Civil aviation ministry upgrades air crash probe

new delhi: the civil aviation ministry on wednesday upgraded the one-man probe into the air crash, which claimed the lives of congress leader madhavrao scindia and seven others, to a high-powered inquiry committee which would submit its report within two months. "we have upgraded the inquiry under the relevant provisions of the aircraft rules. the committee of inquiry will submit its report latest by december 3," civil aviation minister shahnawaz hussain told reporters here. the one-man inspector's investigation, being headed by p shaw, deputy director (safety) in the directorate general of civil aviation (dgca), has been expanded to include three more members, he said. the decision was taken after hussain reviewed the situation and held consultations with senior officers of his ministry. in view of the gravity of the situation, the ministry decided to have the accident investigated by the committee under rule 74 of the 1937 aircraft rules, hussain said. while capt d v singh, director (flight safety) of indian airlines, would be the chairman, shaw would be the member secretary. other members are air commodore (retd) p badhwar, director of indira gandhi rashtriya udan academy, and k b batra, chief engineer (air) of border security force. the ministry has already set up a separate committee to review the overall position regarding the operation of small aircraft, the companies operating them, besides technical issues like maintenance.