New Delhi, 18 December. In the Lok Sabha on Thursday, Congress MP Manish Tiwari cornered the government on two serious issues related to the country’s civil aviation sector. On the one hand, he gave notice of an adjournment motion in Parliament on the chaos created by the massive flight cancellations and delays of Indigo Airlines, on the other hand, he also raised questions on the government’s response to the investigation into the Air India Ahmedabad plane crash.
In the adjournment motion notice given to the Lok Sabha Secretariat, Manish Tiwari has demanded that by postponing the Question Hour, Zero Hour and all the listed business of the day, there should be an immediate discussion on the serious situation arising across the country due to Indigo Airlines. He said thousands of passengers are stranded in different parts of the country due to widespread flight cancellations and delays by IndiGo.
Manish Tiwari said in the notice that in January 2024, the government had notified new rules related to duty and rest of pilots under the Flight Duty Time Limitation (FDTL) rules of DGCA. These rules were issued well in advance to give all airlines enough time to adjust their rosters. Despite this, IndiGo failed to follow these rules, due to which more than a thousand flights had to be canceled in a few days and huge chaos spread across the country.
He alleged that this was not just mismanagement, but what appeared to be deliberate ignoring of rules, leading to pressure on the government to withdraw the safety rules. Manish Tewari has demanded the government to order an immediate investigation, hold the airline accountable, provide full refund and compensation to the affected passengers and take concrete safety measures to prevent such public inconvenience in future.
Manish Tiwari also raised questions on the transparency of the government regarding the Air India plane crash on the social media platform ‘X’. He said that more than six months have passed since the Air India flight crash in Ahmedabad, in which more than 250 people died, but till now it is not clear what was the real reason for the accident. He alleged that the government is continuously giving vague answers on this issue.
In response to an unstarred question in the Lok Sabha asked by Manish Tewari, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Muralidhar Mohol said that the investigation of this accident is being done by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) as per the standards of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). There may also be participation of other countries in this investigation including aircraft manufacturing country, design country, registration country and operator country.
The government also reported that both the front and rear enhanced airborne flight recorders (EAFRs) of the aircraft, including the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder, were recovered on 13 and 16 June 2025. They were handed over to Delhi-based AAIB on 24 June 2025 under all security protocols. According to the government, these recorders are under constant security and CCTV surveillance with AAIB.
On the demand for an independent investigation, the government said that the AAIB was established as an independent body in the year 2012 and it works with complete autonomy under the Aircraft Accident Investigation Rules 2025. However, Manish Tiwari says that in such a major accident and in matters related to the safety of passengers, the government should show more transparency and accountability so that public trust can be restored.
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