Air India Crash Mystery: Why No Cockpit Cameras Yet?

Asianet News English

The fatal Air India crash raised serious questions—why aren’t cockpit cameras mandatory in Indian aircraft? As missing clues stall the probe, aviation experts slam regulatory lapses. Families demand answers, and pressure mounts on the DGCA. The controversy over missing footage and safety standards is only escalating.

Transcript

00:00Last month's tragic Air India crash has reignited a decades-long debate in the aviation world.

00:10Should video cameras be added to cockpits to support traditional voice and flight data recorders?

00:16Speaking from Singapore, Willy Walsh, head of the International Air Transport Association,

00:22and a former pilot himself, strongly backed the idea.

00:26He argued that cockpit cameras could offer critical context that voice and data recording sometimes miss,

00:32especially in complex or unclear situations.

00:37His comments came after India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau raised the possibility

00:43that a pilot might have mistakenly cut off fuel to the engines shortly after takeoff,

00:47a move that left the aircraft beyond recovery.

00:51The crash in Ahmedabad claimed 241 of the 242 people on board, along with 19 lives on the ground.

01:00Walsh pointed out that even limited information suggests video footage could have shed more light,

01:06particularly regarding pilot intent or mental state.

01:10Supporters of cockpit video argue that it bridges investigative gaps left by audio and data.

01:16A powerful example.

01:18In Australia last year, crash investigators credited on-board video for revealing that a helicopter pilot

01:24was distracted by his phone and food before a fatal mid-air breakup.

01:28In fact, calls for cockpit cameras go back at least to 2000,

01:33when US NTSB chairman Jim Hall pushed for mandatory video following the Egypt Air Flight 990 crash,

01:40which investigators concluded was deliberately caused by a pilot.

01:46Still, not everyone agrees.

01:49Pilots unions, including the Airline Pilots Association and Allied Pilots Association,

01:55warn that video could be misused, potentially violating privacy,

01:59fueling disciplinary actions, or leaking footage to the public.

02:03Critics argue the current black box systems are already sufficient for investigations.

02:08Aviation safety expert John Nance believes safety outweighs privacy concerns.

02:14But others, like John Cox, a former pilot and union safety chairman,

02:19stress that unless airtight global confidentiality can be guaranteed,

02:23pilot trust may be impossible to secure.

02:27The International Federation of Airline Pilots Associations remains skeptical,

02:32saying the risk of leaked identifiable footage is too high in today's media landscape.

02:37As investigators continue to piece together the events of Air India Flight 171,

02:43the debate over cockpit video recorders gains urgency once again,

02:47balancing the promise of clearer answers against real concerns over privacy and misuse.

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