Govt sets up high-level panel to examine causes of Ahmedabad plane crash: Civil Aviation Min
Jun 14, 2025
NEW DELHI: A high-level panel has been set up to investigate the causes of the Ahmedabad plane crash and the investigation is progressing smoothly, the government said on Saturday.
The black box of Air India's Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner plane that crashed on Thursday was recovered from the site on Friday evening.
"Decoding the black box is going to give in-depth insight into what happened moments before the plane crash," Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu said at a briefing in the national capital.
Air India's Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner aircraft, operating a flight from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick, crashed soon after the take-off on Thursday afternoon. Out of the 242 people on board the plane, only one person survived.
Before the press conference, a one-minute silence was observed to pay homage to the victims of the Air India plane crash.
The Minister emphasized that this incident must be treated not only as a technical investigation but as a humanitarian priority, with every possible support extended to grieving families.
Naidu said the country has very strict aviation safety standards and robust protocols, and everything will be done to further improve safety. "Any theory going around the plane crash will be analysed," he added.
A high-level multi-disciplinary panel, chaired by the home secretary, will hold a meeting on Monday, and the committee is expected to submit its report in three months.
Civil Aviation Secretary Samir Kumar Sinha said the investigation is going on smoothly. The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) is probing the crash.
"On June 12, around 2PM, we received the information that the aircraft going from Ahmedabad to Gatwick London had crashed. We immediately got detailed information about this through the Ahmedabad ATC," Sinha said at the briefing.
He said that the aircraft took off at 1:39 pm and within a few seconds, after reaching a height of about 650 feet, it started sinking. At 1:39 pm, the pilot informed Ahmedabad ATC that it was a May Day-- full emergency."
According to ATC, Sinha said, when it tried to contact Air India aircraft the ATC did not receive any response. Exactly one minute later, the plane crashed in Meghaninagar, about 2 km from the airport."
According to him, the aircraft started losing its height after reaching 650 feet.
Before the accident, the aircraft had operated the Paris-Delhi-Ahmedabad route and had completed its flight successfully, the civil aviation secretary said.
The AAIB commenced a formal investigation into the crash on the same day. A five-member team, led by the Director General of AAIB, was dispatched immediately and later augmented with forensic and medical experts, Naidu said.
The Minister further said, while the AAIB investigation will handle the technical aspects, the high-level committee will provide a holistic, policy-oriented roadmap for future safeguards.
He said that DNA testing is happening to identify victims and hand them over to their families.
"The Gujarat government is coordinating with that. They have been there on the ground since the time of the crash and they have been facilitating all the efforts and measures that are required from their side, so once the DNA testing is confirmed, the bodies will be given to the respective families," the minister said.
"We are hoping that the process also gets (completed) as soon as possible," Naidu added.
"We have very strict safety standards in the country also, and many, including the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), international organisations have also time and again established that we do have a very strict protocol, robust protocol which we follow every time."
"But even after that, when the incident happened, we also felt that there is a need to do an extended surveillance into the Boeing 787 series," Naidu said, adding, "So, through the DGCA, we have also given the order to do the extended surveillance for the 787 planes".
He said that whatever necessary steps are needed will be taken to improve (aviation) safety and added that the DGCA has also intensified ongoing surveillance of maintenance protocols for all wide-body aircraft operating in India.
On the formation of the high-level committee, the minister said its composition involves three persons from various backgrounds, and people who the government feels can bring a lot of expertise and value to it, will investigate in a holistic way into the incident.
"We have put a time limit of three months for them to sit down, talk to various stakeholders, and involve and discuss with any other important expert that is necessary as part of their investigation," he noted.
He said the AAIB team believes that "the decoding of the black box is going to give in-depth insight into what would have actually happened during the process of the crash or moments before the crash itself".
Extending his sympathies to all affected families he said the government has issued clear instructions to Air India management to extend comprehensive support to the families of those affected.
These measures include immediate disbursement of ex-gratia compensation, logistical and emotional support to the kin, deployment of senior Air India officials to assist affected families, establishment of a dedicated support cell in Gatwick, London for British nationals and their families and assistance with documentation, travel arrangements, and hospital coordination for the injured, the Minister said.
No questions were taken from the media at the briefing.
