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Lawmakers seek answers from government in Parliament on AI-171 crash
At least 22 MPs have sought answers from the Union civil aviation minister Ram Mohan Naidu to questions related to the crash of AI-171 and the probe thereafter.
Is the government considering the possibility of tampering or interference by Boeing in the case of the black box retrieved from the crash site of Air India flight 171 in Ahmedabad? What are the exact contents of the black box? How safe is air travel in India? How will the government maintain transparency in the probe? Will the report on lapses be made public? Is it true that nearly 53% posts in DGCA and other civil aviation related bodies are vacant despite the rapid growth of the civil aviation sector in India?
At least 22 MPs have sought answers from the Union civil aviation minister Ram Mohan Naidu to questions related to the crash of AI-171 and the probe thereafter. The questions uploaded on the Lok Sabha website will be taken up for oral answers on July 24 in the upcoming Monsoon session of the Parliament. The MPs, who have sought answers related to the June 12 crash, belong to the opposition and the ruling BJP.
While the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) –– the federal agency in charge of the probe –– has said that the investigation in the crash is ongoing and that only a preliminary report has been released based on initial findings, the civil aviation minister’s response to the queries by lawmakers in the Parliament on July 24 could shed light on many such unanswered questions and air travel safety in India.
For example, MPs Sachithanantham R from CPI(M) and Ganapathy Rajkumar P from DMK have asked the minister to share details on the steps taken to prevent such accidents in the future, while BJP’s K Sudhakar has asked about the rest hours for pilots and details of all inspection reports by DGCA over the last five years.
Fellow party MP Jai Prakash has sought details on trauma counselling for crew members and clarity on reports of Air India crew reporting mass sick leaves. Congress’s K Sudhakaran and CPI(M)’s Amra Ram have asked if the findings of the high level committee to probe the lapses, if any, will be made public.
Lawmakers Rachna Banerjee (TMC) and Selvaganapathi TM (DMK) have asked for details of the black box recording.
Question related to possibility of Boeing tampering was raised by Sudha R (Congress) and Balashowry Vallabhanen (Janasena Party) has asked whether the government considers the possibility of tampering or interference by the aircraft manufacturer(Boeing) if the black box is assessed abroad.
To be sure, the civil aviation minister told reporters on Sunday that the AAIB decoded the entirety of the black box in India.
On June 12, Air India’s Boeing 787-8 aircraft en route from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick crashed into a building soon after takeoff, killing 260 people, including 19 people on the ground. The AAIB’s preliminary report identified fuel being cut off to both engines shortly after takeoff as the cause of the disaster—with fuel control switches found in the “cutoff” position triggering a global debate over whether pilot action or mechanical failure caused 260 deaths.
Imtiyaz, who lost his elder brother Javed Ali and Javed’s wife Mariyam and their two children Zayn and Aman in the crash, said the answers by the government are relevant and necessary because families are anxious and disturbed over media reports and social media chatter surrounding the incident. “
“The updates shared by our government have been vague and do not answer our questions. It has only caused confusion. If this is true that so many MPs have sought specific answers related to the crash, then it is a good development. We hope the ministry will shed answers to questions that remain a mystery. Was there actually a technical fault that led to the crash? Why not reveal everything that happened on board the plane that day,” he said.
The AAIB has rejected specific media reports and criticised what it said were “attempts to draw conclusions through selective and unverified reporting”.
India’s pilot organisations have defended the Air India Flight 171 crew against mounting speculation about their actions, with one group demanding respect for pilots who made every possible effort till their last breath. The pilots’ groups and AAIB issued the statements after media reports citing US officials suggested cockpit recording indicated Captain Sumeet Sabharwal switched off fuel control switches while first officer Clive Kunder questioned his actions.
The US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), too, has said that recent media reports on the Air India 171 crash are “premature and speculative”.
