The Morning Brief AAIB’s Ex Chief on Air Crashes, Crack Teams and Challenges
Jun 24, 2025
Aurobindo Handa, former Director General of the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau and Indian Air Force veteran, shares his insights into air crash investigations. He discusses the tragic Air India flight incident and the complexities of analyzing damaged black boxes. Handa highlights the challenges faced by India's investigation teams, including budget constraints and staffing shortages. He emphasizes the importance of meticulous data analysis and international cooperation in uncovering the truth behind air accidents. His experience sheds light on the critical need for effective oversight in aviation safety.
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AAIB's Fact-Finding Mandate
- AAIB's mandate is to find the root cause of air accidents without apportioning blame.
- It operates as a fact-finding body under Annex 13 of the UN and its own rules.
Calicut Crash Early Response
- In the 2020 Calicut crash, AAIB reached the site within hours and secured the flight recorders within five hours despite rain.
- They extracted flight data successfully at DGCA lab, aided by minimal fire damage at the site.
Complexity of Data Extraction
- Extracting data from flight recorders is a complex, long process involving decrypting and converting data into readable engineering parameters.
- Investigators align numerous timed inputs down to hundredths of a second to create a precise timeline of events.