New Delhi: Union Minister of Civil Aviation Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu said on Saturday that an extended surveillance of all Boeing 787 aircraft was being carried out by Air India on the directions of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation.
“DGCA has given an order to do the extended surveillance for 787 planes. I believe eight have already been inspected,” Kinjarapu said, addressing a press conference here.
Air India, however, said it had done one-time safety checks on nine of its Boeing 787 Dreamliners and was on track to complete the checks on the remaining 24 such planes. “Air India has completed such checks on nine of the Boeing 787 aircraft and are on track to complete this process for the remaining 24 aircraft within the timeline provided by the regulator,” the airline said in a post on X.
“Some of these checks could lead to higher turnaround time and potential delays on certain long-haul routes, especially those to airports with operating curfews. Customers will be duly notified about any delays,” it added. Air India has 33 Boeing 787-8/9 planes.
Naidu confirmed that the black box from the lost Air India Dreamliner flight AI-171 was recovered and being decoded. Authorities, he said, were now focused on establishing the cause of the crash using the black box, which consists of the Digital Flight Data Recorder (DFDR) and Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR).
“The black box will be brought to Delhi as we have a Digital Flight Data Recorder and Cockpit Voice Recorder (DFDR & CVR) Laboratory at the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) in New Delhi. This ‘Black Box Lab’ has been established with an investment of ₹9 crore in April,” an official from the Ministry of Civil Aviation told ETV Bharat.
The state-of-the-art facility at Udaan Bhawan in Delhi is designed to repair damaged black boxes, retrieve flight data, and conduct forensic-level analyses of air crashes. This is the first major test for the lab since its inauguration.
The minister also stressed that a high-level committee set up by the government was constituted under the Union Home Secretary to independently look into the incident and the committee has been given three months to complete their investigation and submit a consolidated report, for which they are going to meet as early as Monday.
“We have constituted the committee under the chairmanship of the Home Secretary. In the committee, we wanted to have experts from various sectors and not less than any joint secretary level,” Naidu announced.
“The committee will include Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation; Additional Secretary from MHA; a representative from the State of Gujarat; State Disaster Response Authority; Police Commissioner of Ahmedabad; DG, Inspection and Safety from the Indian Air Force; BCAS; DG DGCA; Special Director from IB; and Director from the Directorate of Forensic Sciences Services. They are going to meet on Monday itself and try to finish the process within 3 months to get the consolidated report on this investigation,” he added.
Air India to provide Rs 25L interim aid
Air India on Saturday announced it will provide an interim payment of Rs 25 lakh to the families of the deceased and survivors of the Ahmedabad plane crash. This interim payment is in addition to the Rs 1 crore compensation already announced by the parent company, Tata Sons, Air India said in a statement.
“As part of our continued efforts, Air India will be providing an interim payment of Rs 25 lakh or approximately 21,000 GBP each to the families of the deceased and to the survivor, to help address immediate financial needs,” Air India said. This is in addition to the Rs 1 crore or approximately 85,000 GBP support already announced by Tata Sons, it said. “Air India stands in solidarity with the families of the passengers who tragically lost their lives in the recent accident,” the airline said.
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