No point jumping to conclusions: Civil Aviation Minister Naidu on AI crash coverage

Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu on Saturday came out in strong support of the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), urging all — particularly some sections of the Western media — to refrain from making premature assumptions about the recent plane crash in Ahmedabad, Gujarat.

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“AAIB has made an appeal to all, especially Western media houses, which may have a vested interest in the kind of articles they are trying to publish,” Naidu said while speaking to mediapersons.

AAIB ropes in veteran pilot

Mumbai: The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) has roped in veteran pilot and Air India’s former director of operations Captain RS Sandhu as a domain expert in the ongoing probe into the Ahmedabad plane crash, sources said on Sunday. Sandhu, who was also a designated examiner for the Boeing 787-8 fleet at Air India, had taken delivery of the now-crashed 787-8 plane — VT-ANB — in 2013. pti

He praised the bureau’s handling of the investigation so far and added that the decoding of the aircraft’s black box was done successfully within India, without sending it abroad. “I believe in AAIB. They have done a wonderful job in decoding the black box in India itself,” he said.

Cautioning against speculative reporting, Naidu stressed that commenting on the cause of the crash before the final report is released is “not a good exercise”.

“There is no point in jumping to conclusions at this point. We must let the investigation take its full course,” he said.

The minister’s remarks come amid concerns over selective and unverified international media reports on the Air India crash incident which claimed 260 lives.