Govt forms high-level committee to probe Air India crash; report to be submitted in 3 months
New Delhi: The government has constituted a high level committee to investigate the Air India crash that killed 241 people on board.
'A High Level Multi-disciplinary Committee is constituted for examining the causes leading to the crash. 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,' an order issued by the civil aviation ministry read.
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'The committee will have access to all records, including, among others, flight data, cockpit voice recorders, aircraft maintenance records, ATC Log and witness testimonies,' it stated, adding that the committee will publish its report within three months.
It said that the Committee will be headed by the home secretary and will include representatives, not below the rank of joint secretary, from the state and central governments.
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'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 order clarified.
Stating the objective of constituting the committee, the order said that it was formed to ascertain the root cause of the crash.
'It will assess contributing factors, including mechanical failure, human error, weather conditions, regulatory compliances and other reasons,' the order read.
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It also said that the committee will recommend necessary improvements and formulate suitable SOPs to prevent such incidents in the future. These SOPs will also include international best practices regarding preventing and handling such incidents.
The order issued at around 12.40am on Saturday said that the committee will assess emergency response of various stakeholders (both Central and State Governments), including rescue operations, and coordination among them.
'The Committee will examine existing guidelines regarding handling such incidents. and go through records of previous such aircraft crashes in the country,' it read.
It also stated that it will also formulate a comprehensive SOP and suggest the roles of all agencies and organisations of the central and state governments to deal with post-crash incident handling and management.
One of the roles of the committee will be to suggest policy changes, operational improvements and training enhancements required to prevent such occurrences and handle post-crash incident situations.
As per the order, the Committee will consist of Home Secretary and secretary or joint secretary of the home affairs ministry, secretary of Civil aviation, representative from the Gujarat home department, representative from the state disaster response authority, police commissioner of Ahmedabad, the Director General (DG), Inspection and Safety of the Indian Air Force, DG of Bureau of Civil Aviation Security, DG of the aviation regulator- the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, special director of Intelligence Bureau (IB), Director of Directorate of Forensic Science Services.
The order stated that the committee may also consist of any other member as deemed fit by the committee, including aviation experts, accident investigators and legal advisors may also be included by the committee.
It will conduct site inspections, interview crew, Air Traffic Controllers (ATCOs) and relevant personnel.
The government said that the committee will collaborate with international agencies if foreign nationals or aircraft manufacturers are involved.
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