Air India AI 171 crash: Govt to look into every angle in its investigation, says aviation minister Ram Mohan Naidu

Union civil aviation minister Ram Mohan Naidu said on Saturday afternoon that the government will look into every possible angle and each piece of information in its quest to find the truth behind the Air India crash on June 12.

In his first formal interaction with the media since the horrific incident on Thursday, the minister said that the government had set up an additional committee besides the one by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) as well as international investigations to look into all aspects related to it.

Naidu said that with the black box of the ill-fated airliner being recovered on Friday evening around 5pm, he was hopeful of “decoding what really happened.”

“We have very strict safety standards in the country…and very strict protocols we follow every time. Now after this incident, we felt we should do an extended surveillance of the 34 Dreamliners in operation in the country,” he said, adding that eight of which have already been inspected. (An Air India statement later in the afternoon said nine Dreamliners have been inspected so far).

The minister said he expected the governmental committee to submit its findings within the few months and that “once the report comes, we will ensure, without hesitation, we are going to improve every necessary thing that comes our way.”

“We are going to conduct the investigation with seriousness. Every information and every theory will be analysed,” he said.

Naidu also said the government had requested Air India to assist the families of passengers and “whatever else (that) may be required.” He also said that DNS testing was also progressing fast, so that the bodies of passengers can be returned to their loved ones at the earliest.

“We are hoping the process is complete as soon as possible, but (at the same time) we have to ensure there are no lapses in the protocol to be followed.”

The minister said that the governmental committee will operate independent of other investigations. Its members will include civil aviation secretary, additional secretary (ministry of home affairs), representative of the state of Gujarat and Gujarat Disaster Relief, commissioner of Ahmedabad, special director of the Intelligence Bureau and other sectoral experts.

India