'Govt to hire professional org for AI flight safety'

The government is set to hire a professional organisation to “look into” the safety aspects of Air India, Civil Aviation Minister Suresh Prabhu stated on Friday.

“In a recent review of airline safety, I have ordered to put in place a third party professional organisation to look into various safety aspects at @airindiain,” Prabhu posted on Twitter, hours after an Air India Express aircraft hit the boundary wall of the airport at Tiruchirapalli in Tamil Nadu while taking off for Dubai. He also noted that growth in the aviation sector should not come at the expense of safety.

Read also: AI flight hits Tiruchi airport wall during take off

“Safety of the passengers is of paramount importance for us. We will take all that’s required to put safety on top of aviation agenda. Growth can’t be at the expense of safety,” tweeted Prabhu.

He informed that the officers of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation had reached the airport at Tiruchirapally for preliminary inquiry and the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau officers had also been deputed.

The Air India constituted a sub-committee of its board to look at all the safety-related issues within the organisation, including subsidiaries. The sub-committee is headed by an independent director of the Air India Board.

Prabhu also ordered that a mechanism should be put in place for all airlines to submit regular safety compliance reports. “In order to have continuous attention towards air safety, I have also ordered concerned officials to put in place a regular 'safety compliance report' of all airlines,” tweeted the civil aviation minister.