Under the civil aviation ministry, AAIB is responsible for the classification of safety occurrences, involving aircraft operating in the Indian airspace into accidents and serious incidents.
A timeline of events related to the investigation of the Air India Boeing 787 crash in Ahmedabad, including investigation initiation, black box recovery, and safety measures taken.
The Air India plane AI-171 from Ahmedabad to London crashed immediately after take-off from the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Ahmedabad airport on Thursday, as per the Gujarat State Police Control Room.
Aircraft manufacturer Boeing on Saturday said it continues to support the ongoing investigation into the Air India Flight AI171 crash, hours after the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) released its preliminary report on the incident that occurred in Ahmedabad.
The US federal agency, National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), responsible for the investigation of aviation accidents and significant transportation events in the country, on Friday (local time) issued a strong rebuke of recent media coverage made over the preliminary investigative report on the aftermath of the ill-fated Air India 171 crash that claimed 260 lives in Gujarat's Ahmedabad last month.
'They will cover up the failures of all the others.'
After a London-bound Air India aircraft crashed shortly after taking off from the Ahmedabad airport on Thursday, the spotlight is back on India's history with aviation disasters.
The only case where there could be a change in insurance payout is if Air India's management were found to be aware of the accident and the accident was deliberate.
'The overall well-being of the pilots should be at the top of any airline's agenda in such situations.'
The nationality of the passengers onboard will define the minimum liability applicable to the airline operator as per the Montreal Convention, Prudent Insurance Brokers vice president (aviation & specialty lines) Hitesh Girotra said.
A passenger from Lahore was mistakenly flown to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, instead of Karachi, Pakistan, due to an airline error. The passenger was eventually deported back to Pakistan after a 15-hour ordeal.
The recent helicopter crash near Kedarnath, in which seven lives were lost, has proven yet again that aviation regulatory authorities have not learnt lessons from similar air mishaps in the challenging Kedar valley and have done little to improve flying conditions.
An Air India passenger allegedly urinated on a fellow traveller during a flight from Delhi to Bangkok on Wednesday. Air India has reported the incident to the authorities (DGCA) and is investigating the matter. The airline has also stated that its crew followed all laid down procedures in handling the situation and offered assistance to the aggrieved passenger.
A Bangkok-bound Air India flight from Mumbai was held back for over five hours on June 25, after some hay was found stuck in one of the aircraft's wings, the airline has said.
'The crash site must be secured because something small -- like a pipe or hydraulic line -- could hold a critical clue.'
The Boeing 787-8 aircraft -- VT-ANB -- was 11.5 years old and had flown for more than 41,000 hours, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium.
An IndiGo flight from Delhi to Srinagar encountered severe turbulence near Pathankot on Wednesday, prompting the crew to request permission to enter Pakistani airspace to avoid the weather. However, their request was denied. The aircraft, an A321 neo operating flight 6E 2142, experienced hailstorm and turbulence, triggering various warnings and forcing the autopilot to trip. The crew managed to safely land the aircraft in Srinagar after a harrowing experience. The incident is under investigation by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), which confirmed there were no injuries to passengers but noted damage to the aircraft's nose radome.
The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) has urged restraint in speculating about the cause of the Air India plane crash, emphasizing that the investigation is ongoing and premature narratives should be avoided.
On the one-month anniversary of the Air India flight 171 crash that killed 241 passengers and 19 on the ground, relatives of passengers expressed renewed anxieties as they saw loved ones depart on the same route.
'Visualise those 15 to 18 seconds: Fully loaded aircraft, pilot manually controlling with both hands (no autopilot immediately after takeoff), looking forward while switches are behind.'
The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau has already launched a formal investigation into the incident.
The DGCA has issued multiple fines and warnings to Air India over the past three years, flagging serious concerns in flight operations, cockpit discipline, and internal accountability.
'... when the process isn't transparent, people will naturally raise questions. 'The AAIB's own press release says they had the black boxes by June 16.' 'Why wasn't decoding initiated until the 24th? What were they waiting for?'
'In multi-pilot operations, no critical switch can be moved without the other pilot's consent.'
'The AAIB will collect every single retrievable piece of the aircraft and transport it to a secure location -- usually a large hangar capable of housing a Boeing 787.' 'The entire aircraft will be laid out, each part marked and tagged, and practically rebuilt like a jigsaw puzzle.'
Aviation is a juicy target. It's a 24x7 industry, which cannot afford delays or loss of customer credibility.
Five pilgrims and a pilot onboard a helicopter had a narrow escape when the aircraft on its way to Kedarnath made an emergency landing on the highway in Rudraprayag district on Saturday after developing a technical snag during take-off, officials said.
The number of serious incidents has more than doubled in the last seven years.
The ministry of civil aviation clarified that, contrary to circulating reports, a video recorder that had been recovered at the crash site was not the DFDR.
'We consider everyone who lost someone in this tragedy as part of our family -- now and forever.'
"When the fuel control switch has to be cut off, the pilot flying will say, fuel control switch left, confirm. So, after the confirmation is made by the second pilot, the pilot monitoring will cut off (the switch).
In modern aircraft, there are cockpit voice recorder and digital flight data recorder.
Addressing close to 700 employees and the leadership team across the Air India headquarters and Air India Training Academy in Gurugram, Chandrasekaran urged them to stay on course, terming the accident the most "heartbreaking" crisis of his career.
Talking to reporters after a meeting of the state cabinet, he said Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel and the entire cabinet offered tributes to those who had lost their lives in the June 12 plane crash in Ahmedabad during the meet.
Former Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani, who died in a tragic plane crash in Ahmedabad on Thursday, joined the list of several top Indian politicians and prominent personalities who lost their lives in aviation accidents.
The specific reasons for the crash of the Boeing 787-8 aircraft flying from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick will be known only after the completion of the detailed probe by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau.
The price of jet fuel (ATF) was sharply increased by 7.5 per cent on Tuesday, while the cost of LPG used in commercial establishments was reduced by Rs 58.50 per cylinder, reflecting shifts in international benchmark rates. After three rounds of price cuts, aviation turbine fuel (ATF) price was increased by Rs 6,271.5 per kilolitre, or 7.5 per cent, to Rs 89,344.05 per kl in the national capital - home to one of the busiest airports in the country, according to state-owned fuel retailers.
Most reported unruly passenger incidents were classified as level 1, or intentional non-compliance with safety regulations like not wearing face masks, not wearing seat belts.
The aircraft crashed into the Milestone School and College campus in Dhaka's Uttara area.
Families of victims of the Air India plane crash have hired a US law firm to explore legal options, seeking answers and accountability.
