Govt sets up independent aircrash probe panel

Govt sets up independent aircrash probe panel

A day after the Faridabad air crash that claimed 10 lives, the govt has created an independent panel to probe major aviation accidents, separating the role of a regulator and an investigator which was being performed by the DGCA alone so far.

Aiming at creating an independent investigation system to match the growth in aviation resulting in rising number of incidents or accidents, an Accident Investigation Committee (AIC) has been established to work under supervision of the Civil Aviation Ministry, an official spokesman said in New Delhi on Thursday.

The five-member Committee, to be headed by Director of Air Safety, would have all its members from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation.

It would identify the causes of accident in an independent manner and assist the formal probe panels like Courts or Committees of Inquiry.

AIC would draw up a formal procedures for notification of an accident or serious incident, assist the Ministry to set up probe panels in cases of major mishaps and carry out investigation of aircraft accidents, the spokesman said.

It would also coordinate and provide support for the probe panels and follow up and monitor the compliance of the recommendations made in the Accident and Serious Incident Investigation Reports.

The idea to separate regulatory and investigation functions, in accordance with recommendations of the UN body International Civil Aviation Organisation, was mooted a year ago by then Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel soon after the Mangalore aircrash that claimed 158 lives.

So far, the DGCA, which frames aviation rules and regulations, also used to investigate aircrashes and find out whether its rules were being followed by concerned players or not.

On initial notification of accidents and incidents, the Regional Air Safety Officer concerned would forward the details of the accidents and incidents to the AIC.

After classification, minor incidents would be referred to the DGCA for probe while serious incidents and accidents would be investigated by investigator or Committees or Courts of Inquiry, the spokesman said.

The AIC would also review periodically all such occurrences and maintain a panel of experts in various fields of aviation to assist the investigation process.

The fields from where these experts would be called would include accident investigation, airworthiness, meteorology, flight operations and air traffic management.

Initial probe into crash points to malfunction, strong winds  

As aviation regulator DGCA began probing the Faridabad air crash that claimed ten lives, the preliminary probe pointed towards technical malfunction and high velocity winds as the major reasons for the accident.

A Committee of Inquiry has been set up by the Civil Aviation Ministry to probe all aspects of the accident, Civil Aviation Secretary Nasim Zaidi said in New Delhi on Thursday.

Sources close to the team conducting the preliminary probe said technical malfunction and high velocity winds are suspected to have caused the crash on Wednesday night of the Swiss-made Palitus PC 12 aircraft, which had the capacity to carry nine passengers and two pilots.

The aircraft of Air Charter Services India Private Limited crashed just 15 minutes before landing at the Delhi IGI airport on Wednesday night killing seven people onboard and three all women on ground.

The sources said that the small single-engine turboprop plane could not withstand the heavy wind and storm in the area and the pilots probably lost control, leading to the crash on Wednesday night.

Only 60 per cent of the entire aircraft, including part of its fuselage and the tail, have been found but the remaining portion, including the cockpit, has been completely damaged and charred in the blaze, they said.

The Flight Data Recorder and the Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) or the black box are not installed in small planes like this, the sources said.

A six-member DGCA team has been inspecting the crash site, conducted wreckage spotting and took photographs to study the impact, how the aircraft landed, when and where it hit the houses and where the bodies were found.

Air ambulance crash: Govt, company announce compensation

The Haryana government as well as the charter company which was operating the air ambulance that crashed in Faridabad killing 10 people on Thursday announced Rs two lakh each separately for the three women victims from the town.

Three women members of the same family were charred to death when the Pilatus PC-12 single-engine turboprop aircraft belonging to Delhi-based Air Chartered Services India Limited nosedived into two houses in Parvatiya Nagar.

Besides the compensation of Rs two lakh each for the three, government job will also be given to one member of the family of Sobha Ram Sehrawat whose house was the worst-hit in the crash, Faridabad Deputy Commissioner Praveen Kumar said adding, Rs 20,000 each will be given to those injured.

Haryana Labour Minister Shiv Charan Sharma said the government would rebuild the house of Sehrawat whose wife, daughter and daughter-in-law died in the mishap.

The Air Chartered Services India Limited, from which the plane was hired by Apollo Hospital, also announced Rs two lakh each as compensation for the family of the victims and Rs 25,000 for the injured, according to Sunil Gaur, Director (Operations) of the company.

"We have informed the authorities regarding the compensation of Rs two lakh each for the kin of deceased and Rs 25,000 for the injured. The families of other seven victims, who were onboard the aircraft, would get the insured amount as per the arrangement," he said.

Ten persons, including all seven onboard the small medical ambulance aircraft, were killed when the flight to Delhi from Patna crashed into roof of the two houses in bad weather and caught fire on Wednesday night.

The airplane was ferrying a critically ill patient Rahul Raj, a 20-year-old Patna-based businessman, to the

Apollo Hospital in New Delhi.