M’lore fallout: Separate board to probe air crashes

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NEW DELHI: The tragic Mangalore air crash in which 158 people lost their lives may prove to be a catalyst for setting up of an independent national transport safety board (NTSB), which would probe all accidents, apart from, of course, air crashes.

The logic behind this pending proposal was that the ministry concerned should be off any probe into an accident in order to ensure an objective report that would bring out the fault lines instead of being a cover-up operation and ensuring that lapses don’t come out in the open.

Apart from an independent NTSB, the Mangalore crash has had another fallout — freeing up of aviation regulator, Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), from the control of the ministry. ‘‘We are going to consider giving it full autonomy,’’ aviation minister Praful Patel said.

Patel, who chaired the first meeting of the newly-formed civil aviation safety advisory council (CASAC) — which has members from airports, airlines and DGCA — here on Thursday, said the suggestion for separating the regulatory and investigating wings was made in the meeting. This proposal, on the lines of the NTSB in the US, has been shuttling between various government agencies for a while now and is currently with the Planning Commission.

The American NTSB had sent a slew of officials to India to help in the Mangalore-crash probe. Sources said the proposal for an Indian NTSB has a ready precedent in the commissioner of railway safety that probes all train accidents. But this agency falls under the aviation ministry to ensure that train-accident probes are not influenced by the railway ministry.

The aviation ministry was virtually forced to strengthen the DGCA last year when the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) threatened to downgrade India’s aviation rating as the DGCA staff strength had fallen over the years while air traffic — and hence the work needed to be done by the regulator — multiplied rapidly. Patel said the government may bring in a ‘‘suitable legislation’’ to convert DGCA into an autonomous body. The regulator has also decided to send teams to 11 ‘‘critical’’ airports including Leh, Kullu, Port Blair, Agartala, Mangalore. ‘‘Critical does not mean unsafe. It reflects on the topography of the area where these airports exist,’’ the minister added. The report on these runways is expected in a week.

‘‘They will give their reports in three weeks. All suggestions of CASAC to further enhance aviation safety in the country will be given top priority by the DGCA and the government,’’ Patel said.