On 7-11-2025, the Ministry of Civil Aviation notified the Aircraft (Investigation of Accidents and Incidents) Rules, 2025 to prevent future accidents and incidents of aircrafts. The provisions came into force on 7-11-2025.
These Rules will apply to:
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Indian citizens globally;
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Aircraft registered in India, regardless of location;
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Foreign aircraft operating in or over India;
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Aircraft operated by non- Indian citizens with a principal place of business or residence in India.
Key Provisions:
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These Rules come under the ambit of Bharatiya Vayuyan Adhiniyam, 2024.
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The only purpose of investigating any accidents and incidents will be to stop such events from happening again and not assigning blame or finding fault.
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Notification of occurrence:
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In case of any accident or incident, the pilot-in-command will have to report it within 24 hours of becoming aware of it.
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In case, the pilot is killed or unable to report, then the owner, operator, hirer, or any person responsible will have to report the accident or incident.
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The notification has to be made to the following:
✓ Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (‘AAIB’);
✓ Directorate General of Civil Aviation (‘DGCA’);
✓ In case of serious accident or incident that happened in India, the following must also be informed:
♦ District Magistrate;
♦ Nearest Police Station about the event and its location.
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In the case of unmanned aircraft– the remote pilot-in-command will have to follow the same reporting procedure.
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Information that will be included in the notification in plain language:
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Abbreviations to be used:
✓ ACCID– for accidents;
✓ INCID– for incidents;
✓ SINCID– for serious incidents.
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manufacturer, model, nationality and registration marks, and serial number of the aircraft;
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name of owner, operator, and hirer, if any, of the aircraft;
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qualification of the pilot-in-command, and nationality of crew and passengers;
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date and time in local time or UTC of the accident or incident;
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last point of departure and point of intended landing of the aircraft;
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position of the aircraft with reference to some easily defined geographical point and latitude and longitude;
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number of crew and passengers; aboard, killed and seriously injured; others, killed and seriously injured;
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description of the accident or incident and the extent of damage to the aircraft so far as is known;
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physical characteristics of the accident or incident area, as well as an indication of access difficulties or special requirements to reach the site;
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presence and description of dangerous goods on board the aircraft.
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The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau will have to notify the facts in the territory of India or in the assigned oceanic airspace beyond the territory of India without making delay to:
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State of Registry;
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State of Operator;
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State of Design:
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State of Manufacture;
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International Civil Aviation Organization when the aircraft involved is of a maximum mass of over 2,250 kilograms or is a turbojet powered airplane.
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Who must investigate and when:
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If an accident or serious incident happens in India, regardless of where the aircraft is registered:
✓ Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau will investigate–
♦ All accidents;
♦ Serious incidents involving aircraft weighing over 2250 kg or turbojet aircraft.
✓ Directorate General of Civil Aviation will investigate- all other incidents and serious incidents not covered above.
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Central Government can start a formal investigation if it thinks it’s necessary for any aircraft registered in India.
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Even if the Directorate General of Civil Aviation is supposed to investigate, the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau can take over if it believes it’s important to do so.
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The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau decides whether an event is an accident, serious incident, or incident — and its decision is final.
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If an accident or serious incident happens outside any country’s territory to an aircraft registered in India, Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau will investigate.
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If an accident happens in international waters and India is the closest country, and the aircraft is not Indian, Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau will:
✓ Ask the aircraft’s home country to investigate;
✓ Help with the investigation as much as it can.
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The Investigator-in-Charge will have unhampered access to the wreckage and to all other relevant material and information, including flight recorders and Air Traffic Services records.
He will also have unrestricted control over it to ensure that a detailed examination can be conducted without delay by authorized personnel participating in the investigation.
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The Director General of Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau can allow any person, including an Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau officer, to carry out preliminary investigations into an aircraft accident, serious incident or incident.
The early investigation helps:
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Understand the happened;
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Decide how serious the event is;
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Figure out what kind of experts are needed for a full investigation.
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The Investigator-in-Charge/ Court will forward a copy of the draft final Report to:
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State of Registry;
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State of operators
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Non- disclosure of records:
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Certain records from aircraft accident or incident investigations will not be shared, except for investigation purposes, unless the Central Government decides that sharing them is more beneficial than the possible negative effects.
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Confidential records include:
✓ Statements taken from people during the investigation;
✓ Communications between crew or others involved in flying the aircraft;
✓ Medical or private details of people involved;
✓ Cockpit voice recordings and their transcripts;
✓ Air traffic control recordings and transcript;
✓ Cockpit camera recordings and transcripts;
✓ Expert opinions based on flight data or other analysis.
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These records can only be included in the final report if they help explain what happened. Irrelevant parts must be left out.
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The names of people involved must not be mentioned in the final report.
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Requests for Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau records must go through the original source, if available.
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Audio and image content from cockpit recordings must not be made public.
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Draft reports received from other countries must also not be shared publicly.
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Note– Notification should not be delayed due to the lack of complete information.