No blame being assigned in AI-171 crash probe: Govt

The Centre on Thursday told the Supreme Court that there was “no attempt to apportion blame on anyone” in the ongoing investigation by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Board (AAIB) into the Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner crash on June 12 that killed over 250 people, even as the court too clarified that the object of such inquiries was to ascertain the cause of the tragedy and prevent its recurrence — not to fix responsibility or assign fault.

- Utkarsh Anand

Appearing for the Centre, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said that the investigation was being conducted in accordance with international civil aviation norms and that there existed a “clear regime” under the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) conventions.

“There is an international convention, a regime in place, and mandatory steps to be followed in cases of air crash investigations,” Mehta submitted before a bench of justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi.

“Suppose some foreigners were also victims. Those countries send their representatives for the investigation. There is no blame attributed to anyone. Since there was some misconception after the preliminary report, the Ministry of Civil Aviation issued a press note clarifying that no one has been blamed,” he added.