NEW DELHI/ AHMEDABAD, June 16: Tata Sons and Air India Chairman N Chandrasekaran on Monday told the airline staff to use the plane crash in Ahmedabad as an “act of force” to build a “safer airline”, as a high-level government panel held its first meeting to probe the possible causes of the air disaster.
As the Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft remained in the spotlight since the crash last Thursday, technical snags and a bomb threat resulted in three of these wide-body twin-engine aircraft including one operated by Air India returning to origin after takeoff in the last 36 hours. The planes bound for Delhi from Hong Kong, for Chennai from London and for Hyderabad from Frankfurt were operated by the Tata-owned airline, British Airways and German airline Lufthansa respectively.
Four days after the deadliest crash in the country in three decades claimed 270 lives, 119 victims have so far been identified through DNA matching with their family members, authorities said, adding mortal remains of 76 of them including that of former Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani were handed over to their families.
A total of 241 passengers and crew on board Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner (AI171) and 29 people on the ground were killed when the London-bound aircraft crashed into some buildings in the BJ Medical College campus and burst into flames moments after it took off from the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport. One passenger survived the disaster.
Addressing close to 700 employees and the leadership team across the Air India headquarters and Air India Training Academy in Gurugram, Chandrasekaran urged them to stay on course, terming the accident the most “heartbreaking” crisis of his career.
“We need to show resilience. We need to use this incident as an act of force to build a safer airline,” he said, urging the employees to be “strong”.
“So we have to make sure that we stay the course. Be more determined in everything we do. We need to wait for the investigation to find out (the cause),” the Tata Sons chief said.
“I’ve seen a reasonable number of crises in my career, but this is the most heartbreaking one which I never thought I would see,” sources quoted Chandrasekaran as having told the meeting.
The high-level panel, chaired by Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan, deliberated on various possibilities that could have led to the Ahmedabad crash at its first meeting in Delhi.
It was set up by the government on Saturday to ascertain the “root cause” of the accident and assess any contributing factors including mechanical failure, human error and regulatory compliances.
The panel heard the opinion of various stake-holders about the possible causes and deliberated on steps to be taken to check future occurrence of such accidents by formulating Standard Operating Procedures(SOPs).
Since a separate investigation is also being carried out by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), which is looking into the technical aspects of the crash, the panel discussed about the possible causes and lesson to be taken from it, sources said.
Probe agencies were looking into all possible causes for the crash, including loss of thrust in both engines of the aircraft, multiple bird strikes, or a potential wing flap issue.
The doomed aircraft’s black box–which includes the Flight Data Recorder and Cockpit Voice Recorder–has already been recovered and may hold vital clues to understanding what led to the disaster.
The United States’ National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has also launched a parallel probe into the crash, drawing several international experts to the accident site.
The NTSB is conducting a parallel probe under international protocols, as the aircraft is American-made, an official release said.
It is an independent federal agency of the US tasked with investigating every civil aviation accident.
They determine the probable causes of accidents and events and investigate and issue safety recommendations aimed at preventing future occurrences.
Several foreign experts were seen scouting the crash site for the last two days, checking the debris to find clues.
Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu on Saturday said while the AAIB investigation will handle the technical aspects, the high-level committee will provide a holistic, policy-oriented roadmap for future safeguards.
Those who attended the meeting in Delhi included representatives from the Ministry of Civil Aviation, Home Ministry, Indian Air Force, Intelligence Bureau, Gujarat government, Directorate General of Civil Aviation, Bureau of Civil Aviation Security among others. The committee is expected to submit its report within three months.
US begins probe
The United States’ National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has launched a parallel probe into the Air India plane crash here, drawing several international experts to the accident site.
The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) of India had earlier launched a detailed probe to get to the bottom of the cause of the deadly crash last week.
The US NTSB is conducting a parallel probe under international protocols, as the aircraft is American-made, an official release said.
The NTSB is an independent federal agency of the US tasked with investigating every civil aviation accident.
They determine the probable causes of accidents and events and investigate and issue safety recommendations aimed at preventing future occurrences.
DNA tests identify 119 victims
Four days after the horrific crash of an Air India plane claimed 270 lives, 119 victims have so far been identified through DNA matching and 76 bodies, including that of former Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani, were handed over to their families, officials said on Monday.
An official expressed hope that the DNA profiling all the victims will be completed by either Tuesday evening or Wednesday morning. (PTI)
