Govt sets up court of inquiry into Mangalore plane crash

New Delhi: The civil aviation ministry has appointed a court of inquiry into the Mangalore plane crash, which killed 158 people last month.
The New Delhi-based court of inquiry will submit its report by August-end. It is only the second such panel after crash in Patna in 2000 and will be headed by Bhushan Nilkanth Gokhale, a retired air marshal, and have six other officials, the ministry said in a statement on Thursday.
The Air India Express Boeing 737-800 aircraft crashed at Mangalore’s Bajpe Airport while attempting to land on May 22.
The ministry is also considering giving more powers and autonomy to the under-staffed Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), which currently works both as regulator and crash investigator.
“The government will definitely consider granting full autonomy to DGCA and empower it to independently carry out its work as a regulator of Indian aviation,” Praful Patel, civil aviation minister, said after a meeting of the safety council the government has set up to study safety regulations and recommend changes in the aftermath of the crash.
The minister said the government would bring in “suitable legislation” to turn DGCA into an autonomous body with overriding authority on all aviation regulatory matters if that was called for.
The government is also considering a separate investigation body on the lines of the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). Patel did not specify the timetable for greater autonomy or for creating a separate board.
04/06/10 Tarun Shukla/Live Mint

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