A high-level multi-disciplinary committee formed by the government convened its first meeting on Monday to deliberate on the possible causes behind the Ahmedabad plane crash, which has been described as India’s worst air disaster in decades.
Chaired by Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan, the committee met in New Delhi to hear from various stakeholders and begin the process of identifying both the contributing factors behind the crash and measures to prevent future occurrences, according to official sources.
The discussions focused on “formulating Standard Operating Procedures for preventing such occurrences in the future,” a source familiar with the meeting said. While the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) is independently probing the technical causes of the crash, the committee is tasked with developing a holistic, policy-oriented roadmap for aviation safety.
Civil Aviation Minister K. Rammohan Naidu had earlier said that while the AAIB will examine the technical aspects, the high-level committee would offer a “broader perspective” involving institutional learning and long-term safeguards.
Among those present at the meeting were senior officials from the Ministry of Civil Aviation, Home Ministry, Indian Air Force, Intelligence Bureau, Gujarat Government, Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), and the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS).
The committee is expected to submit its report within three months.
Meanwhile, investigators have recovered the black box and the Cockpit Voice Recorder from the crash site—critical pieces of evidence that are expected to shed light on what caused the Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, operating on the Ahmedabad-London route, to crash shortly after takeoff on Thursday afternoon.
Tragically, out of the 242 people on board, only one person survived, marking the incident as a catastrophic loss and prompting urgent calls for systemic review and reform in India’s aviation safety framework.
(With inputs from PTI)