Air India Plane Crash: Modi Govt forms high-level panel to probe Ahmedabad tragedy, report in 3 months

Air India Plane Crash: Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Union government has set up a high-level committee to investigate the Air India plane crash that killed 241 people on board near Ahmedabad airport in Gujarat on 12 June.

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, the Union Ministry of Civil Aviation said on Friday night.

All passengers – except one – on board the Air India flight bound for London Gatwick Airport that crashed shortly after take-off from Gujarat's Ahmedabad airport on 12 June afternoon died.

There were 242 passengers and crew on board the plane, including 169 Indian nationals, 53 Britons, seven Portuguese nationals, and one Canadian. One passenger, Vishwashkumar Ramesh, a British national of Indian origin, miraculously survived the crash.

Report in three months

The Committee will not be a substitute for other enquiries being conducted by relevant organisations, but will focus on formulating SOPs for preventing and handling such occurrences in the future.

“The committee will have access to all records, including, among others, flight data, cockpit voice recorders, aircraft maintenance records, ATC Log and witness testimonies,” the Ministry said in the order.

The committee will publish its report within three months.

The government said that the panel will be headed by the home secretary and will include representatives from the state and central governments, not below the rank of joint secretary.

The Panel Composition

The panel 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.

“It will assess contributing factors, including mechanical failure, human error, weather conditions, regulatory compliances and other reasons,” the order read.

According to the government order, the panel will assess the emergency response of various stakeholders (both central and State Governments), including rescue operations and coordination among them. It will examine existing guidelines regarding handling such incidents and review the records of previous such aircraft crashes in the country.

The order said that the panel 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.

The order said the panel will suggest policy changes, operational improvements, and training enhancements to prevent such occurrences and handle post-crash incident situations.