Ahmedabad Plane Crash: India Declined UN Aviation Body's Observer Request, Says Report

India has reportedly rejected a request from the UN’s aviation agency to allow observer participation in the investigation of the Air India Flight AI-171 crash, asserting its investigative independence even as significant progress has been made in decoding crucial flight data.

The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) offered to send an investigator to assist following the 12 June crash in Ahmedabad that killed 241 of the 242 people onboard.

India, however, refused to grant observer status to the ICAO investigator who was in the country, Reuters reported citing sources.

India has earlier stated that it is already following all ICAO protocols through its Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB).

The UN’s move was unusual, as ICAO typically participates only when invited by the investigating state.

Meanwhile, the AAIB has successfully recovered and downloaded data from the front black box of the aircraft at its lab in Delhi.

The front and rear black boxes arrived on 25 June in Delhi after both devices were flown in under high security from Ahmedabad.

Following the crash, the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) constituted a multidisciplinary team on 13 June.

The team, constituted as per international protocol, is led by DG AAIB, and includes an aviation medicine specialist, an ATC officer, and representatives from National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), which is government investigative agency from the country of manufacture and design, (United States), as required for such investigations.

The Ministry of Civil Aviation has confirmed that analysis of the black box data is underway to reconstruct the crash sequence and identify contributing factors.

India maintains that all actions have been carried out in a time-bound manner and in full compliance with international obligations.

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