First day of Parl session on July 21 to see MPs raising questions about Air India crash in Rajya Sabha

New Delhi: Is there a sabotage angle to the Air India’s Boeing 787-8 'Dreamliner' air crash? Won’t Boeing do some “mischievous thing” with black box data, if it is sent abroad? Will a Joint Parliamentary Committee be set up to probe regulatory failures and safety standards in the civil aviation sector?

These are among at least 41 sets of questions that will be raised during Question Hour by around 50 MPs, including from Congress, BJP, Trinamool Congress, DMK, JD(U), CPI(M), CPI, Shiv Sena, Jana Sena and NCP (SP), in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha in the first week of Monsoon Session of Parliament.

Thirty-four sets of questions – 23 in Lok Sabha and 11 in Rajya Sabha – specifically mention the Air India crash while there are at least seven queries about the safety regime in the civil aviation sector though it does not mention the June 12 air crash in Ahmedabad directly.

The first day of the session on July 21 would see MPs raising questions about the air crash in Rajya Sabha, as queries related to the Ministry of Civil Aviation are scheduled to come up every Monday. Similarly, the Ministry’s queries come up in Lok Sabha on Thursdays.

The MPs have to submit questions at least two weeks for it to be taken up on a particular date and the questions on July 21 and 24 have not factored latest developments, including the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) publicising its preliminary report.

For example, Lok Sabha MPs were given a July 8 deadline to submit questions to the Civil Aviation Ministry for taking them up on July 24. However, the MPs could ask questions related to latest developments in the coming weeks.

Congress' Manish Tewari, who has questioned the delay in appointing a Lead Investigator, has asked whether the government proposes to set up a JPC to examine regulatory failures and safety standards in view of the increasing number of aviation-related incidents.

DMK's Dayanidhi Maran wants to know the oversight exercised by DGCA over Air India's safety protocols since the Tata Group takeover.

In Rajya Sabha, BJP’s Ashok Chavan will have an opportunity to raise the issue as second question on Monday while responses to 24 questions will be given in writing.

Rajya Sabha MPs DMK’s Kanimozhi NVN Somu and YSR Congress Yerram Venkata Subba Reddy have asked whether the investigators are looking at any “angle of sabotage”. In Lok Sabha, Congress’ K Sudhakaran and Sudha R, CPI(M)’s Amra Ram and Jana Sea’s Balashwory Vallabaneni also raised queries related to possible sabotage.

Even as the Ministry and the AAIB preliminary report has clarified that black boxes were analysed in India, MPs have raised questions about data analysed from black boxes. Lok Sabha MPs Sudha and Balashowry Vallabhaneni have asked whether there is a possibility of tampering or interference by Boeing in case the Black Box is assessed abroad.

CPI(M)’s John Brittas has asked whether any adverse observations regarding safety or flightworthiness of the crashed airline had been flagged before the accident by passengers or the DGCA during the last six months. Congress’ Jebi Mather has asked whether the government intends to withdraw Boeing 787 Dreamliners against the backdrop of the mishap.

MPs have also asked about the high-level committee led by the Home Secretary, compensation paid to the victims and defects reported by airlines, lapses in safety audits. Also among repeated questions were whether the final report will be made public.