NEW DELHI, June 27: India has refused to allow the United Nations to send its investigator to join the probe into the crash of the London-bound Air India flight from Ahmedabad on June 12, killing 274 people including 241 on-board and 34 on the ground.
India has cold shouldered the proposal after the UN aviation agency earlier this week took the unusual step of offering India one of its investigators to provide assistance for the probe. Some aviation experts had earlier criticised the alleged delay in initiating the analysis of the crucial black box data. The UN had suggested that its investigator may be given the status of an observer in joining the probe but the Indian authorities refused the offer, official sources said on Friday.
Previously, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) had deployed investigators to help with certain probes, such as the downing of a Malaysian plane in 2014 and a Ukrainian jetliner in 2020, but those times the agency had been asked for assistance. Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) is leading the probe into the world’s one of the deadliest aviation accident in decades.
The civil aviation ministry had said on Thursday that the investigators had completed downloading flight recorder data around two weeks after the crash. Previously, safety experts had questioned a lack of information about the probe, including the status of the combined black box unit recovered on June 13, along with a second set that was found on June 16.
Questions were also raised on whether the recorders would be read in India or in the U.S. since the National Transportation Safety Board is participating in the investigation. The government held only one press conference on the incident, and no questions were taken.
Under international rules known throughout the industry by their legal name “Annex 13,” the decision of where to read flight recorders should be made immediately in case the evidence obtained could avert future tragedies.
Earlier this week, an Aviation Ministry official had said the department had been “following all the ICAO protocols.” The official added that media representatives have made updates on important events. Most air crashes are caused by multiple factors, with a preliminary report expected about 30 days after the accident.
(Manas Dasgupta)
