Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau, Mandate, Latest News

Q: What is the role of DGCA?

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is the regulatory body in the field of Civil Aviation, primarily dealing with safety issues.

Q: What is the International Civil Aviation Organization?

The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) is a United Nations agency which helps 193 countries to cooperate together and share their skies to their mutual benefit.

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Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau Latest News

Recently, the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) launched a formal investigation to determine what went wrong in Air India flight AI-17, operating a Boeing 787 crash.

About Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau

It is a government agency established in 2012 within the Ministry of Civil Aviation.
Its primary responsibility is to investigate aircraft accidents and serious incidents in India’s airspace. The purpose is to determine how the accident happened and recommend safety improvements, not to assign blame or punish people.
Before AAIB, such investigations were handled by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), which also regulated airlines.

Mandate of Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau

It is responsible for classification of ‘Safety Occurrences’ involving aircraft operating in the Indian Airspace into Accidents, Serious Incidents and Incidents.
All Accidents and Serious Incidents involving aircraft with AUW more than 2250 Kgs or Turbojet aircraft are investigated by AAIB.
AAIB may investigate serious incidents or incidents to aircraft apart from the ones mentioned above, if it appears expedient to hold an investigation into the circumstances of such serious incident or incident.
As per the Rule 3 of Aircraft (Investigation of Accidents and Incidents) Rules, 2017 the sole objective of the investigations carried out by AAIB is prevention of accidents and incidents and not to apportion blame or liability.

Key functions of Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau

Investigate all aircraft accidents and serious incidents in Indian airspace
Collect evidence (black boxes, flight data, witness statements)
Analyze causes and issue safety recommendations
Publish final reports for global aviation authorities
After completion of the investigation and acceptance of the same by the Director General, AAIB, the Investigation Reports are made public and published by AAIB on its website.
The accepted ‘Final Investigation Reports’ are also forwarded to the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and the States participating in the investigation.