‘AAIB is impartial, investigations according to international criteria’: Minister Ram Mohan Naidu answers questions on Air India Plain Crash in Parliament. Bharat News

Citing the preliminary findings of AAIB, it was said that the engine switchs to both engines on fuel control boing 787-8 aircraft, which was infected from ‘run’ to ‘cutoff’ immediately after takeoff, BJP Rajya Sabha member Ashok Shankarao Chavan asked the minister what could be the reason behind the fuel cut-off.

Responding, Naidu said, “This was an initial report … for a certain answer, we have to wait for the final report. Aaib is conducting the investigation according to international norms. They are completely fair and looking alone.”

Chavan said Boeing 787 is very dependent on Dreamliner Electronics And this was a software mess, due to which Japan’s flight was unexpectedly closed in 2019. He asked whether a malfunction in the electrical system could cause fuel cut-off in the Ahmedabad accident, given that the excerpt from the cockpit voice recording suggested that the pilots had shut down it.

Naidu said this was the first time that the country did not have to send the black box to another country for decoding, with its laboratory set up to analyze flight data and cockpit recording. He was referring to the new facility established at AAIB Headquarters in Delhi in April to analyze aircraft flight data and cockpit recording.

“It used to be that even though the black box had suffered slight damage, we had to send it to the original manufacturer to decode it. This was the first time it was in India,” Naidu said.

Fauzia Khan, a member of the Nationalist Congress Party (SP), asked what the government is doing about the issue of engine shutdown during flights. He said that RTI data revealed 65 incidents from 2020 to 2025. He also cited an example of AI131, which was forced to return to 2023 after the engine shutdown.

Naidu said that from weather conditions to bird attacks, there may be several issues for an engine shutdown. He said that the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) examines the night, between other measures, between other measures, between other measures, according to its annual monitoring and security plan.

Another BJP member, Satnam Singh Sandhu, asked about compensation and support to the families of medical students who died on the ground during an air accident. The minister said that the number of all casualties, whether passengers or land, were being treated equally and their families would get compensation and support from the government.

Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) member Manoj Kumar Jha asked the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) about the government’s response to the 2018 Special Airwriting Information Bulletin (SAIB) about the possible dissolution of fuel control switch locking facility on some Boeing aircraft.

Naidu replied that there are two types of instructions – one that every state is compulsorily and the other, such as Saib, is not required. At that time, the regulator took a call that there was no need for special checks, he said, adding that regular investigation, definitely running. Naidu said that Aaib has mentioned it in its report besides several other angles, which are being investigated.

Many Rajya Sabha members asked about vacancies, especially in technical positions, in DCGA. For this, Naidu said that keeping in mind the extended air travel network in India, several additional positions were created in the last two years. This is the reason that some posts have been vacated due to the release of the recruitment process, he said.

He said that these were highly technical positions, and there is a very small pool of people who qualify, which leads to a long recruitment process.