Ahmedabad plane crash: Aviation attorney from US seeks flight recorder data, meets kin of victims
Ahmedabad.(PTI): Mike Andrews, a US aviation attorney representing at least 130 families who lost their kin in the June 12 Ahmedabad Air India plane crash, has urged the Union government to release the flight recorder data, which will allow for transparency and help families consider legal options.
Andrews referred to a recent BBC interview with the sole survivor, Vishwas Kumar Ramesh. He said the flickering lights inside the plane, which turned green just before the crash, suggest the main electrical system switched to an emergency or backup system for unknown reasons.
Air India flight AI 171, a Boeing 787-8 aircraft en route to London Gatwick, crashed into a medical hostel complex shortly after it took off from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport on June 12 and burst into flames, killing 241 out of 242 people onboard and 19 individuals on the ground.
Vishwas Kumar Ramesh was the lone passenger who survived.
"I appeal to the Indian government to release the FDR (Flight Data Recorder) data so that our experts can conduct an independent evaluation. I think the most important thing these families can have is transparency," Andrews told PTI here on Monday during his second visit to Gujarat since the plane crash.
He had visited Ahmedabad, Vadodara, and Surat in August and met kin of some of the victims during his first visit.
"Currently, we represent over 130 families from India and the United Kingdom. I am once again here in Gujarat to meet some of these kin. Legal options, such as a product liability suit to be filed in the US, are based on the data we get and what investigations reveal," said the aviation attorney of the US-based law firm Beasley Allen.
In the absence of official data, Andrews said he was forced to collect relevant information from other sources, such as investigative news articles and interviews with the sole survivor.
"Vishwas Kumar told the BBC that the lights inside the plane flickered off and on and turned green just prior to the crash.
"That is an indication of an electrical problem on the plane. A likely switching over from the primary electrical system to the backup, an emergency system that causes the emergency green lights to come on," he said.
It is crucial to understand why the system switched to emergency mode and the likely consequences, and whether water leakage led to this disruption and eventual crash, Andrews said.
"We know that as early as 2016, Boeing and the Federal Aviation Administration were documenting water leaks in the planes in areas that can affect the electrical systems. They have these leaking water couplings that can leak into areas of computer equipment of electric equipment.
"So we want to know if that's what happened, because we know that it is a problem. We know that our plane appears to have exhibited electrical issues. We need to know the relationship between those two, and that's why the flight data recorder is so important, so that we know what happened on the plane," he said.
On the reports of Aircraft Accidents Investigation Bureau (AAIB) visiting the US this month to discuss FDR and cockpit voice recorder data with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) of the US, Andrews said the meeting may revolve around "some technical questions AAIB may have found in the data and wanted to discuss with NTSB".
To get answers from US authorities about the crash, Andrews filed an appeal under the Freedom of Information Act, which is similar to India's Right to Information Act.
"I have filed that request to the Federal Aviation Administration in the US to obtain a copy of whatever investigation they are doing from their side. I did that because our understanding is that AAIB may have shared some information with FAA," he said.
Andrews will travel to Anand, Vadodara, and Mumbai to meet the families who have agreed to pursue the case.
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Leadership change: Will abide by Cong high command decision, says Siddaramaiah
Belagavi (Karnataka) (PTI): Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Monday reiterated that he will abide by the Congress high command's decision on the leadership change issue in the state.
The CM has been repeatedly stating for the last few days that he and Deputy CM D K Shivakumar will go by what the high command decides on the chief minister change.
"Will abide by whatever the high command decides," Siddaramaiah told reporters in response to a question on his son and Congress MLC Yathindra Siddaramaiah's statement that there is no question of leadership change as of now, and that he believes that the former will continue as CM for five years.
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Earlier in the day, Yathindra claimed that the Congress high command has said that there is no leadership change in the state.
"I have been saying this, which is not new. I feel that, as of now, there is nothing like leadership change. I hope that he (Siddaramaiah) will complete his five-year term," Yathindra told reporters at the Suvarna Vidhana Soudha here.
To a question that Siddaramaiah had been asked to come to Delhi in January, Yathindra said the Congress high command calls the chief minister for various issues. So he will go there and discuss. He will also talk about the prevailing situation in the state, he said.
Yathindra also admitted that there was confusion over the leadership issue because, "the Deputy Chief Minister was asked whether he wants to be the CM. There are aspirants in all the political parties. The high command has said that they will not decide it now."
According to Yathindra, the Congress Legislative Party (CLP) elects a candidate for a definite period. It is the CLP which decides who should be the chief minister.
He claimed that, "The Congress high command has made it clear that there is no leadership change as of now."
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Yathindra further claimed that high command had a meeting recently where they said they have not taken any decision and postponed it. "So, as of now, there is no talk on the change of leadership in Karnataka," he claimed.
The power tussle within the ruling party had intensified amid speculation about a change in chief minister in the state, after the Congress government reached the halfway mark of its five-year term on November 20.
The speculation was fuelled by an alleged "power-sharing" agreement involving Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar in 2023.
However, both CM and Deputy CM had recently held breakfast meetings at each others residences, on the instructions of the high command, which is seen as a move to pause the leadership tussle between the two and to signal Siddaramaiah's continuation as the CM for the time being, especially ahead of the Belagavi legislature session.
