.
FDR is one of the so-called black boxes placed on board and aircraft, and records flight data on scores of parameters. The aircraft’s other black box–cockpit voice recorder (CVR)–is yet to be found. The AAIB has taken over the crash site and evidence collection is on.
Naidu said that the AAIB probe will comprehensively analyse all angles and factors that could have possibly been behind the crash.
The AAIB is being assisted in the probe by the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) given that the aircraft was manufactured by an American company—Boeing—and was made in the US. A UK AAIB team is also going to help with the investigation, and so are Boeing and other major component manufacturers like GE (engine manufacturer). According to aircraft accident investigation protocol, the probe report should be finalised within a year.
The world has its eyes set on the probe as scores of Boeing 787 aircraft are operating all over the globe, and this was the first-ever crash involving the 787.
Thursday’s crash claimed the lives of 241 of 242 people on board the plane that was operating Air India flight AI-171 from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick. Lives were also lost on the ground as the plane crashed into a medical college hostel close to the Ahmedabad airport.
According to flight tracking data, the signal from the aircraft was lost at an altitude of just 625 feet, moments after take-off. It then descended with a vertical speed of 475 feet per minute and crashed. According to aviation safety regulator DGCA, the pilots gave a Mayday call—signaling severe distress—to the Ahmedabad airport air traffic control (ATC) upon take-off, after which it crashed outside the airport perimeter.
