Govt panel meets to probe Air India crash, assess possible causes

A high-level multi-disciplinary committee, set up by the government to look into the Ahmedabad plane crash, on Monday deliberated on various possible theories that could have led to the country's worst air disaster in decades.

The panel, chaired by Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan, listened to the opinions of various stakeholders about the possible causes of the aircrash and deliberated on steps to be taken to check future occurrence of any such accident, sources said.

In the first meeting of the panel here, the sources said, the focus of the participants was to analyse the possible causes of the aircrash and how to go about in "formulating Standard Operating Procedures for preventing such occurrences in the future".

Since a separate investigation is also being carried out by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), which is looking into the technical aspects of the crash, the panel discussed about the possible causes and lesson to be taken from it, the sources said.

Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu on Saturday said while the AAIB investigation will handle the technical aspects, the high-level committee will provide a holistic, policy-oriented roadmap for future safeguards.

Those who attended the meeting on Monday include representatives from the Ministry of Civil Aviation, Home Ministry, Indian Air Force, Intelligence Bureau, Gujarat government, Directorate General of Civil Aviation, and Bureau of Civil Aviation Security, among others.

The committee is expected to submit its report within three months.

The black box of Air India's Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner plane that crashed on Thursday in Ahmedabad was recovered from the site on Friday evening while officials have also confirmed that the Cockpit Voice Recorder has been found, a crucial discovery to help ascertain the possible cause of the accident.

The aircraft from Ahmedabad to London crashed soon after takeoff on Thursday afternoon. Out of 242 people on board the plane, only one person survived.