Air India crash: India reportedly denies entry to UN aviation investigator; US official hopes findings shared quickly
Washington: India would not allow a UN investigator to join a probe of a crashed Air India jet that some safety experts had criticised for delays in analysis of crucial black box data, two senior sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.Earlier this week, the United Nations aviation agency took the unusual step of offering India one of its investigators to provide assistance following the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner crash killing 260 people in Ahmedabad on June 12.Previously, the International Civil Aviation Organization has deployed investigators to help with certain probes, such as the downing of a Malaysian plane in 2014 and a Ukrainian jetliner in 2020, but those times the agency had been asked for assistance.ICAO had asked for the investigator who was in India to be given observer status, but Indian authorities refused the offer, the sources said. The news was first reported on Thursday by the Indian news channel Times Now..'Bloody terrified': Flying anxiety peaks after fatal Air India crash.India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), which is leading the probe into the world's deadliest aviation accident in a decade, did not return a request for comment. ICAO was not immediately available for comment.India's civil aviation ministry said on Thursday that investigators downloaded flight recorder data around two weeks after the crash.Previously, safety experts had questioned a lack of information about the probe, including the status of the combined black box unit recovered on June 13, along with a second set that was found on June 16.Questions were also raised on whether the recorders would be read in India or in the U.S. since the National Transportation Safety Board is participating in the investigation. The Indian government held only one press conference on the incident, and no questions were taken.Under international rules known throughout the industry by their legal name "Annex 13," the decision of where to read flight recorders should be made immediately in case the evidence obtained could avert future tragedies.Earlier this week, an Indian aviation ministry official who declined to be named said the department has been "following all the ICAO protocols." The official added that media representatives have made updates on important events.Most air crashes are caused by multiple factors, with a preliminary report expected about 30 days after the accident. .The head of the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board said Thursday she hopes the Indian government will be able to share details from the investigation into the Air India crash this month that killed 260 people in short order..India's civil aviation ministry said on Thursday that investigators have downloaded flight recorder data from the crash with assistance from the NTSB. "For aviation safety and for public safety and public awareness we hope that they will make their findings public swiftly," U.S. Transportation Safety Board chair Jennifer Homendy told Reuters.
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Hindustan Times
14 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
Ultimate sacrifice: Asim Munir on death of Pak major tied to Abhinandan's capture
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Time of India
21 minutes ago
- Time of India
India-US trade deal: Energy, agriculture and tariffs; what will be in the 'very big' pact
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NDTV
24 minutes ago
- NDTV
"Very Big One": Donald Trump Hints At "Great" Trade Deal With India
New Delhi: US President Donald Trump on Thursday hinted at a "very big" trade deal with India, weeks after a team of negotiators from the two countries held four-day closed-door talks on the agreement. Addressing the 'Big Beautiful Event' at the White House, Trump said he has a "great deal" with India. "Everybody wants to make a deal and have a part of it. Remember a few months ago, the press was saying, 'You really have anybody of any interest? Well, we just signed with China yesterday. We are having some great deals. We have one coming up, maybe with India. Very big one," he said. #WATCH | "...We just signed (trade deal) with China. We're not going to make deals with everybody... But we're having some great deals. We have one coming up, maybe with India, a very big one. We're going to open up India. In the China deal, we're starting to open up China.… — ANI (@ANI) June 26, 2025 Trump also asserted that the US will not make trade deals with every other nation. "We're not going to make deals with everybody. Some we are just going to send them a letter, say thank you very much. You are to pay 25, 35, 45 per cent. That's the easy way to do it, and my people don't want to do it that way. They want to do some of it, but they want to make more deals than I would do," he said. The four-day talks over the mega trade deal had reportedly primarily focused on greater market access for both industrial and agricultural products in either country, tariff cuts, and non-tariff barriers, people familiar with the matter said. While the US delegation was led by officials from the Office of the US Trade Representative, the Indian team of negotiators from the trade ministry was led by Rajesh Agrawal. Negotiations for the agreement reportedly aimed to take the annual bilateral trade between the two countries from the current $190 billion to a massive $500 billion by 2030. As the talks concluded on June 10, Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said that India and the US were in the process of negotiating a fair and equitable trade agreement that will benefit both economies. "PM Modi and US President Trump met in February our leaders have decided to enter into a bilateral trade agreement which will be mutually beneficial for both the economies, businesses on both sides and the people of both countries. We are negotiating to make a nice, fair, equitable, and balanced agreement to promote business," he had said. Earlier this month, US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick also said that a trade deal between India and the United States could be finalised soon, with both countries finding common ground that suits their interests. Us-China trade deal Trump, while addressing the 'Big Beautiful Bill' event, also mentioned that he had already signed a trade deal with China on Wednesday. While he did not elaborate on the details of the agreement, a White House official confirmed that the deal is focused on expediting rare earth shipments from China to the US. The two sides also reportedly agreed to an additional understanding for a framework to implement the Geneva agreement. The pact comes after escalating tensions between the US and China that had led to a virtual halt in bilateral trade.
