Gujarat plane crash: India had seen big jump in aviation safety rank

NEW DELHI: In December 2022, India's aviation safety oversight mechanism was ranked among the top 50 countries of the world. At No. 48, it was a big leap from its 102nd rank in 2018. International Civil Aviation Organisation had in November 2022 audited DGCA to check its effective implementation (EI) of critical safety elements.

Following that, the United Nation's aviation arm gave DGCA its highest ever EI score of 85.49%, an improvement over the 2018 score of 69.95%. After the last audit, India had countries like Nepal (No. 101) Pakistan (100) for company. Another neighbour, Bangladesh (94) was ranked above India, as was Sudan (89). After the latest review, India's EI score is now higher than countries like China (49), Israel (50), Turkiye (54), Denmark (55) and Poland (60).

Thursday's crash would see investigators go over safety protocols and processes with a high-level team from the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau, including the Director General and Director of Investigation, reported to be headed to Ahmedabad to begin a detailed inquiry.


AAIB, which functions under the civil aviation ministry, is the national authority tasked with probing civil aviation accidents and serious incidents.

AAIB has activated its emergency response protocol. The team will assess the wreckage, recover flight data, and initiate technical investigations into the cause of the crash. A preliminary report is expected in the coming weeks, followed by a comprehensive final report, officials said.