Tata Sons forms Rs 500-crore trust dedicated to AI plane crash victims

Tata Sons, which owns and operates Air India, on Friday completed the registration of a public charitable trust worth Rs 500 crore, dedicated to the victims of the Air India flight AI-171 crash in Ahmedabad on June 12 that killed 260 people.

The Trust, which will be known as ‘The AI-171 Memorial and Welfare Trust’, will provide both immediate and continuing support to the dependents/next-of-kin of the deceased, to those who were injured, and to all others who are directly or collaterally affected by the accident, the Tata Sons group said in an official statement.

Advertisement

“The Trust will also provide aid and assistance for alleviation of any trauma or distress suffered by the first responders, medical and disaster relief professionals, social workers and governmental staff who provided invaluable institutional support and service in the aftermath of the accident,” it said.

Tata Sons and Tata Trusts have together pledged to contribute Rs 500 crore (with both committing Rs 250 crore each) for the Trust’s philanthropic objects, which will include ex-gratia payment of Rs 1 crore for those deceased, medical treatment of those who suffered serious injuries, and support for rebuilding the B.J. Medical College Hostel infrastructure which was damaged in the accident, the statement added.

Giving details how the Trust will be managed and administered, the group said it will have a 5-member Board of Trustees.

The initial two trustees appointed to the Board are S Padmanabhan, a former Tata veteran, and Sidharth Sharma, Tata Sons’ General Counsel.

“Additional trustees will be appointed shortly. The Trust will be funded and commence its work in all earnestness after necessary registration with the tax authorities and other operational formalities, currently underway, are completed,” it said.

Meanwhile, the Federation of Indian Pilots (FIP), in a letter to the Civil Aviation Ministry, said that the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau’s (AAIB) preliminary report on the Air India plane crash has failed to sufficiently consider two plausible and previously documented technical scenarios, either of which could have triggered an automated shutdown of both engines of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.

The association has urged the Civil Aviation Ministry to include more subject matter experts in the investigation.

Pilots’ grouping ALPA-India also said that the crew of the crashed AI-171 flight made every possible effort to protect the passengers onboard and they deserve respect, not unfounded character judgements.