AAIB Chief GVG Yugandhar Gets CRPFs X Category Security Cover
The Centre has granted Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) X category security cover to Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) chief GVG Yugandhar, as per sources.
According to sources, the X category security was extended to AAIB Director General GVG Yugandhar, effective from June 16.
This move comes as the AAIB is spearheading the investigation into the Air India plane crash that claimed the lives of 241 passengers and crew members.
On June 12, a London-bound Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner crashed into a hostel complex of BJ Medical College, Gujarat's Ahmedabad, shortly after takeoff from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport. The tragedy claimed 241 lives out of 242 onboard, including former Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani.
The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) Lab in New Delhi is currently working intensively on analysing data retrieved from the black boxes of Air India Flight AI-171, which crashed in Ahmedabad.
According to the Ministry of Civil Aviation, the Crash Protection Module (CPM) from the front black box was safely retrieved. On June 25, 2025, the memory module was successfully accessed, and its data was downloaded at the AAIB Lab.
Sources familiar with the process told ANI that an identical black box, referred to as a "golden chassis," was used to confirm whether data could be accurately recovered from the black boxes. One black box was recovered from the rooftop of a building at the crash site on June 13, and the other from the debris on June 16.
The investigation is being led by AAIB officials and includes technical members from the Indian Air Force (IAF), Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) of the United States--the official investigative agency of the country where the aircraft was designed and manufactured.
The Director General of AAIB is heading the probe. An aviation medicine expert and an Air Traffic Control officer have also been included in the investigation team.
Sources confirmed that the NTSB team is currently stationed in Delhi and working closely with Indian authorities at the AAIB Lab. Officials from Boeing and GE are also present in the national capital to assist with the technical process.
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Hindustan Times
14 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
Chief of agency probing crash gets X-category cover from CRPF
By Prawesh Lama , New Delhi Jun 29, 2025 05:52 AM IST The Centre has provided CRPF's 'X' security cover to chief of the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), GVG Yugandhar, officials aware of the matter said on Saturday, days after the former Indian Air Force officer took over the probe into the June 12 Air India crash in which at least 260 people were killed. Chief of agency probing crash gets X-category cover from CRPF 'The security cover has been provided based on the MHA's orders after a threat review by intelligence agencies highlighted the threats and the need for cover,' an official said, requesting anonymity. 'The security cover will be applicable across the country,' he said. Yugandhar is the director general (DG) of the AAIB. Under the X category, at least two commandos will guard the AAIB chief round the clock. The government is yet to issue a statement on the nature of the threat to the officer leading the probe. While probe agencies are investigating the cause of the crash, the site has already been inspected by officials from the National Investigation Agency (NIA), National Security Guards (NSG)and the Gujarat anti-terror squad (ATS). The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) is also likely to join investigation into the crash. People aware of the matter have told HT that ICAO requested the Indian government seeking an 'observer status' for one of its investigators in the probe which is being led by the AAIB. India has approved the request with an ICAO official expected to be designated as observer within two days.
Hindustan Times
2 hours ago
- Hindustan Times
DNA profiling for plane crash victims ends, toll stands at 260
Ahmedabad: The final human toll in the Air India Flight 171 tragedy stands at 260 people, officials in Gujarat announced, two weeks after the Boeing 787 crashed shortly after take-off from the city's only airport in the deadliest aviation incident in the country in three decades. Forensic experts and DGCA officials searching for evidence at Air India Plane crash site. (HT PHOTO) The final death toll of 260 — comprising 241 passengers and crew members aboard the aircraft and 19 people killed on the ground — is lower than initial estimates of 270 fatalities. 'The plane crash death toll stands at 260. We will not reveal victim identities. All bodies have been recovered and identified, with the mortal remains of all of them handed over to their families,' additional chief secretary of health and family welfare Dhananjay Dwivedi told HT. Dr Rakesh Joshi, the head of Ahmedabad civil hospital, told HT that all remains were identified and verified using DNA matching and facial recognition. 'The last body, of a passenger, was identified on Friday night using DNA match,' Joshi said. The London-bound Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner crashed into a medical college hostel complex approximately 30 seconds after take-off on 12 June from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport, destroying portions of the building and bursting into flames. Among the victims were junior doctors, staff at the hospital complex and people on the street below. One passenger, in what has been described as a providential escape, walked out of the crash after he was thrown further away from the burning wreckage. The impact of the crash and the inferno that followed meant remains of most victims, except for most of the 19 casualties on the ground, were unrecognisable, requiring officials to seek DNA samples from family members to help make the identification. 'Four of the people were brought in alive but succumbed to their injuries during treatment. In all, 71 people were injured and hospitalised, with most treated at Ahmedabad Civil Hospital and others at Zydus Hospital, KD Hospital, and Apollo Hospital. Of these, 67 patients have been discharged from medical facilities,' said Dwivedi. An official aware of the development said that the final DNA matching was that of Anil Khimani, 32, from Bhuj in Kutch, adding that the condition of those discharged is said to be stable. Among the 260 deaths, 254 victims were identified through DNA testing and the remaining through facial recognition. The DNA identification process, which typically takes months, was completed in approximately two weeks, experts said. A total of 318 body parts were recovered from the crash site at Meghaninagar, said a senior police official, asking not to be named. One forensics experts who worked on the cases said the challenge was such that one of the living remains that were recovered later turned out to be that of a bird -- a confirmation that came only after repeated attempts to extract information from a deteriorated sample once it did not throw up any match. Dr Bhargav Patel, head of the Centre of Excellence in DNA Forensics at NFSU, said his team of 32 scientists and PhD scholars processed more than 150 DNA samples from crash victims. DNA samples from 250 relatives were collected at Ahmedabad Forensic Science Laboratory, whilst matching was conducted at FSL Gandhinagar and NFSU. Bodies have been repatriated across multiple states and countries, with Ahmedabad receiving the largest number at 73, followed by Anand with 29 and Vadodara with 24. Thirteen bodies were sent to the United Kingdom. The aircraft took off at 1:39 pm local time and reached an altitude of 625 feet before losing signal, according to flight tracking data. The crew issued a mayday call reporting loss of power and thrust less than a minute after takeoff. The crash marked the first fatal accident and hull loss of Boeing's 787 Dreamliner since the aircraft entered commercial service in 2011. It represents India's deadliest aviation disaster since the 1996 Charkhi Dadri mid-air collision. India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau is leading the investigation with assistance from the US National Transportation Safety Board and British investigators. Both flight data recorders have been recovered from the crash site.
New Indian Express
3 hours ago
- New Indian Express
Need a regulator for flying coffins
Welcome aboard India's booming aviation sector. Please fasten your seatbelts, stow your illusions, and brace for impact. Indians are flying blind. On June 12, 230 passengers boarded Air India Flight 171 in Ahmedabad. Thirty seconds after takeoff, the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner plunged into a medical college hostel. It wasn't just a crash—it was a massacre, and one that could have been prevented. And like so many others in India's increasingly dystopian aviation landscape, it exposed not just the condition of the aircraft but the rot at the very heart of our aviation ecosystem. In any functioning democracy, such a tragedy would be a moment of reckoning. But not in India. Instead, distraught relatives ran from morgue to morgue, clutching photographs of burnt bodies and unanswered questions. For days, there were no officials with answers. There was no crisis response team. Hardly a responsive centralised helpline, which should have been mandatory. The main crisis that allows airlines to get away with murder is that there is no regulator fixing accountability. Sympathy without empathy is a sign of apathy. Add indifference at the helm, and the picture is complete: four senior executives threw an official party days after the crash. Thankfully, they were sacked. And the conscience cancelled perceived callousness, with the Tatas setting up a foundation with a huge Rs 500-crore corpus to look after the interests of the victims.
