'Seeing investigation through facts': What aviation minister told Parliament on Air India crash; top quotes
NEW DELHI: Civil Aviation minister K Rammohan Naidu told the Rajya Sabha on Monday that the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) is following a clear, rule-based process to find out the exact cause of the Air India crash that killed 260 people last month.
He said the investigation is being carried out in an unbiased manner and in line with international norms.
Naidu said the government is committed to finding out the facts. "We want to stand by the truth. We want to find out what exactly happened and that is only going to be coming out once the final report (of AAIB) is placed. We have to respect the process of investigation and once that process has happened, then we can talk about what happened, how it happened and then corrective measures (can be taken)," he said.
The crash took place on June 12, when an Air India Boeing 787-8 aircraft flying from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick crashed into a building shortly after takeoff. Out of the 242 people onboard, 241 were killed. Nineteen others died on the ground. One passenger survived.
In response to questions about the role of the pilots, Naidu said the AAIB's preliminary report is based on the facts available in the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder.
"I can say this in the House and to the people of the country that the AAIB has a very definitive and thorough rule-based process. They are very transparently looking at the (investigation) process right now and they are totally unbiased," he said.
The minister noted that multiple reports, including some in Western media, have raised questions about different aspects of the crash. "I want to tell you that the way we are seeing the investigation is through the facts.
We want to stand by the truth and not what is happening with the pilots, Boeing, Air India or any other stakeholder," he added.
Naidu also said that India successfully decoded the black boxes from the crashed aircraft domestically for the first time. He said the AAIB has been able to extract and study the data.
The AAIB released its preliminary report on July 12. Five days later, on July 17, it said it was too early to reach any "definite conclusions" about the cause of the crash and urged people not to spread premature narratives. The bureau said the final report would establish the root cause and suggest corrective measures.
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