Govt forms high-level panel to probe Air India plane crash
New Delhi, June 14 (UNI) The government has constituted a high-level committee to probe the London-bound Air India Boeing crash near Ahmedabad airport on June 12.
The 11-member committee is being headed by Union Home Secretary, Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu said during a press conference on Saturday.
'To further investigate the incident and to look into all the theories and other information that are going around this incident, we felt it would be much better to have another committee also overlooking into this crash and also the safety,' Naidu said.
The Minister said the committee will be headed by the Union Home Secretary and will consist of experts from various sectors and officials not less than Joint Secretary level.
The panel will include secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation; additional secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs; representatives from the Gujarat government and State Disaster Response Authority; Ahmedabad police commissioner; DG (inspection and safety), Indian Air Force; DGs of Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) and DG Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA); Special Director from the Intelligence Bureau and Director, Directorate of Forensic Sciences Services.
'We have constituted the committee and have also circulated the order,' the Minister informed.
Naidu emphasised that the committee has been given three months to complete its investigation, interact with stakeholders, and consult additional experts if required.
'We want this investigation to be holistic, transparent, and timely,' he said.
Giving the details about the incident, Naidu said that after the news of the crash, he rushed to the site immediately, in coordination with the Government of Gujarat and the Centre.
'The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) was mobilised within hours,' he added.
The AAIB team, comprising five members including the Director General, began the probe on day one. Two additional experts — a forensic specialist and a medical expert — joined the investigation yesterday.
A major development came with the recovery of the aircraft's Black Box around 5 pm yesterday. 'This is expected to offer crucial insights into what transpired moments before the crash,' Naidu said, adding that the Ministry is keenly awaiting the outcome of the AAIB's technical investigation.
Meanwhile, the Ahmedabad Police on Saturday have confirmed 270 deaths due to the crash.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) yesterday issued a directive mandating urgent additional maintenance checks for Air India's B787-8/9 fleet equipped with Genx engines.
In an order issued here, the aviation regulator stated that, as a preventive measure, the DGCA has directed Air India to carry out additional maintenance actions on Boeing 787-8/9 aircraft equipped with Genx engines, in coordination with the concerned regional DGCA offices.
The UK-bound Air India flight with 242 people on board crashed near Ahmedabad airport on Thursday afternoon.
The aircraft lost contact within minutes of takeoff and went down in the Meghani Nagar area. It crashed in a densely populated area near the airport.
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