India will not permit a UN investigator to join the probe into a downed Air India aircraft, which some safety specialists have criticized for the tardiness in examining vital black box information, two senior sources familiar with the situation informed Reuters.
Earlier this week, the United Nations aviation agency made the rare decision to provide India with one of its investigators to assist after the Boeing BA.N 787-8 Dreamliner crash, which resulted in 274 fatalities in Ahmedabad on June 12.
ICAO Investigators aided in probes in the past
In the past, the International Civil Aviation Organization sent investigators to aid in specific inquiries, including the 2014 crash of a Malaysian aircraft and a Ukrainian airliner in 2020, but on those occasions, the organization had been requested for help.
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ICAO requested that the investigator in India be granted observer status, but the Indian authorities declined the proposal, the sources stated. The Indian news channel Times Now was the first to report the news on Thursday.
India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), responsible for investigating the world’s deadliest aviation disaster in ten years, did not respond to a request for comment. ICAO could not be reached for a comment immediatey.
India’s civil aviation ministry announced on Thursday that investigators obtained flight recorder data approximately two weeks following the crash.
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‘Following all the ICAO protocols’: Civil Aviation Ministry
Safety experts had previously raised concerns regarding insufficient information about the investigation, particularly regarding the condition of the combined black box unit retrieved on June 13 and a second set discovered on June 16.
Earlier this week, an unnamed official from the Indian aviation ministry stated that the department has been “following all the ICAO protocols.” The official mentioned that representatives from the media have provided updates on significant events.
The majority of air crashes result from various factors, and a preliminary report is anticipated approximately 30 days following the incident.
