Union Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu will chair a high-level meeting on air safety on Saturday in the national capital, two days after an Air India Plane crashed in Gujarat's Ahmedabad, which claimed 241 lives on board. The meeting will take place at 10:30 AM in the Ministry office and will be attended by the Civil Aviation Secretary, the Director General of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), Airports Authority of India (AAI) officials and other senior ministry officials.

Earlier, the government constituted a high-level multi-disciplinary committee for examining the causes leading to the crash of Air India Flight AI-171 from Ahmedabad to Gatwick Airport (London) on June 12, that left 241 people dead. The Committee will examine the existing Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and guidelines issued to prevent and handle such occurrences and suggest comprehensive guidelines for dealing with such instances in the future," an order issued by the Civil Aviation Ministry read.

"The Committee will not be a substitute for other enquiries being conducted by relevant organisations but will focus on formulating SOPs for preventing and handling such occurrences in the future," the order clarified. "The committee will have access to all records, including, among others, flight data, cockpit voice recorders, aircraft maintenance records, ATC Log and witness testimonies," it stated, adding that the committee will publish its report within three months. It said that the Committee will be headed by the Home Secretary and will include representatives from the Ministry of Civil Aviation, the Indian Air Force and Aviation experts.

It also stated that it will also formulate a comprehensive SOP and suggest the roles of all agencies and organisations of the central and state governments to deal with post-crash incident handling and management. As per the order, the Committee will consist of the Home Secretary; the secretary or joint secretary of the home affairs ministry; the secretary of Civil aviation; a representative from the Gujarat home department; a representative from the state disaster response authority; the police commissioner of Ahmedabad; the Director General (DG) of Inspection and Safety of the Indian Air Force; the DG of the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security; the DG of the aviation regulator - the Directorate General of Civil Aviation; the special director of the Intelligence Bureau (IB); and the Director of the Directorate of Forensic Science Services.

The order stated that the committee may also consist of any other member as deemed fit by the committee; aviation experts, accident investigators and legal advisors may also be included by the committee. It will conduct site inspections and interview the crew, Air Traffic Controllers (ATCOs) and relevant personnel. The government said that the committee will collaborate with international agencies if foreign nationals or aircraft manufacturers are involved.

Published on June 14, 2025