Latest news with #flight171
Time of India
2 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
Ahmedabad plane crash: Tata Sons to set up Rs 500 crore trust for victims' families
MUMBAI: The main owner of Air India, following the devastating flight 171 crash that became the most severe aviation disaster in a decade, will set up a welfare trust for affected families. Tata Sons , which owns about 74% of Air India, intends to allocate Rs 500 crore to the foundation, to be called AI171 Trust. Sources indicate that Tata Trusts, the largest shareholder of Tata Sons, is expected to contribute an equivalent sum. The crash claimed over 250 lives, with 241 passengers on board and 19 individuals on the ground. Tata Sons and Air India have previously announced a joint financial assistance of Rs 1.25 crore to the families of the deceased. Apart from Tata Sons, Singapore Airlines owns around 25% of Air India while the employee trust holds the remaining 1%. Sources said the Tata Sons board approved the welfare trust proposal on Thursday. The next steps involve legal procedures, including registration of the public charitable trust, and formation of the board of trustees. Tata Sons chairman N Chandrasekaran is expected to lead the AI171 Trust, which will include non-Tata members. This initiative mirrors Indian Hotels' (Taj chain) response to the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks. The company established the Taj Public Service Welfare Trust in Dec 2008 to assist victims, families, security forces, and affected employees. The Taj Mahal Palace hotel lost 36 individuals, including staff members, during the attacks. The Taj Public Service Welfare Trust subsequently broadened its scope beyond 26/11 victims, extending support to injured and specially-abled soldiers and to migrant workers, frontline staff and healthcare professionals during the pandemic. The unscheduled Tata Sons board meeting on Thursday comes two days after its director and Tata Trusts chairman Noel Tata visited the crash site and injured patients in Ahmedabad. The meeting took place 29 days subsequent to its previous board assembly. During the May 29 meeting, the board had approved the financial statements for Q4 and fiscal year ending March 31, 2025, while also approving capital investments over Rs 30,000 crore for new businesses, including semiconductor projects and Air India. Chandrasekaran, who is also the chairman of Air India, has increased his involvement in the airline's operations after the incident. His engagement includes interactions with govt officials, supervising safety assessments and aircraft maintenance. Total compensation claims arising from the Air India crash could reach $475 million, driven by liability payouts estimated at $350 million, due to the involvement of over 50 foreign passengers. Stay informed with the latest business news, updates on bank holidays and public holidays . AI Masterclass for Students. Upskill Young Ones Today!– Join Now
CTV News
2 days ago
- General
- CTV News
Investigators begin analyzing data from black boxes of Air India flight that crashed
A crane lifts the tail of the Air India plane, which crashed on Thursday, from the roof of a building in Ahmedabad, India, Saturday, June 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Ajit Solanki) NEW DELHI — Investigators have begun analyzing data extracted from the black boxes of the ill-fated Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner that crashed about two weeks ago, killing at least 270 people, India's civil aviation ministry said on Thursday. The data is crucial as it will help shed light on the cause of the country's worst aviation disaster in recent memory. A team led by India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau, or AAIB, has started looking at the data with support from the U.S. National Transport Safety Board, the ministry said in a statement. 'These efforts aim to reconstruct the sequence of events leading to the accident and identify contributing factors to enhance aviation safety and prevent future occurrences,' the ministry said. Indian investigators recovered the black boxes from the wreckage site in the northwestern Indian city of Ahmedabad, a couple of days after the London-bound Air India flight 171 struck a residential area minutes after takeoff. The crash killed 241 people onboard and at least 29 on the ground. There was one survivor. The so-called 'black box' is one of the most important pieces of forensic evidence following a plane crash. There are typically two sturdy devices, the cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder. And they're typically orange, not black. Indian authorities flew the black boxes from Ahmedabad to the national capital in an Indian Air Force aircraft amid tight security early this week. The investigation could take weeks or months. India set up a state-of-the-art laboratory in New Delhi in April to help AAIB repair damaged black boxes and retrieve data to enhance the accuracy of investigations. A multidisciplinary team led by AAIB Chief GVG Yugandhar is probing the Air India crash with assistance from aviation and air traffic control specialists and experts from the National Transport Safety Board. The Indian government has also set up a separate, high-level committee to examine the causes leading to the crash and formulate procedures to prevent and handle aircraft emergencies in the future. The committee is expected to file a preliminary report within three months. Following the June 12 crash, Indian authorities had ordered deeper checks of Air India's entire fleet of Boeing 787 Dreamliner to prevent future incidents. Air India has 33 Dreamliner in its fleet. Inspection has been completed for at least 26 while four were undergoing long-term maintenance. The rest were expected to finish the safety checks soon. Rajesh Roy, The Associated Press
2 days ago
Investigators begin analyzing data from black boxes of Air India flight that crashed
NEW DELHI -- Investigators have begun analyzing data extracted from the black boxes of the ill-fated Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner that crashed about two weeks ago, killing at least 270 people, India's civil aviation ministry said on Thursday. The data is crucial as it will help shed light on the cause of the country's worst aviation disaster in recent memory. A team led by India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau, or AAIB, has started looking at the data with support from the U.S. National Transport Safety Board, the ministry said in a statement. 'These efforts aim to reconstruct the sequence of events leading to the accident and identify contributing factors to enhance aviation safety and prevent future occurrences,' the ministry said. Indian investigators recovered the black boxes from the wreckage site in the northwestern Indian city of Ahmedabad, a couple of days after the London-bound Air India flight 171 struck a residential area minutes after takeoff. The crash killed 241 people onboard and at least 29 on the ground. There was one survivor. The so-called 'black box' is one of the most important pieces of forensic evidence following a plane crash. There are typically two sturdy devices, the cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder. And they're typically orange, not black. Indian authorities flew the black boxes from Ahmedabad to the national capital in an Indian Air Force aircraft amid tight security early this week. The investigation could take weeks or months. India set up a state-of-the-art laboratory in New Delhi in April to help AAIB repair damaged black boxes and retrieve data to enhance the accuracy of investigations. A multidisciplinary team led by AAIB Chief GVG Yugandhar is probing the Air India crash with assistance from aviation and air traffic control specialists and experts from the National Transport Safety Board. The Indian government has also set up a separate, high-level committee to examine the causes leading to the crash and formulate procedures to prevent and handle aircraft emergencies in the future. The committee is expected to file a preliminary report within three months. Following the June 12 crash, Indian authorities had ordered deeper checks of Air India's entire fleet of Boeing 787 Dreamliner to prevent future incidents. Air India has 33 Dreamliner in its fleet. Inspection has been completed for at least 26 while four were undergoing long-term maintenance. The rest were expected to finish the safety checks soon.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Yahoo
Air India crash authorities give first major update on recovery of black box data
India's authorities have successfully recovered the first data from the two black boxes of the Air India flight that crashed outside Ahmedabad airport earlier this month. India's civil aviation ministry said on Thursday that investigators are working to piece together what led to the crash, which killed all but one of the 242 people on board the plane as well as at least 19 people on the ground. According to the ministry, 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 flight data recorder (FDR) is currently in progress, the ministry added. Indian media had reported that the data recorder would be sent to the US for specialist analysis, but on Tuesday the Indian civil aviation minister Ram Mohan Naidu confirmed that it remained in India and was being analysed by the country's own experts at the AAIB. "Black box of the crashed AI 171 flight is still in India and it is being examined by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB)," Mr Naidu told the ANI news agency. The crash on 12 June near Ahmedabad was the world's deadliest aviation disaster in a decade. The Indian government said on Thursday that a decision on whether to send either of the black boxes abroad for further decoding would be taken only after the AAIB had completed a full assessment of technical, safety and security considerations. There has been a heightened atmosphere of scrutiny on Air India and the country's aviation industry in general since the 12 June crash. Earlier this week, India's aviation watchdog raised concerns over recurring aircraft defects at two of the country's busiest airports – Delhi and Mumbai – citing what it described as inadequate inspections and poor maintenance practices. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), which is conducting a special audit following the Air India crash, said multiple defects had resurfaced "many times", suggesting lapses in oversight. While the regulator did not name the airlines involved or specify the nature of the defects, the airports in question serve key carriers such as market leader IndiGo, Air India and Air India Express. The DGCA stated that the repeated issues pointed to 'ineffective monitoring and inadequate rectification action.' Additional violations included aircraft maintenance engineers failing to follow safety protocols, ignoring certain faults, and not adhering to prescribed work orders during jet servicing. The audit is part of an ongoing effort by Indian authorities to tighten aviation safety and restore public confidence in the wake of the crash, which has included extra inspection procedures across the country's rapidly growing aviation sector.
Gulf Today
3 days ago
- Gulf Today
'Bloody terrified:' Flying anxiety peaks in India after fatal Air India crash
Retired Air Force officer Dinesh K. has seen a surge in demand for his $500 therapy course to help people overcome their fear of flying since Air India flight 171 crashed moments after take-off from Ahmedabad two weeks ago. Dinesh uses a combination of flight simulation and counselling at his Cockpit Vista centre for "fear of flying solutions" in Bengaluru, the only one in India. The centre has received more than 100 enquiries since the disaster, compared to a previous average of about ten a month. "Fear of flying is typically to do with things happening on an aeroplane - the sounds, motion, vibrations ... exposure therapy is the only solution," Dinesh, 55, told Reuters during a tour of the facility where he demonstrated how cockpit controls relate to movements that often worry passengers. K. Dinesh poses for a picture next to the layout of Boeing 787 cockpit in the demo room of Cockpit Vista in Bengaluru. Reuters The centre has a simulator for a Boeing and Cessna plane to help people experience how landings and takeoffs appear from the cockpit and understand that not every vibration or sound during a flight signals danger. WhatsApp messages Dinesh received, and shared with Reuters, showed individuals complaining about "losing confidence" after the crash while others said it was "too hard on the brain." A chilling 59-second CCTV clip showing the crash of the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, which killed 260 people, has been widely shared on social media and TV channels since the June 12 accident, which aviation and mental health experts said had led to an unusually high number of counselling requests. Some travellers are becoming more choosy in selecting their airline and aircraft - Boeing or Airbus - while others are so anxious they are taking more drastic steps by rescheduling or cancelling their air travel plans altogether. "I am filtering on the basis of not having to fly a Boeing ... I'm bloody terrified currently, and I don't want to get back on a flight," said London-based Indian marketing consultant Nidhi Bhatia, 25, who flew to Mumbai in an Air India Boeing 777 plane a day before the Ahmedabad crash. K. Dinesh poses for pictures next to the layout of a cockpit in the demo room of Cockpit Vista in Bengaluru. Reuters Unlike India, Western countries have many more formal setups to help people tackle their fear of flying, in its most intense form known as aerophobia, as fatal crashes often spike worries among travellers across the world. Days after an American Airlines plane collided with a helicopter in Washington, killing more than 60 people, a survey of 1,000 US consumers by research firm Prodege found 55% of travellers had higher anxiety, while 38% had reconsidered or cancelled travel plans. Google Trends data shows searches for the term "flying fear" in India hit "peak popularity" a day after the Air India crash, and the phrase was still being widely searched. 'DEBILITATING ANXIETY' Flying is typically seen as a safe mode of transport, and crashes during takeoff are especially rare. The International Civil Aviation Organisation said there were 1.87 accidents per million departures in 2023, its most recent annual air safety report. Of the nine hull loss accidents without fatalities recorded in 2024, only two occurred on take off, according to Airbus' website. The airport CCTV recording from Ahmedabad shows the Air India plane rose to a height of 650 feet (198.12 m) after it took off, but suddenly lost altitude, crashing in a fireball into a nearby building — all within 60 seconds. The disturbing footage was a key cause of the panic among Indian travellers, five mental health experts said. People were seeking help because they had developed insomnia or become obsessed with flight updates, they said. Others were scared of letting their loved ones travel on planes, complaining of "debilitating anxiety" for their relatives in transit "to an extent where they have been unable to focus on their daily chores" because they are constantly checking messages to see if they have landed, said psychologist Pankti Gohel. In Bengaluru, the $500 Cockpit Vista course is spread over 14 hours and led by Dinesh, who oversaw ground operations during the undeclared 1999 Kargil war between India and Pakistan and retired as an Air Force wing commander in 2014. He also offers to accompany worried clients on the first flights they take after completing the course. Since the crash, many travellers fear travelling with Air India and are seeking alternative airlines, according to Jaya Tours, a mid-sized booking agency in Mumbai. Taken over by the Tata Group from the Indian government in 2022, Air India continues to face criticism for poor service and an outdated fleet. This year, the airline was also warned about flying three Airbus planes which lacked mandatory inspection checks on escape slides. The Indian Association of Tour Operators, which represents more than 1,600 agents, said overall flight bookings dropped by 15-20% soon after the Air India crash, while 30-40% of booked tickets were also cancelled. "We are getting very unusual questions about aircraft type. Earlier passengers didn't really care about what kind of aircraft it is," said the group's president, Ravi Gosain. "People don't want to hear about Dreamliners." Reuters
