Nearly three months after the Air India crash, there is no word on the report of a government committee constituted under the Union Home Secretary to examine the causes leading to the crash of AI171 from Ahmedabad to London.
According to sources, the committee met once on June 16 in Delhi under the chairmanship of Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan and there is no update on any further meetings.
The committee was constituted by the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) on June 14, two days after the Air India crash that left 241 dead with only a lone survivor. It was to submit its report within three months of the crash.
The preliminary report of the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) on July 12 has created ripples with aviation experts and pilots’ bodies demanding the release of the transcript of the black box. A final report is expected within a year as per global norms.
The committee included senior officials from other agencies and the objective was to ascertain the root cause of the crash. Its scope included assessing contributing factors, including mechanical failures, human error, weather conditions, regulatory compliance, and other issues.
During the first meeting on June 16, deliberations of the committee focused on identifying areas of improvement and creating a roadmap to formulate standard operating procedures (SOPs) to prevent such disasters. It also looked into handling and investigations of previous aviation accidents—the Mangaluru crash in 2010 and the Kozhikode accident in 2020.
Aviation experts say the committee lacks subject matter experts and is an exercise in futility, similar to the preliminary report, which left more unanswered questions.
“Union Home Secretary making SOP for accident prevention is extremely concerning. They are not subject matter experts. Without determining the root cause of the accident (which will be found when the AAIB submits the final report), how can any SOP be made?” said Amit Singh, aviation safety expert and founder of Safety Matters Foundation.
Queries sent to MoCA on the status of the committee report remain unanswered.
The AAIB is investigating the technical aspects of the Air India crash. The government committee, set to take a more holistic approach, will also look at further strengthening the aviation safety ecosystem, according to the aviation ministry.
The committee was given the mandate to visit the crash site, access to cockpit voice recorders, flight data, aircraft maintenance records, ATC log and witness testimonies.
