'Many Shortcomings...': Parliament Panel Summons Boeing Over Aviation Safety

A Parliament committee on transport will meet, likely in the first week of July, on the issue of safety of civil aviation and to discuss aircraft maintenance concerns. Government officials, airline reps, and Boeing executives have been sumoned and are expected to face tough questions, sources said.

Sources told NDTV of 'multiple shortcomings' in the aviation sector, with maintenance of aircraft now a matter of major concern. The committee will also address frequent helicopter accidents.

Topics of discussion will include the role of the Director General of Civil Aviation, or the DGCA, aircraft maintenance schedules, and the mental fitness of pilots, sources said.

The committee's report will likely be tabled in the next Parliament session.

Before this meeting the committee is scheduled to hold a consultation in Gangtok to review air and road connectivity to the northeastern states, with the focus on developing tourism.

Committee members will travel on Air India - despite other options being available - to conduct a first-hand assessment of the airline, its planes, and its staff, sources said.

Air India had 33 Boeing 787 Dreamliners before the June 12 crash (File).

All of this follows the crash of a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner moments after take-off in Ahmedabad.

On Saturday the DGCA ordered the immediate removal of three senior AI officials, including a divisional vice president, from all responsibilities related to flight crew scheduling and rostering.

READ | 3 Air India Officials Removed, Aviation Body Threatens To Cancel Licence

The directive is among the sternest interventions in recent months involving a full-service scheduled airline. The DGCA has also asked the Tata Group-owned carrier to initiate internal disciplinary proceedings against the three officials without further delay. Failure to do so would result in severe action, including the possibility of the airline losing its operating permission.

The tail section of AI 171 that crashed into a hostel building near Ahmedabad airport.

The plane that crashed, AI 171, failed to generate enough thrust after clearing the runway and fell into a residential area 2km from the airport. A hostel for college students bore the brunt of an impact that killed 271 of the 272 people on the plane and 33 people on the ground.

The plane's flight data and voice recorders have been recovered but sustained damage in the crash. They will be subject to a forensic extraction process to salvage data.

It is still unclear what caused the crash but the prevailing theory - backed by audio and video of the crash that seems to show deployment of the RAT, or Ram Air Turbine, is either a dual engine malfunction or a system-wide hydraulic or electronic failure.

The RAT, or Ram Air Turbine

The airline has, though, said the plane that crashed had regular safety checks and had its right engine changed less than four months earlier. The left had been inspected in April, it said.

READ | 'Right Engine Changed, Left Inspected': Air India On Dreamliner Crash

Since the crash Air India has cancelled over 100 planes as it scrambles to complete a full safety inspection of its fleet of 32 Dreamliners. In fact, in the days after the crash there were multiple reports of Boeing planes, including those operated by foreign airlines, encountering 'technical snags' and being forced to either return to their points of origin or seek emergency landings.

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