Air India’s Boeing 787-8 aircraft operating flight AI 171 en-route to London Gatwick crashed into a medical hostel complex soon after take-off from Ahmedabad on June 12, killing at least 260 people, including 241 persons who were onboard the plane. One passenger, however, miraculously survived the accident.While there has been no official comment on the possible timeline for the preliminary report, top sources in AAIB said the initial report will be finalised this week.Under the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) norms, AAIB can submit a preliminary report within 30 days of the accident.Members cutting across party lines questioned official agencies and private airlines over safety standards being followed by them, an issue that has been brought into sharp focus after the Ahmedabad plane crash last month.Sources said that it was pointed out during the meeting that there has been an over eight per cent drop in domestic airline traffic and less than one per cent in international traffic in India after the Ahmedabad crash.Some members also raised the issue of “haphazard” growth around airports in the country including dense populations living around several airports due to rapid urbanisation and growth, the sources said.It was also pointed out by some members that the Air Traffic Controllers in India are handling too much traffic, much above the international norms which could lead to human errors and result in a major disaster, they said.They said there was concern among some members over a large number of vacancies in aviation regulator DGCA, while a few others spoke about the agency not implementing several of the earlier recommendations of the committee.The DGCA, the sources said, was told to fill up the posts soon, as almost half the posts were lying vacant currently.Several official agencies, including the Airport Authority of India and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), made presentations before the committee during the day-long meeting.The Secretary, Civil Aviation, summed up the day’s developments and assured the members that aviation safety was the primary concern of the government.
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