AAIB Ropes In Veteran Air India Pilot As Domain Expert In Ahmedabad Plane Crash Probe
Captain RS Sandhu is Air India's former director of operations, a designated examiner for the Boeing 787-8 fleet, and had taken delivery of the now-crashed aircraft in 2013
The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau has asked veteran pilot Captain RS Sandhu to join the ongoing probe into the Air India plane crash as a domain expert.
According to sources, Sandhu is Air India's former director of operations. Also a designated examiner for the Boeing 787-8 fleet at the airline, he had taken delivery of the now-crashed 787-8 plane – VT-ANB – in 2013.
On June 12, the Air India plane en route to London from Ahmedabad crashed into a building soon after takeoff, killing 260 people, including 19 people on the ground. Out of the 242 people onboard, only one passenger survived.
On July 12, the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) released its preliminary report into the fatal crash. 'AAIB has onboarded seasoned aviator RS Sandhu in the ongoing investigation of the Air India Boeing 787-8 plane crash in Ahmedabad last month," one of the sources told PTI.
The sources said the AAIB had apparently approached Sandhu to be a domain expert in the ongoing probe, and he agreed to the proposal.
WHO IS CAPTAIN RS SANDHU?
Various pilot unions had raised concerns over the absence of subject matter experts in the probe. Airline Pilots' Association of India (ALPA India) has been urging AAIB to include its representatives in the crash probe.
Details about other domain experts, who are part of the AAIB investigation, could not be immediately ascertained. A five-member team, headed by 56-year-old Sanjay Kumar Singh, is probing the fatal crash.
Experienced pilots, engineers, aviation medicine specialists, aviation psychologists and flight recorder specialists have been taken on board as subject matter experts to assist in the investigation in the area of their domain expertise, according to AAIB.
(With agency inputs)
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