The Ministry of Civil Aviation has issued a public notice inviting comments on the draft Aircraft (Investigation of Accidents and Incidents) Rules, 2025 (“Draft Rules”) by 12th June, 2025.

Objections or suggestions in respect of the Draft Rules may be sent to the Director-General of Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau, Udaan Bhawan, Aurobindo Marg, New Delhi-110003 or e-mailed to dg.aaib-moca@gov.in or aaib.moca@nic.in.

Key Highlights:

1. The purpose of an investigation under these rules is solely to prevent accidents and incidents, not to assign blame or liability. Such investigations would be independent of any judicial or administrative proceedings.
2. The Draft Rules state that in case an accident or incident occurs to an aircraft covered under sub-rule (2) of rule 1, then the pilot-in-command of the aircraft or, the owner, the operator, the hirer or other person on whose behalf he was in command of the aircraft, or any relevant person, as the case may be, must notify the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau and Directorate General of Civil Aviation (“DGCA”) within 24 hours of becoming aware.
3. The Central Government, under the Draft Rules, would establish the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau of India (“AAIB”) and appoint such number of officers in the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau who are familiar with civil aircraft accident investigation procedures and other persons.
4. The Draft Rules provide the Central Government with an option of conducting a formal investigation of an accident, wherein it shall appoint a competent person (“the Court”), to hold the investigation, and appoint one or more persons possessing legal, aeronautical, engineering, or other special knowledge to act as assessors, and one or more Investigators would be appointed from Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau as an assessor.
5. The Draft Rules have further outlined a list of records which shall not be disclosed for purposes other than the investigation of the accident or incident except when the Central Government determines that such disclosure would outweigh any negative impact on that investigation or any future investigations. These include:-
   1. all statements taken from persons by the investigation authorities in the course of their investigation
   2. all communications between persons having been involved in the operation of the aircraft
   3. medical or private information regarding persons involved in the accident or incident
   4. cockpit voice recordings and transcripts from such recordings
   5. recordings and transcriptions of recordings from air traffic control units
   6. cockpit airborne image recordings and any part or transcripts from such recordings
   7. opinion expressed in the analysis of information, including flight recorder information.
6. The examples of incidents which will be considered as ‘Serious Incidents’ [please refer to Rule 2(34)] are provided in Schedule A.
7. Schedule B of the Draft Rules sets out guidance for determining of aircraft damage.

Source: Ministry of Civil Aviation

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