Ahmedabad Plane Crash: AAIB Completes Documentation And Evidence Collection From AI-171 Crash Site; Uncertainty Persists Over Black Box Decoding Location

Mumbai: The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) has completed the recovery work, documentation and evidence collection from the crash site of Air India’s AI-171 in Ahmedabad. However, the uncertainty around the location of the black box’s decoding continues amid reports that it will be transported to the United States.

On Thursday, the union minister of civil aviation Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu chaired a review meeting on safety, passenger facilitation and airline performance. The minister announced that AAIB’s investigation is progressing steadily and key recovery work, including site documentation and evidence collection, has been completed. Assuring full transparency in the investigation, Kinjarapu said that further analysis of the evidence is now underway.

While a newspaper report claimed that the aircraft’s black box will be sent to the US for analysis as the local authority is not equipped to decode the heavily damaged instrument, the uncertainty about the location for its decoding still continues. The minister said that the decision regarding it will be taken by AAIB after due assessment of all technical, safety and security considerations.

Kinjarapu held a high-level meeting with Air India’s chairman and the managing director to discuss operational continuity, transparent and accountable communication with the public and the passengers’ safety and convenience. Air India was urged to strengthen their ground-level coordination at airports, improve communication with passengers regarding cancellations and delays, and ensure that customer service teams are sensitised and equipped to handle increased passenger concerns with empathy and clarity.

The minister also held meetings with the senior managements of SpiceJet, Indigo and Akasa Air on Wednesday and Thursday, reviewing the fleet performance, safety oversight, passengers experience and convenience as well as the airline communication strategy. The ministry has decided that the airlines’ operational matters will be reviewed periodically for better monitoring and coordination.

Through a video conference, all the airport directors across the country were asked to review ground-level preparedness and passenger support mechanisms in the light of rescheduling of flights. The airports have been directed to closely liaison with airlines, ensure availability of food, drinking water and adequate seating facilities at terminals and deployment of sufficient personnel to manage passenger grievances.

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