"First time decoding of Black Box happened in India": Civil Aviation Minister Kinjarapu Rammohan Naidu on AI-171 crash probe

New Delhi [India], July 21 : Answering a question on the probe into the AI-171 crash, Union Civil Aviation Minister Kinjarapu Rammohan Naidu on Monday said that the decoding of the Black Box has happened in India for the first time.
Addressing the Rajya Sabha, Union Minister Naidu said, "First set of the probe is done and a preliminary report is out. Earlier, whenever Black Box had slight damage, the black box used to be sent to the manufacturer for decoding. For the first time, the decoding of the Black Box has happened in India."
Lauding the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), Naidu said that the agency is "unbiased".
"I want to say to the country that AAIB has a thorough rule-based process and they are totally unbiased," the Union Minister said.
He added, "I have seen multiple articles not only by the Indian media but also by the Western media trying to promote their own viewpoint. The way we are seeing the investigation is through facts. We want to stand by the truth. And that will only be revealed when the investigation is complete."
Answering a follow-up question on Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) working on 50 per cent of sanctioned strength, he said, "The number of aircraft and passengers almost doubled in the last 10 years. The Ministry also recommended more posts in the DGCA. These vacant posts have been created over the last 2-3 years. Last year, we recruited 103 posts, which is the highest in the history of DGCA."
Earlier on Sunday, the Civil Aviation Minister stressed that no comments should be made until the final investigation report is released, emphasising the need to respect the formal investigation process.
"The data is here. The preliminary report has also been seen, but making any comments until the final report has come -- I don't think it is a good exercise on behalf of anyone. That's why we are also very cautious," he told ANI.
His remarks come amid reports, particularly Western media outlets, suggesting that pilot error was a factor in the incident. Naidu emphasised the need for responsible reporting and respect for the formal process being led by India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB).
"You've seen that AAIB has made an appeal also to all the media houses, especially the western media houses, who might have certain vested interest in the kind of articles or the reports that they are trying to publish," the minister noted, asserting confidence in the AAIB's efforts.
The London-bound Air India AI-171 flight crashed on June 12, killing 260 people.