Ghatkopar aircraft crash: AAIB's final report by Dec

Apex aircraft accident investigation body AAIB is likely to submit its final report in Ghatkopar aircraft crash to the government by December this year, and necessary action will be taken based on the findings of the probe, Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri has said.

On June 28, 2018, a King Air C-90 charter aircraft crashed during a test flight in the eastern suburb of Ghatkopar.

Four people on board the aircraft -- two pilots and two aircraft maintenance engineers, as well as a bystander, were killed in the incident.

The plane belonged to U Y Aviation Pvt Ltd which had a pact with Indamar Aviation Pvt Ltd for carrying out repairs and making the aircraft serviceable.

"Investigation by Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) in the Ghatkopar plane crash has been completed and the final report is likely to come out by December 2019," Puri informed former BJP lawmaker Kirit Somaiya in a communication last Wednesday.

The AAIB, which comes under the Civil Aviation Ministry, has been mandated to investigate all serious incidents/accidents involving India registered aircraft.

Immediately after the crash, the probe was handed over to the AAIB.

Besides, a parliamentary panel on labour, headed by Somaiya, also looked into the crash and submitted its report to the House.

"Based on the findings of the investigation, necessary action will be taken. The report of the Parliamentary Standing Committee has already been submitted to the Parliament in June," Puri further said in his communication to Somaiya.

The particular aircraft, according to the parliamentary panel's report, was bought from Silver Jubilee Traveler Pvt Ltd, which had purchased the same from the Uttar Pradesh government in early 2014 as "scrap".

The aircraft involved in the Ghatkopar crash was on an "illegal test flight" and the plane itself was brought to Mumbai in pieces in trucks, according to the report.

Besides, the aircraft was insured for Rs 7 crore in January 2017 in an illegal and non-transparent manner, the panel had said.