Govt may consider separate body to probe aircrashes: Patel

New Delhi: Government may consider setting up a separate body to investigate air accidents in line with the US National Transportation Safety Board, in view of Saturday's air crash in Mangalore that claimed 158 lives.
"We will be looking at this aspect (setting of an independent body to investigate accidents) very meaningfully.... We will look at, may be a different, an independent regulator for this purpose," Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel told CNN-IBN tonight.
His comments came when he was asked whether the government could consider establishing an independent body to probe accidents, like the NTSB that investigates all major accidents in the US including air crashes or accidents at sea or on highways.
Replying to questions on the Air India Express crash, Patel did not rule out a human error factor but made it clear that the report of the inquiry being conducted by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation should be awaited before coming to any conclusion.
"You cannot rule out a human error factor. Certainly all parameters looked normal for a normal touchdown," he said.
Patel also said he had spoken to the DGCA to go into issues relating to small and difficult airports so that new policy formulations could be evolved in view of the peculiar problems there.
23/05/10 Press Trust Of India/Hindustan Times

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Categories: Air India Budget May 2010, Airports May 2010, NACIL May 2010, Safety May 2010