Corruption permeates from the peak of the aviation hierarchy
The tragic crash of Air India Flight AI-171 on 12 June 2025 in Ahmedabad, India, claimed the lives of 241 passengers and crew members, making it the world's first fatal Dreamliner accident. The incident has highlighted structural weaknesses in India's rapidly growing yet fragile aviation ecosystem.
The crash has prompted a call for systemic reforms to strengthen regulatory mechanisms, enhance investigation independence, improve operational protocols, and upgrade technical systems. These reforms aim to move beyond blaming pilots and address deep systemic and cultural flaws within Indian aviation safety oversight.
One of the key reforms is the professionalization of regulatory bodies. This involves appointing trained aviation professionals rather than bureaucrats to lead key institutions like the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and Airports Authority of India (AAI), providing technical expertise and evidence-based leadership.
Another crucial reform is the establishment of an autonomous accident investigation agency. This independent body would conduct impartial investigations, publish transparent findings, and identify systemic gaps without political interference. This would mirror models like the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).
The incident has also raised concerns about "paper compliance" in India. Enforcement of international safety standards, such as strict adherence to obstacle clearance near flight paths, is essential to address these concerns.
Comprehensive and routine maintenance protocols are also necessary to ensure no lapses go unnoticed before flights. Mandating thorough pre-departure inspections for all aircraft, in addition to periodic checks, is a step towards achieving this.
Enhanced scenario-based pilot training is another crucial aspect. Regular use of full-motion simulators to train pilots for extreme or rare emergencies like dual engine failures, and conducting routine emergency drills, will enhance preparedness.
Breaking the culture of complacency is another important reform. Encouraging a safety culture that prioritizes procedural discipline over minimizing operational disruptions is necessary to address internal audit findings of inconsistent compliance, deferred maintenance, and ignored warnings prior to the crash.
Upgrading electrical and power systems on aircraft is also crucial. Reviewing how faults are isolated and power prioritized during emergencies, introducing multiple backup layers for essential systems, hybrid starter generators with backup power, and independent emergency generators not reliant on engines, are steps towards achieving this.
Mandatory reporting of all technical anomalies is another essential reform. Encouraging airlines to report even minor anomalies will help detect and address deeper issues early, reducing the risk of compounded failures.
Leveraging technology for safety is another key aspect. Using AI-driven automation to assist air traffic controllers in real-time risk assessment, data-backed decisions, and efficient management of weather and operational risks, will significantly enhance safety.
These reforms, if implemented effectively, will build a more resilient aviation safety framework in India. They focus on establishing technical leadership, transparency, procedural rigor, and technological advancement to address the systemic and cultural flaws within Indian aviation safety oversight exposed by the AI-171 crash.
The aircraft involved in the crash was a Boeing 787-8, 11.2 years old, powered by GEnx-1B67 engines. Under Article 26 of the Chicago Convention, India must demonstrate transparent, independent accident investigation to retain FAA "Category 1" status. The crash also resulted in the deaths of two dozen residents on the ground.
Safety-related Public Interest Litigations (PILs) in India are often remitted to the Ministry of Civil Aviation, limiting external oversight. Institutional fragmentation leads to diluted accountability in India's aviation ecosystem, with overlap among MoCA, DGCA, AAI, and AAIB.
30 percent of airport expansion in India still follows 2008 OLS codes, ignoring new wide-body aircraft performance envelopes. The Swiss-Cheese Model suggests that multiple latent holes, including weak wildlife-hazard control, training gaps, and urban encroachment, aligned to let a single triggering event penetrate every defence layer.
There is a shortage and skill gap in India's flight-operations inspectorate, with only 187 inspectors on roll versus ICAO's recommended 350 for India's traffic volume. The European Union's EASA has a "Just Culture Regulation 376/2014" that legally protects reporters, which could be a model for India.
Cultural barriers in India's aviation ecosystem include pilots fearing punitive action, resulting in a voluntary occurrence reporting rate that is less than 45 percent and half of the European average. Civil aviation contributes approximately 5 percent of India's GDP and supports 11 million jobs. Singapore's CAAS integrates obstacle-clearance approvals with e-planning portals, reducing political interference, which could be a model for India to follow.
Transparent accident timelines, safety-linked financial penalties, public capacity-building, and introducing aviation-safety modules in National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) training are other suggested reforms. The United States has an independent NTSB with statutory subpoena powers, and its FAA uses the "Wildlife Strike Database" to drive predictive mowing schedules, which could be models for India to emulate.
In conclusion, the AI-171 crash has underscored the need for systemic reforms in India's aviation safety architecture. The proposed reforms aim to build a more resilient and safe aviation ecosystem by focusing on technical leadership, transparency, procedural rigor, and technological advancement.
- The aviation industry must emphasize enhancing regulatory independence and operational protocols to address issues highlighted by the Air India Flight AI-171 accident.
- The General News sector should highlight the need for professionalization of regulatory bodies, such as DGCA and AAI, to provide technical expertise and evidence-based leadership.
- Financial penalties linked to safety lapses are necessary to ensure compliance with international safety standards, like strict adherence to obstacle clearance near flight paths.
- Technology, particularly AI-driven automation, can play a vital role in air traffic control, improving weather and operational risk management, and increasing overall aviation safety.
