Air India crash: DGCA directs full staff presence on June 14 amid probe

The Air India-London-bound flight AI171 crashed near Meghaninagar, Ahmedabad, killing 241 onboard; the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) has recovered the black box from the crash site

Amid the ongoing probe following the horrific Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said that its headquarters will remain open on Saturday (June 14), and will follow normal working hours.

 

According to an office order dated June 13, the move aims to ensure continued functioning of the DGCA (Hqrs). “It has been decided that DGCA (Hqrs) shall remain open on 14.06.2025 (Saturday) and observe normal working hours,” it  states.

 

The DGCA headquarters are open from Monday to Friday. The office is closed on Saturdays and Sundays.

 

The order further instructs all officers and officials of the DGCA to strictly adhere to the directive. “All the Officers/Officials of Directorate General of Civil Aviation are accordingly directed to ensure strict compliance to the said directions,” it adds.

 

 

The development follows the crash of an Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner (flight AI171), which was en route to London. The aircraft went down in a heavily populated area near Meghaninagar, Ahmedabad, on Thursday, shortly after taking off from the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport, resulting in the deaths of 241 people on board.   

 

  The wide-body jet was carrying a total of 242 passengers and crew, including 169 Indian nationals, 53 British citizens, seven from Portugal, and one Canadian. A distress call was made at 1.39 pm local time, and the plane managed to reach only about 625 ft in altitude before vanishing from radar. Just moments after the pilot transmitted “MAYDAY, MAYDAY…” to air traffic control, the aircraft burst into flames and crashed outside the airport boundary.

 

Only one passenger, 40-year-old Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, seated in 11A, was the only survivor of the crash.

 

Air India crash: Black box recovered

 

The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) has recovered the Digital Flight Data Recorder (DFDR), popularly known as the black box, from the roof of a building near the wreckage of Air India flight AI-171.   

 

  The Ministry of Civil Aviation also clarified that a video recorder found earlier at the site “was not the DFDR”, countering claims on social media that the crucial data unit had already been located.

 

Air India flight crash: High-level inquiry panel formed

 

To determine what caused the June 12 crash and recommend safeguards, the government has set up a multi-disciplinary committee headed by the Union home secretary. According to the ministry, the panel “will focus on formulating SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures) for preventing and handling such occurrences in the future, and will publish its report in three months,” while other statutory investigations by the AAIB and allied agencies continue in parallel.

 

UK offers help, envoy meets PM Modi

 

British High Commissioner to India Lindy Cameron travelled to Ahmedabad on Friday, where she toured the crash scene, visited the injured at the civil hospital and met Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

 

Speaking to news agency PTI, Cameron said the United Kingdom and India are “working together” to establish facts surrounding the accident.

 

“We have offered consular support to the sole survivor,” she said. “I have been here since yesterday, visiting the crash site, visiting the hospital, meeting Prime Minister Modi, meeting the first responders… working tirelessly for the last 24 hours.”

 

Earlier on Friday, Prime Minister Modi spent about 20 minutes at the crash location before meeting those undergoing treatment at Ahmedabad’s civil hospital, where he reviewed medical care and met families of the victims.

 

(With agency inputs)