Parliament reviews Aviation Safety amid recent Air India Crash
Following the tragic Air India Flight AI-171 crash, Parliament's Standing Committee on Transport convened to review civil aviation safety. Key figures including Air India CEO, Campbell Wilson, attended the meeting, focusing on safety measures and the investigation progress. The crash, which killed 241 passengers, has prompted urgent scrutiny of aviation protocols.
New Delhi [India], July 9 (ANI): The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture is holding a meeting at Parliament House Annexe. The meeting will focus on the Overall review of safety in the civil aviation sector.
Committee Chairman Sanjay Kumar Jha, Air India CEO Campbell Wilson, and Officials of the Ministry of Civil Aviation, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, and the Airports Authority of India. are attending the Tuesday meeting being held at Parliament House Annexe.
On Tuesday, Members of Parliament's Public Accounts Committee (PAC) raised serious concerns over aviation safety following the Air India Flight AI-171 crash in Ahmedabad and the sudden surge in flight fares from Srinagar to other cities after the recent terror attack in Pahalgam, according to sources.
On June 12, Air India Flight AI-171, a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, crashed shortly after takeoff from Ahmedabad's Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport. It struck a hostel building of BJ Medical College, killing 241 of the 242 people on board, including former Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani.
The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) has submitted its preliminary report to the Ministry of Civil Aviation and other authorities. According to sources, the crash protection module (CPM) from one of the black boxes was retrieved, and the data was successfully downloaded on June 25 at the AAIB Lab in Delhi. To verify the data, an identical unit known as a "golden chassis" was used.
The investigation is being led by the AAIB Director General and includes experts from the Indian Air Force, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), and the US-based National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), which is the designated investigation body from the country of the aircraft's design. Aviation medicine and air traffic control experts are also part of the team.
According to officials, this is the first time India is decoding black box data domestically. On June 25, the memory module was successfully accessed and its data was downloaded at the AAIB Lab, the official said.
As of now, all 260 bodies from the AI-171 crash have been identified and handed over to families. Civil Hospital Medical Superintendent Rakesh Joshi confirmed, "A total of 254 DNA matches were done, all identified and handed over. Six were identified through facial recognition." (ANI)