Death toll in AI plane crash touches 270; Centre forms high-level panel to find causes

Mint

13 hours ago

Ahmedabad/New Delhi, Jun 14 (PTI) The death toll in the London-bound Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad rose to 270 on Saturday even as the Centre set up a high-level multi-disciplinary panel headed by the Union home secretary to examine the causes that led to the disaster.
As investigators pore over wreckage at the BJ Medical College hostel and canteen complex for clues after the crash of the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner(AI171) on Thursday, Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu said aviation regulator DGCA has ordered "extended surveillance" for the Tata-owned airline's Boeing 787 series planes.
In a post on X, Air India said it has done one-time safety checks on nine of its Boeing 787 Dreamliners and is on track to complete the checks on the remaining 24 such planes as directed by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation(DGCA).The carrier now has 26 legacy Boeing 787-8s and seven Boeing 787-9s in its fleet.
All but one of the 242 passengers and crew on board AI171 and another 29 persons including five MBBS students on the ground were killed when the aircraft came down moments after taking off from the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport before falling inside the nearby campus of the state-run BJ Medical College in Meghaninagar area and going up in flames.
"Around 270 bodies have been brought to the Ahmedabad Civil Hospital so far from the plane crash site," President of Junior Doctors association of BJ Medical College, Dr Dhaval Gameti, told PTI. The death toll in the country's worst ever air disaster in three decades was earlier put by authorities at 265.
As investigators looked into all possible causes for the crash, including loss of thrust in both engines of the 11-year-old aircraft, multiple bird strikes, or a potential flap issue, Naidu told reporters in Delhi that decoding of the Black box is going to give "in-depth insight" into what happened moments before the tragedy.
The Digital Flight Data Recorder(DFDR), commonly known as the Black box, was recovered from the "rooftop" of the hostel building at the crash site on Friday.
There was no word yet on recovery of another Black box-- the Cockpit Voice Recorder(CVR). This instrument records radio transmissions and other sounds in the cockpit, such as conversations between the pilots and engine noises.
Naidu said India has very strict aviation safety standards and robust protocols, and everything will be done to further improve safety.
The central panel headed by the Union home secretary will also suggest comprehensive guidelines to prevent incidents like the Ahmedabad crash in the future. It will have its first meeting on Monday. The panel will publish its report in three months, a statement by the Civil Aviation ministry said.
The panel will ascertain the root cause of the crash and assess the contributing factors, including mechanical failure, human error, weather conditions, regulatory compliances and other reasons, it said.
It will also recommend necessary improvements and formulate suitable Standard Operating Procedures(SOPs) to prevent such incidents in the future. The SOPs would also include best international practices regarding preventing and handling such incidents, the statement said.
The ministry said the committee will not be a substitute to other enquiries being conducted by relevant organisations.
Chaired by Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan, the panel has the civil aviation secretary and the additional secretary in the home ministry as members, according to an order dated June 13.
Representatives from Gujarat home department, Gujarat disaster response authority, Ahmedabad police commissioner, Indian Air Force's director general of inspection and safety, director generals of Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS), and Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) are part of the committee.
Other members include special director of the Intelligence Bureau and director of the Directorate of Forensic Science Services.
According to the statement, any other member, including aviation experts, accident investigators and legal advisors may be included in the committee.
The panel will assess emergency response of various stakeholders, including rescue operations, and coordination.
According to the statement, the panel will have access to all records, including, among others, flight data, cockpit voice recorders, aircraft maintenance records, ATC (Air Traffic Control) log and witness testimonies.
The committee will also collaborate with international agencies if foreign nationals or aircraft manufacturers are involved,
Civil Aviation Secretary Samir Kumar Sinha said the investigation is going on smoothly.The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) is probing the crash.
Before the press conference, a one-minute silence was observed to pay homage to the victims of the crash.
The process of identification of victims by matching the DNA samples is currently underway, and the bodies will be handed over to their relatives once the process is complete, Dr Gameti said.
Authorities of the Ahmedabad Civil Hospital have so far identified six victims on the basis of the DNA samples and initiated the process to hand over the bodies to the relatives, officials said.
Earlier, eight victims, who were identified by their relatives and did not need DNA profiling as their bodies were not damaged, had been handed over to their families by the hospital, they said.
Additional Chief Fire Officer Jayesh Khadia said, "Our firemen, who are helping forensic and aviation experts in their ongoing investigation at the crash site, found some body parts from the canteen's rubble on Friday, while a body was found today morning."
Apart from central and state government agencies, a team of the National Security Guard (NSG) has also been deployed at the crash site.
NSG commandos were seen at the crash site on the hostel building where the tail of the plane got stuck after the crash. Sources said the National Investigation Agency (NIA) officials visited the site on Friday.
Fire brigade officials said since the tail fin of the aircraft was stuck on top of the canteen's damaged building, cranes have been roped in to remove it and bring it down. "We will start the work of removing the tail fin from the building and bring it on the ground once Air India officials arrive at the site," Khadia said.
Meanwhile, student hostels that suffered damage in the crash are being vacated for a probe by the AAIB and accommodated elsewhere, Minakshi Parikh, the Dean of the B J Medical College said. PTI RAM IAS PJT PD PR ARU NP GSN GSN