Investigators say Mumbai plane crash report in 15 days, experts dub it tall claim

While investigators on Friday said the preliminary inquiry report into the chartered plane crash in Ghatkopar would be released within 15 days, aviation experts are sceptical. Reason: reports of the three mishaps in the state in the past 18 months are yet to be released.

While a Pawan Hans helicopter with seven people on board crashed off the Mumbai coast on January 13 this year, two people died as the aircraft from the National Flying Training Institute crashed in Gondia district on April 26, 2017. On December 11, 2016, a helicopter carrying a couple for a joyride crashed into the hills in Aarey Milk Colony.

A team from Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), a division of the ministry of civil aviation, visited the site along with representatives of aircraft operator UY Aviation and Indamer Aviation Private Limited, the company repairing it. Investigators are studying the evidence and the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) to find the cause.

According to AAIB officials, the CVR will be taken to Delhi and decoded by Tuesday. “After decoding the CVR, a preliminary report will be made in a week,” said the official.

Aviation safety expert Captain Mohan Ranganathan said, “C-90 aircraft don’t have a digital flight data recorder (DFDR). CVR only records conversation in the cockpit, which can only help us know if it was a mechanical failure.”

Former Air Force pilot and aviation expert Vipul Saxena said, “It’s time for the aviation ministry to get an independent aircraft accident investigation body, like the US.”

Investigations show that after moving north, the plane travelled only up to 57 nautical miles, and then veered towards Juhu at a height of 400 feet. Senior officials from the Airports Authority of India (AAI) said the plane crashed around four nautical miles away from the landing site (aerodrome), as it could not maintain the height while landing, but denied it was flying dangerously low.

“The approach path for the airport begins at a height of 2,900ft, which means the pilot starts descending from this height in the direction of the Mumbai runway and turns right to approach the landing at Juhu. A height of 400feet was not a problem as the aircraft had started descent,” said an official.