AI 171 Black Box Being Decoded by India's AAIB: Aviation Minister Rammohan Naidu
Mr Naidu was speaking in Pune on the sidelines of the Helicopters and Small Aircraft Summit, organised by the Ficci jointly with the ministry of civil aviation.
New Delhi: Putting rest to speculation that the black box of AI 171 that crashed in Ahmedabad on June 12 was being sent abroad for decoding, civil aviation minister K. Rammohan Naidu on Tuesday said it was being examined by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB).
When asked about the timeframe to retrieve the data, Naidu said it is a very technical matter. "Let the AAIB conduct the probe and go through the entire process," he added. The minister has earlier said decoding the black box is going to give an in-depth insight into what happened moments before the plane crash.
Naidu had in April inaugurated a state-of-the-art Digital Flight Data Recorder and Cockpit Voice Recorder (DFDR and CVR) Laboratory at the AAIB in New Delhi. Widely referred to as the “Black Box Lab,” this facility, set up with the help of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), is equipped to analyse flight data retrieved from aircraft. It is believed the black box, cockpit voice recorder and DFDR of the ill-fated aircraft was being analysed in this lab.
Mr Naidu was speaking in Pune on the sidelines of the Helicopters and Small Aircraft Summit, organised by the Ficci jointly with the ministry of civil aviation.
Speaking on the aviation security measures for the Char Dham Yatra, which has been affected by the crash of helicopters, Naidu said safety remained top most priority for the government. “For Char Dham operations, we want to enhance the safety even more. We are looking into enhanced safety, surveillance and creating more systems.”
He noted that because of the hilly terrain, where signals cannot be easily transmitted, air traffic management was a challenging. “We are looking at innovative solutions so that we can have more air traffic control and better processing of weather data,” Naidu said.
“We have observed in some incidents that the weather changes suddenly, and it's difficult for the pilots to land or take off. For that, we are bringing better technology and air traffic control... We will use the next two to three months to enhance the safety aspect in those areas. By September, we will develop some new things so that the safety becomes much better,” the minister said.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has initiated a safety investigation for each of the incidents to identify contributing factors, including mechanical failures, operational errors, and weather-related challenges.
