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Hindustan Times
20 hours ago
- Business
- Hindustan Times
Parl committee summons civil aviation secy
New Delhi: The Parliament committee on transport, tourism and culture has summoned civil aviation secretary Samir Kumar Sinha to appear before the committee on July 8 to discuss issues regarding safety concerns in the aviation sector, two officials aware of the development said on Friday. Parl committee summons civil aviation secy 'The committee met on June 23 to discuss air congestion and related issues. It was then decided to have a detailed discussion regarding safety concerns in Indian aviation,' one of the officials said. This comes after the Gatwick bound Air India flight, formerly AI 171, on June 12, crashed moments after take- off from Ahmedabad airport, killing 241 of the 242 people on board. While the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) is investigating the matter, aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) ordered additional and mandatory checks to be performed on all B787 aircraft of Air India. 'The civil aviation secretary has been summoned by the committee with an aim to have detailed discussion on various aspects of aviation safety,' another official said. 'Airlines along with the DGCA and AAI (Airports Authority of India) may also be summoned. A decision on this is likely to be taken soon,' the official added. HT reached out to the civil aviation ministry (MoCA) but did not get its response till the time of going to print. Meanwhile, Air India, which has 33 B787 aircraft in its fleet, has completed the mandatory checks (as instructed by the DGCA) on 28 of them. The airline has also been conducting additional checks on their wide-body aircraft and hence is operating with 15% reduced capacity. It is also operating with nearly five percent reduced capacity of narrow-body aircraft. Narrow body aircraft are used for long haul flights (like A320 and B737 aircraft) whereas wide-body aircraft like B787 and B777s are large aircraft which are used to operate Europe and US flights. While the reason behind the cause of the B787 registered as VT ANB, remains unknown, the AAIB has begun analysing its black box in its lab in Delhi. The government, as per rules, needs to submit the final accident report within a year.
Hindustan Times
20 hours ago
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Global aviation body may join probe into AI crash
NEW DELHI: The International Civil Aviation Organisation is likely to join the investigation into the Air India Flight 171 crash, officials aware of the matter said on Friday, adding that India had requested the UN aviation body to be an observer. The ICAO made a written request to the Indian government on June 20 seeking 'observer status' for one of its investigators in the probe being led by India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB). (REUTERS) The ICAO made a written request to the Indian government on June 20 seeking 'observer status' for one of its investigators in the probe being led by India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), according to officials familiar with the development. 'The ICAO offered to be a part of the investigation due to its critical nature and significant public interest,' an official told HT, speaking on condition of anonymity. India has approved the request, with an ICAO official expected to be designated as observer within the next two days, the official added. The participation represents an unusual step for the Montreal-based organisation. According to ICAO's website, the body 'does not normally participate in aircraft accident investigations, except when the state or states with due authority under Annex 13 — Aircraft Accident and Incident Investigation request our assistance directly.' It was not clear if a request to ICAO was made by authorities in the UK – which lost 52 of its citizens in the June 12 tragedy --- or the US, where the plane-maker Boeing is headquartered. Members from both countries have been part of the analyses till now. Former DGCA joint director general JS Rawat underscored the rarity of such involvement. 'In my career of more than three decades, this is the first time that the ICAO has requested the state (India) to be a part of the investigation,' he said. HT has seen the email sent by India's ICAO representative Angshumali Rastogi to civil aviation secretary Samir Kumar Sinha, in which the UN body stated that 'the presence of an observer will greatly enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of the ongoing investigation.' Aviation safety expert Mohan Ranganathan clarified the observer's limited role: 'The investigation is solely conducted by the AAIB. The UK civil aviation authority, the engine and aircraft manufacturer along with US National Transportation Safety Board and ICAO do not play a main role in the investigation apart from assistance, if or when required, by the AAIB.' When ICAO does participate as an observer, assistance typically involves 'clarifying various Annex 13 requirements when requested,' according to the organization's guidelines. The AAIB is currently investigating the crash of Air India Flight 171, which went down shortly after take-off from Ahmedabad on June 12, killing at least 271 people. The investigation also involves other international stakeholders given the aircraft type and components involved, including Boeing as the aircraft manufacturer, Rolls-Royce for the engines, and aviation authorities from countries where the aircraft was certified. The civil aviation ministry and ICAO did not respond to queries seeking comment.
India Today
a day ago
- Politics
- India Today
Parliamentary panel summons Civil Aviation secretary for security review
The Parliamentary standing committee on transport has summoned Civil Aviation Secretary Samir Kumar Sinha on July 8 for a detailed review of security measures in the civil aviation meeting's official agenda is a 'Comprehensive review of security in the civil aviation sector,' a matter receiving heightened attention following the recent Air India crash in committee members had previously raised concerns about aviation security and urged the chairman to schedule an urgent discussion on the issue. The committee is expected to present its findings and recommendations to Parliament during the upcoming monsoon On June 12, an Air India aircraft crashed tragically minutes after taking off from Ahmedabad airport. The London-bound Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner was carrying 230 passengers and 12 crew members, of whom only one passenger aircraft crashed into a medical college's hostel building, killing several doctors and other people in the area. The crash killed at least 270 people. Former Chief Minister of Gujarat, Vijay Rupani, also lost his life in the safety measures have been announced since the crash to ensure passenger safety in the future. The Ministry of Civil Aviation has released new draft rules to tighten control over structures that pose risks to aircraft safety. The draft, titled Aircraft (Demolition of Obstructions) Rules, 2025, was issued on June 18 and will come into force once published in the Official Gazette.- EndsTune InMust Watch
Indian Express
a day ago
- Politics
- Indian Express
Parliamentary standing committee to meet on July 8 to discuss aviation safety, civil aviation secretary Sinha to brief panel
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture will meet on July 8 to discuss overall civil aviation safety in the country, with Civil Aviation Secretary Samir Kumar Sinha scheduled to brief the panel, according to sources in the know. The meeting comes close on the heels of the deadly crash of an Air India Boeing 787-8 aircraft in Ahmedabad on June 12, and a series of helicopter accidents in Uttarakhand over the past couple of months. But the meeting is not specific to these accidents, and will be focused on an overall review of safety-related aspects of India's civil aviation ecosystem, The Indian Express has learnt. The parliamentary panel—headed by Rajya Sabha MP and JD(U)'s Working President Sanjay Jha—could ask other aviation sector stakeholders like safety regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), Airports Authority of India (AAI), airlines, and private airport operators to attend the meeting, it is learnt. A decision on who all should be invited for the meeting is likely to be taken in due course. 'The committee's meeting is not about the Air India crash or the helicopter crashes. It is not an investigating agency. Aviation safety is a subject that the committee has taken up regularly in the past as well and the focus of the forthcoming meeting will be on the overall safety scenario in the aviation sector,' said a source. An Air India Boeing 787-8 aircraft operating flight AI171 from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick crashed moments after take-off. All but one of the 242 people on board the ill-fated aircraft perished in the crash. There were a number of casualties on the ground as well. This was the worst aviation disaster for an Indian airline in at least four decades, and the first fatal accident involving the Boeing 787 series of aircraft. The investigation into the fatal crash is being led by India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), which is being assisted in the probe by the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) given that the aircraft was manufactured by an American company—Boeing—and was designed and manufactured in the US. A UK AAIB team is also going to help with the investigation, and so are Boeing and other major component manufacturers like GE, whose engines powered the aircraft. According to aircraft accident investigation protocol, the probe report should be finalised within a year. Separately, a high-level multi-disciplinary committee headed by the Home Secretary Govind Mohan is also looking into the Ahmedabad air crash from a more holistic point of view to further strengthen the country's aviation safety ecosystem. The committee includes senior officials from the civil aviation ministry, home ministry, Gujarat government, the Indian Air Force, and various other departments and agencies including the Intelligence Bureau, Bureau of Civil Aviation Security, and DGCA, among others. It is expected to submit its report within three months. The objective and scope of the government's high-level committee also includes ascertaining the root cause of the crash, including assessment of possible contributory factors like mechanical failure, human error, weather conditions, and regulatory compliance-related issues, among others. It is also tasked with assessing the emergency response of various stakeholders—both Central and State governments—including rescue operations, and the coordination between them. The committee will formulate comprehensive SOPs and suggest the roles of various Central and State government organisations to deal with post-crash incident handling and management. It will also suggest policy changes, operational improvements, and training enhancements required to prevent such accidents in future, and handle the situation in the event of a crash. Sukalp Sharma is a Senior Assistant Editor with The Indian Express and writes on a host of subjects and sectors, notably energy and aviation. He has over 13 years of experience in journalism with a body of work spanning areas like politics, development, equity markets, corporates, trade, and economic policy. He considers himself an above-average photographer, which goes well with his love for travel. ... Read More
The Independent
2 days ago
- Politics
- The Independent
India ‘denies UN agency's request' to join probe into deadly Air India crash
India has reportedly declined a proposal from the UN to include an international investigator in the probe into the 12 June Air India crash in Ahmedabad that killed more than 270 people. Earlier this week, the UN aviation agency – the International Civil Aviation Organisation – requested observer status for one of its experts already in India, but the Indian authorities have now refused, Reuters reported, citing two internal sources. The move comes amid criticism from safety experts over delays in analysing black box data and a lack of transparency in the investigation. The ICAO secretary general, Juan Carlos Salazar Gomez, reportedly noted that given the scale of the accident and the involvement of foreign nationals, the presence of an external ICAO observer would help ensure adherence to international protocols and best practices. Such oversight, he reportedly added in the letter, would also strengthen the credibility of the investigation. The devastating Air India crash occurred at around 2pm local time on 12 June, when a London-bound Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner plunged into accommodation for medical students at Ahmedabad 's BJ Medical College just moments after take-off. It was the first crash of its kind involving a Boeing 787 anywhere in the world. People familiar with the matter said that last week the secretary general of the Montreal-based ICAO wrote to India's civil aviation secretary, Samir Kumar Sinha, expressing the organisation's interest in joining the investigation. ICAO has reportedly never before requested to join a probe unless the crash occurred in a conflict zone or involved a military shootdown. In past cases, such as the 2014 downing of a Malaysian jet and the 2020 Ukrainian airliner crash, the ICAO sent investigators only after being formally invited. 'This is not identical to the Ahmedabad crash, as in both these cases, the area was war-torn, hampering the accident investigation process, and it was a military action going rogue, killing civilians,' an Indian government official told The Economic Times. In a factsheet on the ICAO website, it mentions that 'ICAO officials only participate in accident investigations upon special request from the State responsible for conducting the investigation'. The Independent has reached out to ICAO and the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), which is leading the inquiry into what is now the deadliest aviation disaster in a decade. Indian authorities have successfully retrieved the first data from the two black boxes of the Air India flight that crashed near Ahmedabad airport earlier this month. India's civil aviation ministry said on Thursday that investigators are working to reconstruct the chain of events that led to the deadly crash, which claimed the lives of all but one of the 242 people on board, along with dozens on the ground. The ministry said data extraction from the aircraft's black boxes began on 24 June under the supervision of the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB). The crash-protected memory unit from the front recorder has been successfully retrieved, accessed, and its data downloaded. Analysis of both the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) and the flight data recorder (FDR) is currently underway, the ministry added. An aviation expert, Amit Shah, told Times Now that ICAO should be involved in this investigation due to the scale, complexity, and international relevance of the crash. He said: 'We have to note that this is not an ordinary accident. This is classified as a major accident. 'And in a major accident, there are a number of parties involved. So to facilitate the flow of information and to ensure transparency in the investigation, ICAO, in the past, has come in as an adviser: in the MH17 accident, you have the TWA 747 accident, and we had Air France 447, which went down in the Pacific.' He added: 'So in such kinds of accidents, where a major tragedy happens, and we have the State of Occurrence, which is India, the Registry is India, but the manufacturer is in the US, and there are other involved parties. So to handle all of these and ensure transparency, and to have a fair investigation, ICAO has to intervene. That is to set a global standard.'
