New Delhi, July 21 (IANS) Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu on Monday said that the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) was conducting ‘unbiased and transparent’ probe into the Air India 171 plane crash in Ahmedabad. The plane crashed minutes after take-off on June 12, killing all those on board except one passenger.

Making his first statement in the House on the AI plane crash, the Union Minister for Civil Aviation said that a thorough investigation is underway by the International Civil Aviation Organisation and AAIB, along with subject experts, and the final probe report is still awaited.

Naidu’s remarks come in the wake of preliminary findings by the AIBB, which hinted at ‘suicide theory’ by the pilots, sparking widespread anger and protests.

The Aviation Minister said that these are the first set of investigations, and one should wait for the final probe report. He also urged the members to respect the ‘process of investigation’.

“AAIB has a definitive, rule-based, rigorous process of investigation. They are totally unbiased and looking through every detail. We will have to stand by the truth and also respect the process of investigation,” he added.

The AI 171 plane crash in Ahmedabad resulted in the death of all 241 persons onboard, sending shockwaves through the country and the world, as many foreign nationals were also on board the ill-fated flight.

He also told the House that the black box was decoded here in India, and this marks a first for the country because on earlier occasions, it was sent to the Boeing manufacturing nation for decoding the conversations inside the cockpit.

A day ago, the Aviation Minister slammed the Western media for speculative reporting on the Air India Boeing crash probe and also lauded the AIBB for successfully decoding the black box data.

“I believe in AAIB. They have done a wonderful job in decoding the whole black box and getting the data out in India itself,” the Minister stated.

–IANS

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