The government late on Thursday evening appointed a “committee of inquiry” headed by former Western Air Command chief Air Marshal (Retd.) P.S. Ahluwalia to “inquire into the circumstances of accident of the Pawan Hans helicopter near Labotang, Arunachal Pradesh” on April 30 that killed Arunachal chief minister Dorjee Khandu and others. On Friday, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) also sought a report from the civil aviation authorities on the steps taken to ensure safety of VIP flights after the death of Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy in an helicopter crash in September, 2009.
This comes even as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is expected to travel to Arunachal Pradesh on Friday in the wake of Khandu’s death. The PMO has sought a detailed note on the matter, top government aviation sources told this newspaper.
A high-level meeting was held at the civil aviation ministry to discuss the response of the ministry and implementation of safety measures for VIP helicopter flights.
The “Committee of Inquiry”, which includes other retired officials of the IAF and DGCA, will submit its report to the Central government within three months.
“Keeping in view the circumstances of the sad and tragic accident and fatalities involved, the ministry of civil aviation has found it expedient to institute a Committee of Inquiry under Rule 74 of Aircraft Rules, 1937, to investigate and determine the cause and contributory factors leading to the accident and make recommendations to avoid recurrence of such accidents in future,” the civil aviation ministry stated.