Home secretary led committee to overhaul aviation safety

India is looking to overhaul its aviation safety policy, following a crash of Air India’s Boeing 787 plane killing over 250 people. The government has formed a committee headed by the home secretary.

The Committee will examine the existing Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and to prevent and handle such occurrences and suggest steps to prevent such accidents in the future, Union Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu said on Saturday. This is besides the investigation that the statutory body Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) will conduct.

“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 per their investigation,” Naidu said in his first media briefing after Thursday’s crash.

Headed by the home secretary, the committee includes the head of civil aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and security regulator Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS), joint secretary level officers from the state and central governments. It will also rope in experts in aviation safety, accident investigators and lawyers.

AAIB is investigating the crash, while the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) would also be involved in the detailed probe, given that the aircraft is manufactured by an American company—Boeing—and was manufactured in the US. A UK AAIB team is also going to help with the investigation, and so are Boeing and other major component manufacturers like GE (engine manufacturer).

“While AAIB will look into the technical aspects of the particular accident, the committee will take a holistic approach and suggest measures for the sector to prevent such accidents from occurring in future,” Naidu said.

A senior government official said that the first meeting of the committee will take place next week. Suggestions given by the committee will be incorporated in the National Civil Aviation Policy which was launched in 2016. It will study steps taken by other countries following such accidents.

There have been three fatal crashes in US this year following which there were calls for overhauling of the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA)

“This accident is a jolt for all of us. But this is also a wakeup call and the committee will suggest measures to make it safer looking at the scenario where aviation is no more a luxury but an essential mode of transport and transforming India into an aviation hub,” he said.

Naidu said that eight of Air India’s 33 Boeing 787 aircraft have so far been inspected following the directive issued Friday by DGCA for enhanced safety inspection. Air India said that checks could lead to higher turnaround time and potential delays. “Air India has completed such checks on nine of the aircraft and are on track to complete this process within the timeline,” the airline said.

Safety experts said the newly formed committee’s mandate duplicates that of AAIB. “AAIB is a statutory authority who can investigate accidents. Unless AAIB permits no data can be shared with anyone,” said Amit Singh, founder of Safety Matters Foundation.

When asked about this by ET minister Naidu said that while AAIB will look into the technical aspects of this particular accident, the committee will give a holistic view for improving the overall safety of the sector.