Advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for the NGO ‘Safety Matters Foundation’, alleged that in the probe panel constituted after the crash, three members were from the aviation regulator and there may be an issue of conflict of interest involved
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday said certain aspects of the AAIB preliminary report on the June 12 Air India crash indicating lapses on the part of pilots were “irresponsible”, and issued notices to the Centre and the Director General of Civil Aviation on a plea seeking an independent, fair and expeditious probe.
A bench of Justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh took note of certain aspects of the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) preliminary report issued on July 12.
Advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for the NGO ‘Safety Matters Foundation’, alleged that in the probe panel constituted after the crash, three members were from the aviation regulator and there may be an issue of conflict of interest involved.
He sought release of the information from the flight data recorder of the airplane that would clear the air over the cause of the accident.
The bench, which batted for the final report on the crash, said there is an issue of confidentiality and aspects of privacy and dignity involved in the matter.
While cautioning that the release of particular kinds of information may be exploited by rival airlines, the bench said that it is only issuing notice on the limited aspect of free, fair, independent and expeditious investigation of the crash.
The plea has been filed by an aviation safety NGO led by Captain Amit Singh (FRAeS), alleging that the official probe violates citizens’ fundamental rights to life, equality and access to truthful information.