The Civil Aviation Minister and senior leader of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Praful Patel, on Wednesday questioned the ” ‘Silence’ of ‘Singapore Airlines’ on the incident of crashing of Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner in Ahmedabad last week.
‘Singapore Airlines’ is a 25.1 percent stake in AI -India run by the Tata Group and is included in its board of directors.
Patel expressed disappointment over the incident on the “Surprising silence” of the ‘Singapore Airlines’.
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, a Boeing 787-8 aircraft going to London with a total of 242 passengers and crew members, crashed immediately after flying from the International Airport.
241 people aboard the aircraft died while one person narrowly escaped the accident. In addition, 29 people present at the place where the aircraft crashed.
Patel said in a post on ‘X’, “A large shareholder and a large number of ‘Air India’ maintained aircraft, who are grieving and uproar over the Air India aircraft, are surprised by silence or ignorance on the role of airlines who maintained a large number of aircraft.”
The Rannkapa leader said, “Exject the name: ‘Singapore Airlines’. It seems that they are hidden. We should not forget that they have a role in management and they have an agreement with Air India.”
NCP is an ally of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Highlighting the relations between the top leadership of Singapore Airlines and Air India, Patel said, “The important thing is that the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Air India is a nominated man of the Campbell Wilson Singapore Airlines. He has earlier been the CEO of his low -cost subsidiary ‘Scoot Airlines’. Why is this silence?”
SQ is the IATA code of Singapore Airlines.
About a week after the Air India aircraft accident, Singapore Airlines said in a statement on Wednesday that it was in ‘close contact’ with Tata Sons.
The airline said the Singapore Airlines (SIA) group Air India aircraft AI 171 expressed deep condolences to the families and loved ones of all people affected by the accident.
The accident is currently being investigated by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and the Internal Security Board of Air India.
In addition, the government has also formed a high level committee under the leadership of the Union Home Secretary to investigate the accident.
The committee has to submit its report in three months.
