00:00We can now bring in Anita Mandirata, Aviation and Tourism Advisor and author of The Call to Leadership, Unlocking the Leader Within in Times of Crisis.
00:08Thank you so much for joining us on the program today.
00:11Now, we have news that the NTSB are sending a team to India.
00:17Britain, too, is sending a team to India.
00:19Who's going to be leading this investigation?
00:22The Indian authorities are going to be leading the investigation.
00:25And this is very important because it's wonderful that we're getting global support and global empathy, effectively, for what is being experienced by Air India, by the Indian people and by Boeing through this.
00:36So it's very important that it's recognized that the investigation that will take place, firstly, the investigation will start with a 30-day report on ultimately what has happened in terms of the overview of the incident.
00:49But it's going to take time to get details, confirmed details about exactly what took place with this incident.
00:56It requires the flight data.
00:58It requires the flight recorders.
00:59It requires the investigation scene be absolutely analyzed for clarity of information.
01:05And as we've seen, this is a devastating scene because it's not only at the airport, it's going into a residential area.
01:11So the damage is severe, which is why it's so important that the leadership of this investigation, the Indian authorities, be supported by Air India, by Boeing, by the engine manufacturers, and, as we've seen, the UK governments and others who want to get involved.
01:28What are you hearing about possible causes of the crash?
01:32Because from what I was listening to earlier, I heard that both engines had failed the possible bird attack.
01:39What could it be, the fact that this flight crashed just minutes after taking off?
01:46Indeed, there are many possibilities, but I think what's really important is managing speculation.
01:51And that's why I say for all the information that we hear, we must only work with what is verified.
01:56The facts need to come first.
01:58The challenge with aviation is that it is an industry that inspires us all.
02:02You, myself, we're passengers.
02:04We're all excited by how aviation connects people and places, all of us, to lead to ultimately to opportunities and possibilities around the world.
02:12But when a situation happens, as we're seeing right now on your screen, it also brings in an innate fear around how aviation can make us feel very fragile.
02:22Just putting this in context, this incident, which is devastating, it's never been seen before with Boeing, with Air India, with anyone in the ecosystem, is one within 100 to 150,000 aircraft movements that happen every single day around the world.
02:40Still, we must take from this the learnings, but the learnings only come from proven information.
02:47And that's where the leadership of especially Boeing with Kelly Ortberg and also Air India with Campbell Wilson is going to be very important, focusing on what they see as being the route through understanding how do we make sure this never happens again.
03:02Because Air India is going through a reform process.
03:06It was bought by the Tata Group in India a couple of years ago.
03:10Campbell Wilson was poached from Singapore Airlines to lead the company in this time.
03:17And now this crash happens.
03:18How much of a setback is this for the company?
03:22It's enormous.
03:23And if you make a very good point, because Air India, as you know, the flag carrier of the subcontinent has huge emotional connection to Indians in the cuts on the subcontinent and around the world.
03:33So this didn't only happen to Air India, it happened to the Indian community.
03:38And so there's a lot of grieving that's taking place there.
03:41Campbell Wilson coming in as a CEO, he's a leader and a veteran of this industry, highly, highly respected.
03:47And in the last hour, he's actually put out a video message directly communicating to the world around the position of Air India and the depth of seriousness that they take this.
03:57And ultimately, as Prime Minister Modi has said, the heartbreak that is being felt.
04:02As you've also rightly called out, Air India is going through a transformation process, one that is going to revitalize not only the airline, but Indian aviation.
04:11They ordered in 2023 200 new 787s from Boeing, which was a remarkable statement of confidence from Air India in the airline manufacturer, aircraft manufacturer.
04:23And they're looking at ultimately making sure that the Indian economy and community can be unlocked to new possibilities through aviation.
04:31So he's committed to doing the right thing.
04:34But we need to ensure that as he is, he's doing it the right way.
04:38And that's why it's about following the investigation, working through that, but also making sure we don't lose focus on the fact that lives have been lost, both those in the aircraft and those on the ground in Ahmedabad.
04:51The compassion is needed, the support is needed, and the respect is needed to allow the answers to come out truthfully, as they need to, to again, make sure that this never happens to any airline or any airline manufacturer again.
05:06Indeed, because Boeing has had a tumultuous couple of years.
05:10The company says it is ready to send help and help in any way, help Air India in the investigation.
05:20How long will it take to locate the black box, you think, given that the crash didn't happen in the water, but in a residential area, yes, caused a lot of deaths, which wouldn't have been caused if it didn't hit a residential building.
05:36But locating the black box, do you think we'd likely get it today or tomorrow?
05:41I would be very surprised, admittedly.
05:44I'm speculating, and I say that very clearly.
05:46I'm not supplying technical expertise to this.
05:48And one of the reasons why, though, I'd be surprised is simply this.
05:51Because the aircraft was about to take off, it was fully, fully loaded with fuel.
05:57It was carrying between 130 and 160 tons of jet fuel, which means that when the incident happened, the degree of explosion, as we've seen from the video footage, was immense.
06:09That makes it even that much more difficult to locate the black boxes.
06:13But the expertise that's required to be able to find them is being applied.
06:17So that is a priority without question.
06:20And that's when we can start getting some of the answers.
06:23We know there was a May Day call.
06:24We know that the response to the call was not answered.
06:27So something happened very quickly in that first minute of the flight leaving the runway.
06:32And we know that from the video footage that there could be some breaches, or there have been breaches, in the protocols of operations.
06:39Whether that was an issue with the pilots, whether it was an issue with the actual aircraft, the technical side of it, we don't know.
06:46And that's why we need to be very careful in speculation and wait for the answers to be coming out in a way that we can trust the way forward in terms of understanding the whole situation that we're seeing unfold, which none of us will forget.
