A pilots’ association has offered to be part of a panel investigating the Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad, stressing they could provide valuable insights into one of the worst aviation disasters in the country and prevent a recurrence.

The Pilots’ Association of India (ALPA-India) has written to the director-general of the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) requesting its inclusion in a committee probing the June 12 crash.

ALPA-India said in the letter: “We believe that involving independent and unbiased subject matter experts who have no commercial or operational conflicts of interest will only strengthen the integrity, depth and credibility of the investigative process.”

“We believe that pilot associations can and must be part of the solution when it comes to understanding and preventing such catastrophic events,” it added.

ALPA-India is a collective of experienced pilots from across Indian carriers and fleets.

The association pointed out that India had seen major hull-loss incidents nearly every decade since 2000 and urged the AAIB to consider including it as a standing participant in future investigation boards to serve as an effective conduit for pilot perspective and safety expertise.

In addition to the panel set up by the AAIB, the government has constituted a high-level committee to investigate the accident that killed all but one of the 242 passengers and crew on board the Boeing 787-8 (AI-171) and another 32 people, including five MBBS students, on the ground. The government panel has also been tasked with framing standard operating procedures to avoid such incidents.

The committee, headed by the ministry of home affairs secretary, includes senior members from different government agencies. The panel does not have any aviation experts till now. However, it has been specified that any member deemed fit by the panel, including aviation experts, accident investigators and legal advisers, may be included.

A pilot said on the condition of anonymity that members from his fraternity could provide more information to prevent similar accidents. “We know the ground reality better than anyone. If our views are taken into consideration, it will help prevent such accidents,” the pilot said.

Calling the Ahmedabad crash “very complex”, aviation expert and CEO of Martin Consulting, Mark D. Martin, said its investigation might take time.

“I think whatever the investigation is for, we need to have absolute subject expertise to decide what went wrong and have the ability to probe,” he said.

The government panel has members from the ministries of home affairs and civil aviation, representatives from Gujarat’s home department and disaster response authority, the Indian Air Force, Bureau of Civil Aviation Security, Directorate General of Civil Aviation, Information Bureau and the Directorate of Forensic Science Services, besides the Ahmedabad police commissioner.