The 46 experts of Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau are required to carry out the investigation of aircraft accidents. However, the panel investigating the Kerala plane crash has only one member from the AAIB.

GR Kathpalia, who had served as DG in DGCA for eight years, says the Investigator-in-Chief should definitely be a person with prior experience in the field of air crash investigation.

A Public Interest Litigation pending before the Kerala High Court has demanded a Court of Inquiry to ascertain the reason for the crash and a CBI investigation for potential criminal action against the officers involved.

The wreckage of the cockpit of the crashed Air India Express plane suggests that after the pilots landed on the runway in Calicut, they had attempted to take off again, perhaps realising they might not be able to stop the plane.

Independent safety experts have raised serious reservations on the competence of the investigator-in-charge and integrity of some of the members of the probe team.

The DGCA said the special audit will be done at airports like Mumbai and Chennai that are affected by heavy rains annually.

DGCA chief Arun Kumar said the Air India Express plane had made a late touchdown even though the runway was long enough for a bigger aircraft.