Air India crash: 'Govt to investigate sabotage, technical & operational factors', says Retd. Air Force Captain

Retired Air Force Group Captain Uttam Kumar Devnath on Saturday said that the high-level committee investigating the Ahmedabad Plane Crash will explore various angles, including terrorism, sabotage, technical issues, and pilot error.

As the Government of India constituted a high-level committee to conduct a comprehensive investigation into the Ahmedabad plane crash, post meeting, Retired Air Force Group Captain Uttam Kumar Devnath on Saturday said that the high-level committee investigating the Ahmedabad Plane Crash will explore various angles, including terrorism, sabotage, technical issues, and pilot error.
Speaking to ANI, Devnath stated that the move reflects the government's seriousness in uncovering the root cause of the tragic incident.

He said, "The government has made a big decision to check this accident through a terrorist angle, sabotage angle, technical angle, operations angle, and pilot error angle. It is also possible that this accident might have been caused by a bird hit." 

He further informed that top officials from the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) have already been deployed to Ahmedabad to lead the investigation.

"That's why the government sent top investigators from the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) to Ahmedabad. They will take possession of the digital flight data recorder. Similarly, a cockpit voice recorder has also been found and will be examined," he said.

In addition to reviewing the flight data, investigators will also collect and test samples of Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) from the crash site to determine whether fuel quality or contamination played a role.

"Apart from this, they will also go where the debris of the crashed flight is and take samples from aviation turbine fuel (ATF)," he said.

What caused Air India crash?

Earlier on Saturday, the government constituted a high-level multidisciplinary 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.

Meanwhile, Officials from the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) arrived in Ahmedabad, where the London-bound Air India flight crashed.

The AAIB, a division under the Ministry of Civil Aviation, is responsible for probing aircraft accidents in India and has launched a formal investigation into the matter.

On Thursday, the AI-171 Boeing Dreamliner 787-8 aircraft, bound for London's Gatwick, crashed shortly after taking off from the Ahmedabad International Airport on Thursday. The airline said 241 people on board the aircraft died in the crash, while only one passenger survived.