Centre kicks off search for Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau's new director general

New Delhi: The government has started the search for a new chief for the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) besides hiring nearly two dozen officials to bolster the agency tasked with the ongoing probe into the deadly Air India crash last year. GVG Yugandhar, the current director general at AAIB, retires on June 30. In addition to the hunt for a new chief, the government is also seeking to appoint 23 officials in the bureau, according to a vacancy notice published by the civil aviation ministry, seen by ET.

A senior government official said the superannuation of the AAIB head won’t impact the probe into the Air India plane crash that killed 260 people on June 12, 2025, as the current team is likely to wrap it up before that. Sanjay Singh, the second-highest ranked official at AAIB and lead investigator, is set to retire in June.

“The vacancy notices have been published so that there is ample time to select the next officers,” said a senior government official. “We don’t want a scenario where posts are vacant in the body due to retirements.”

AAIB’s performance has come under intense scrutiny since the Air India crash as experts raised concerns on the lack of communication and transparency about the process. The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) also appointed an external observer for the Air India crash probe—an unprecedented move by the UN body which had taken such steps earlier only in cases where a crash site was located in a conflict zone or a civilian aircraft was shot down by military forces.

The AAIB was set up after the 2010 Air India Express crash in Mangalore to replace the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) as India’s primary civil aviation crash investigation body but has perpetually remained understaffed and dependent on DGCA for officials. This has severely impacted the speed of investigation. Of the 25 accidents in the last three years, AAIB has published final investigation reports in only four cases.

Under Annex 13 of ICAO, the rules which govern accident investigations, a preliminary report should be published within 30 days of the incident, and a final report within 12 months.

If a final report cannot be published within the specified timeframe, a statement must be made on each anniversary detailing the progress of the probe.

“Timely investigation of accidents are very important as the purpose of a probe is to get learnings so that those can be used to prevent another crash,” said an airline executive. “If the process is delayed, then the purpose is lost.”

Among the delayed investigations is that of a September 2023 runway crash of a Learjet aircraft involving VSR Aviation. A similar plane of the same operator crashed last month killing Maharashtra deputy CM Ajit Pawar and four others.