The length and breadth of plane crash investigations

The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) is India's primary agency for investigating aviation accidents, established in 2012 under the Ministry of Civil Aviation.

- Neha LM Tripathi and Binayak Dasgupta

AAIB operates independently from regulators to ensure objective findings, following international standards set by ICAO Annex 13.

The sole objective is accident prevention, not assigning blame. Before 2012, the DGCA handled investigations, but separation ensures independence from regulatory oversight.

Part of international framework

Aviation investigations follow ICAO Annex 13 protocols. Multiple countries can participate: the State of Occurrence (where the crash happened), State of Registry (where aircraft is registered), State of the Operator (airline's base), and State of Design/ Manufacture (where aircraft was built).

Each participating state can appoint representatives to join the investigation team. In this case, teams from the US led by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and from UK (which lost over 50 citizens in the tragedy) are part of the process.

The process

The first is the immediate response by police, who secure the crash site then hand control to AAIB teams.

Investigation teams include operations specialists, engineering experts, human factors investigators, and support staff.

"The team, is usually divided in a way that they are able to search all the aircraft parts to be analysed for investigation.

While the time taken to find material evidences depends of the severity of the crash, it is to be wrapped up within a week of the accident," said an AAIB official who asked not to be named.

This person explained that teams document physical evidence, examine wreckage, collect samples, and interview witnesses. All debris remains untouched except by investigators-even passenger luggage cannot be returned until cleared.

The critical equipment