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Probe report in Air India plane crash likely to be out by year-end
The final probe report on the June 12 Air India crash, which killed 260, is expected by year's end, as the safety review committee missed its deadline.
New Delhi: A final probe report into the June 12 Air India plane crash is expected to be released by the year-end, officials familiar with the matter said, even as the three-month deadline set for a high-level panel constituted by the Centre to review safety protocols and submit its report ended on Friday.
On June 12, Air India’s Boeing 787-8 aircraft en route to London Gatwick from Ahmedabad crashed into a building soon after take-off, killing 260 people, including 19 people on the ground. Out of the 242 people onboard, one passenger survived.
“The investigation is progressing well and the final report will be made public before the year ends,” an official said, requesting anonymity.
While the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), which is leading the probe into India’s deadliest crash in three decades, did not respond to HT’s query on the timeline, civil aviation minister Ram Mohan Naidu recently said that the report may take four to five months.
AAIB has so far issued a preliminary report, which pointed to multiple possible factors in the seconds leading up to the crash, leaving more questions than answers.
In the aftermath of the crash, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) came down heavily on airlines, ordering immediate checks across Air India’s Boeing 787 fleet.
“The airline has completed the mandatory checks on all its 787s,” an airline official confirmed, also declining to be named.
No major flaws were detected in additional checks covering critical systems such as engines, flight controls, avionics, landing gear, emergency equipment and data logs. The regulator also instructed a deeper review of maintenance records and pilot training practices.
Besides the technical probe, the Centre set up a high-level committee led by the Union home secretary and senior civil aviation officials to review safety protocols. It was tasked with submitting its report within three months, but the deadline passed on Friday without results.
“The committee requires in-depth study of the subject and hence will require some time,” another official said, adding: “The committee has met in this regard for a few times now, however, a couple of meetings are required to ascertain the timeline of the report it is to release.”
