Mumbai The investigation into the plane crash of former Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar now seems to be reaching the decisive stage. The responsibility of investigation has been handed over to the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB). According to the Civil Aviation Ministry, the aircraft’s black box was damaged by intense heat and fire during the crash, although data from a portion of it has been successfully retrieved. The ministry said that out of two independent flight recorders installed on the aircraft, Digital Flight Data Recorder (DFDR) and Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR), the data of DFDR has been downloaded to the Flight Recorder Lab of AAIB. This recorder is manufactured by the American company L3 Communications. At the same time, detailed technical investigation of CVR, which is manufactured by Honeywell, is going on. Technical support has been sought from the concerned company to recover CVR data.
political rhetoric intensified
Political rhetoric has also intensified on claims of burning of black boxes. NCP (Sharad faction) MLA and Pawar’s nephew Rohit Pawar said the black box may be safe from massive fires and blasts, but not from Maharashtra politics. Experts say that the black box can tolerate 1100 degree Celsius temperature for one hour and 260 degree temperature for about 10 hours. In such a situation, the possibility of it burning completely is said to be less.
The accident happened on 28 January
VSR Ventures Company’s Learjet 45 aircraft crashed on the morning of 28 January in Baramati in Pune district. A total of five people including Ajit Pawar died in this accident. The plane took off from Mumbai at 8:10 am and crashed near Baramati at around 8:45 am. The black box was recovered on the second day of the accident.
Demand for CBI investigation
Ajit Pawar’s wife Sunetra Pawar along with other NCP leaders met Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and demanded a CBI inquiry into the accident. Sunil Tatkare and Praful Patel were also included in this delegation. The Chief Minister has assured to discuss this matter with the Central Government. According to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), the investigation is being conducted under the International Standards of Aircraft Accident Investigation Rules, 2017 and ICAO Annex-13. AAIB has appealed that speculations should be avoided until the investigation is completed. The Bureau has assured that the findings will be based solely on technical evidence.
