Maharashtra’s Deputy Chief Minister, Sunetra Pawar, has officially asked for the Central Bureau of Investigation to look into the plane crash from January 28th, close to Baramati, which resulted in the deaths of her husband – who at the time was Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar – and four other people. This request for a CBI investigation came about as people began to ask about what exactly caused the Learjet-45XR to crash while coming in to land.
What happened in the crash, and what has been found so far
The Learjet-45XR was making what should have been a normal flight from Mumbai to Baramati when it crashed badly while getting ready to land at the Baramati airfield. Five people died in the accident: Ajit Pawar, the pilot, the co-pilot, a member of the flight crew, and a security guard who was with Mr Pawar. Investigators did get the plane’s black box, but people working on the case said it was very damaged. This has made more people wonder what took place, and has shown how important a full, careful scientific and technical review is, to work out the order of things, and what the basic reasons were.
The NCP’s request, and a meeting with the Chief Minister
Sunetra Pawar went to see the state’s Chief Minister with her son, Parth Pawar, and some of the more senior people in the party, to make the case for the CBI investigation. The Nationalist Congress Party said this was needed to be sure that the investigation into something so very serious was fair, without any bias, and done by people who were not involved. A letter from the party – signed by its national and state presidents – asked the state government to use the powers it had under the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act of 1946, to ask the CBI to investigate. The Chief Minister said he would put this to the Union Home Minister to think about.
What the NCP says were technical problems, and possible wrong actions
The party listed several technical and operating things which weren’t quite right, and which it said needed to be looked at without bias. These included last-minute changes to who was flying the plane, possible mistakes in how Air Traffic Control spoke to the plane, and questions about the order in which planes were given permission to land. NCP people also pointed out that, as far as they could tell, the plane hadn’t sent out any message saying it was in trouble, even though it was very close to landing. They were worried about how the safety warning systems on the plane were working, and said that the health and records of the crew should be given a detailed scientific check.
Why a central investigation is needed, and what it should cover
The NCP said that the crash involved complicated matters of aviation, electronics, forensic science, and how things were being operated, and that these were beyond what state investigators would normally be able to deal with. The party asked for the CBI because of its powers of investigation, its knowledge of a lot of different technical areas, and its ability to work across state lines. The CBI investigation that was asked for would look at the decisions made when running the flight, who gave permission for the crew to be changed, the records of Air Traffic Control, the plane’s maintenance log, how the safety systems were working, and any other electronic or forensic evidence that could make the reasons for the accident clearer.
Investigations that are already going on, and what might happen next
After the crash, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation and the state criminal investigation teams began inquiries. The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau promised to do a fair investigation, following normal rules. These are still going on, even as more and more people ask for a central investigation. If the state formally asks the CBI to get involved, and the central government agrees, a central investigation could either run at the same time as the investigations already going on, or take them over, depending on what the law and the areas of responsibility say. People involved say that being open, quickly looking at the flight recorders, and getting aviation experts to check the work, will be important to get the public to have faith again.
What the request for a CBI investigation means in politics and for the public
The request for a CBI investigation is important in politics, because a leading elected official died in the crash, and party leaders have been made to ask for an independent review. The public wants a clear result, and this is made stronger by different stories, and by questions which have been asked by other party members. Going forward, those in authority will need to balance the technical needs of an aviation investigation, with the legal and political things that have to be taken into account. An open, careful investigation which deals with the problems which have been pointed out, could help the families of the victims, and the wider public, to come to terms with what happened, and also make aviation safety better.
