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Business Standard
20 hours ago
- General
- Business Standard
From Kozhikode to Ahmedabad crash: Safety lessons caught in air pocket
The AI171 crash brings into focus the aviation reforms that two major accidents in the past promised to roll out Deepak Patel New Delhi Listen to This Article One of the key recommendations following the Kozhikode air crash in August 2020 — in which an Air India Express aircraft from Dubai overshot the runway during landing in heavy rain, killing 21 people — was for India to develop its own laboratory to analyse flight data and cockpit voice recorders, commonly known as black boxes. That facility, set up under the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), was inaugurated this April, close to five years after the Kozhikode crash. And, its effectiveness is already under scrutiny. After the recent crash of Air India flight AI171 in Ahmedabad on June 12
Indian Express
a day ago
- General
- Indian Express
AAIB transports aircraft debris to airport premises, report likely to be out in 3-4 months, say officials
On Sunday, a somber sight unfolded on Ahmedabad's Shahibaug roads as trailer trucks transported debris from the ill-fated Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner aircraft, which crashed shortly after take off from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport on June 12, to a secure location. The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) started transporting the debris from the Air India flight AI 171 crash site on Saturday night, with assistance from local administration, including the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) and the City Police. On Sunday, the tail section, which had lodged into the mess hall of the Atulyam hostel of BJP Medical College in Meghaninagar, was moved to a secure site within the airport premises as part of the ongoing investigation. Notably, several eyewitnesses and first responders have confirmed to The Indian Express that no major portion of the aircraft had remained unaffected by the crash. Due to the crash, followed by subsequent explosions with the high temperature blaze caused by the aviation fuel, which burns at 1,030 degrees celsius, only the tail end of the aircraft — embedded into the mess building — was the most 'complete' part of the plane which was in one piece. The tail end was later removed from the building with the help of cranes. First responders had said that there was no fuselage left to speak of and the different parts of the aircraft had only been identified by the direction of the tail that was lodged in the hostel building. While shifting the wreckage, this part of the aircraft had purportedly gotten stuck in one of the trees that line the roads in Shahibaug area of the city, leading to a minor traffic jam till personnel from the AMC helped free the aircraft part from the branches and the convoy could reach its destination. 'The AAIB are moving the aircraft parts from the crash. Since the tail part of the plane is very large, it may have gotten stuck on a tree during transport so that was cleared immediately and the movement continued without any issues. The debris is being moved to the GUJSAIL (Gujarat State Aviation Infrastructure Company Limited) hangar, which is within the airport premises,' Jaypalsingh Rathore, the Additional Commissioner of Police ( for Sector-2, told The Indian Express. The GUJSAIL building is also acting as camp office of the AAIB investigators for the probe duration and had initially housed the aircraft's black boxes after their recovery, before they were moved out by the investigation team. The Indian Express had on June 18 reported that all parts of the London Gatwick bound aircraft, which had crashed in less than a minute after take off, would be moved to secure site after a preliminary investigation of the crash site by the AAIB and it's international partners, including the National Transport Safety Bureau (NTSB) of the US, and Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) of the British Department of Transport. Providing details about the liaising between the AAIB and the Gujarat government, Dr Rajendra Kumar, Secretary of Civil Aviation for the State, told The Indian Express, 'The AAIB has complete jurisdiction over the crash site and the debris. We know that they are moving the aircraft parts to a secure location and then (they) will conduct reconstruction and further investigation. We have provided all logistical support for the same.' When asked about the timeline of air accidents such as these, Dr Rajendra Kumar said, 'The preliminary investigation in such cases takes about 3-4 months and the final report comes after a month. We are not sure how the AAIB will be conducting their investigation in this particular case, but these are the usual timelines.' While it will likely take another day to transport all pieces of the massive passenger plane, the debris of which is spread over 500 metres, to be transported back to the secure location, the municipal corporation has provided vehicles as well as deployed an escort of firefighters with power tools and engineers to help with the process. The London-bound aircraft with 242 persons on board plunged into a medical hostel complex in Meghaninagar moments after taking off from the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport on June 12, killing 241 on board. One passenger survived. At least 20 people lost their lives on the ground.
The Hindu
a day ago
- The Hindu
Air India plane crash: wreckage being shifted to airport premises in Ahmedabad
The Gujarat police on Sunday (June 22, 2025) started shifting the wreckage of the Air India plane that crashed on June 12 on a medical college hostel in Ahmedabad to the airport premises here, officials said. The London-bound aircraft had crashed into the hostel complex in Meghaninagar moments after taking off from the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport, killing 270 people, including 241 on board. One passenger survived. The wreckage was being moved from the crash site to GUJSAIL (Gujarat State Aviation Infrastructure Company Limited) building, which is on the airport premises, and will be in the custody of the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), an official said. Joint Commissioner of Police, Sector 2, Jaipalsinh Rathore told PTI: "It will take 48 to 72 hours to shift the entire wreckage." Apart from the AAIB, the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board is leading a parallel investigation into the plane crash. At least 247 persons killed in the crash have so far been identified through DNA matching and 232 bodies handed over to their families, as per officials.
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Business Standard
a day ago
- General
- Business Standard
Air India crash: Wreckage being shifted to airport premises in Ahmedabad
The Gujarat police on Sunday started shifting the wreckage of the ill-fated Air India plane, that crashed on June 12 on a medical college hostel in Ahmedabad, to the airport premises here, officials said. The London-bound aircraft had crashed into the hostel complex in Meghaninagar moments after taking off from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport, killing 270 persons, including 241 on board. One passenger survived. The wreckage was being moved from the crash site to GUJSAIL (Gujarat State Aviation Infrastructure Company Limited) building, which is in the airport premises, and will be in custody of the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), an official said. "We have started moving the wreckage of the Air India plane, that crashed here, from today to the GUJSAIL building," Joint Commissioner of Police, Sector 2, Jaipalsinh Rathore told PTI. "It will take 48 to 72 hours to shift the entire wreckage," he said. "The wreckage will be under the custody of the AAIB, which is investigating the plane crash," the official said. Apart from AAIB, the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is leading a parallel international investigation into the plane crash. At least 247 persons killed in the crash have so far been identified through DNA matching and 232 bodies handed over to their families, as per officials. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Time of India
a day ago
- Time of India
Stitching together evidences in AI plane crash to be tedious process; probe may take time: Former AAIB DG
As the probe continues into the fatal Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad on June 12, former Director General of Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) Group Captain Aurobindo Handa (Retd) spoke exclusively to PTI on the investigation process. Handa said going by the visuals of the crash, the aircraft has been very badly damaged by fire and stitching together the evidences would be a tedious process. "In all probability and in fairness, the investigation is likely to be a long drawn process," he told PTI. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Sunteck Sky Park, Mira Road - 2 & 3 BHK @ ₹1.33 Cr* Sunteck Sky Park Learn More Undo Handa is also the former Chairman Accident Investigation Group (AIG) of ICAO -APAC Region. During Handa's stewardship, AAIB had closed over 100 investigations, including the fatal crash of Air India Express plane which happened in August 2020 at Kozhikode, Kerala. Live Events Following is the detailed interview How much time do you envisage that the investigation into the Air India plane crash Ahmedabad would take? Annex 13 of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as well as AAIB Rules mandate that any investigation should preferably be completed in less than a year. Our investigators' endeavour to complete an investigation as quickly as possible so that remedial actions are instituted quickly through DGCA to avoid any recurrence. However, going by the visuals of this accident, you would appreciate that this aircraft has been very badly damaged by fire. Therefore, corroborating and stitching together the evidences would be a tedious process. In all probability and in fairness, the investigation is likely to be a long-drawn process. How are the probable causes zeroed in during an aircraft accident investigation? Deep and detailed examination of meaningful evidences is a time-consuming process. After analysing the data from the recorders, the investigators narrow down to the most probable systems and/or sub-systems that could have malfunctioned and/or contributed in a malfunction. Step by step, each of the suspected causes for the accident are examined deeply and the unlikely causes are ruled out which is a rigorous process. Basically, the process is driven by the 'method of elimination'. It is akin to a physician going through pathological reports, X-Ray/MRI or other test reports before coming to a conclusion. What is the main aim of an aircraft crash investigation? As per Annex 13 of ICAO and AAIB Rules 2012 (as amended from time to time), the aim of the investigation is to find out the most probable root cause but not to apportion blame or liability. What are the broad steps involved in an investigation? The ICAO had come out with 'DOC 9756' or the Manual of Accident Investigation. Globally, the investigators follow this manual, which outlines detailed procedures to arrive at the most probable cause of an aircraft accident. In addition, based on 'DOC 9756' and its own experiences, AAIB has prepared a document known as 'Procedure Manual' which contains the investigation process/procedures to be followed in India. What are the priorities for AAIB investigators after reaching the aircraft accident site? Obviously, when any unfortunate aircraft accident happens, the immediate focus of the 'first responders' such as airport staff, security personnel which includes CISF, NDRF and local police is to save lives. AAIB takes charge of the activities as soon as its team arrives at the crash site and starts coordinating with the 'first responders' for the remaining work. After cordoning off the general area, AAIB controls and regulates any movement at the crash site in order to make sure that the evidence is not lost inadvertently or tampered with deliberately. AAIB's priorities are to look for survivors and/or save lives at the crash site, retrieve recorders, sift through the debris for any meaningful examination at a later date, and shift these meaningful debris to a safe and secure place. AAIB investigators get divided into sub-groups and start segregating the debris into sub-groups such as flight recorders, airframe, propulsion, avionics and controls, among other elements. The first and foremost task is the retrieval of recorders i.e. Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) and Digital Flight Data Recorder (DFDR). Once the retrieval is affected, the next step is 'milking of raw data' from these recorders. The raw data is then converted into actionable and workable 'engineering parameters'. Then, these engineering parameters are converted into graphs and charts for deriving meaningful and credible interpretation. How strong are India's capabilities in analysing the data during an aircraft accident investigation? India as a sovereign nation is quite well equipped to analyse recorders. AAIB, DGCA (Directorate General of Civil Aviation) and airlines also have their recorder labs in place. In case, there is a need, AAIB can seek help from NAL (National Aerospace Laboratories), Bengaluru, HAL ( Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd ), Korwa, and LCA (Light Combat Aircraft) Project as they have excellent infrastructure and enough domain experts of international repute who can be co-opted to assist the aircraft accident investigations and render advice. Also, if there is an iota of doubt that the milking of raw data from the recorders could result in erosion of data, the chief investigator under the guidance from the DG, AAIB can decide to take the recorders to their Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM). Aircraft manufacturers do not manufacture recorders and these are outsourced from other companies like Honeywell.
