The Centre on Thursday appointed a court of inquiry into the May 22 crash of an Air India Express aircraft at the Mangalore airport, in which 158 people, were killed.
Air Marshal (Retd.) Bhushan Nilkanth Gokhale will hold the investigation. Capt. Ron Nagar, S.S. Nat, Babu Peter and Gurcharan Bhatura will be the assessors. S.N. Dwivedi, Director, Airworthiness, will be secretary to the court of inquiry, which will be headquartered in New Delhi.
It has been asked to submit its report by August 31.
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The plane was operating on a scheduled flight IX-812 from Dubai to Mangalore when it plunged into a ravine after overshooting the runway on landing.
An official notification said, "Finding it expedient to hold an inquiry into the circumstances of the accident, the government has appointed Air Marshal (Retd.) Bhushan Nilkanth Gokhale to hold the investigation."
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The government also appointed four experts from different fields to assist Air Marshal Gokhale as assessors.
The assessors are Captain Ron Nagar, a former Flight Inspector and pilot of erstwhile Indian Airlines, former DGCA officer S.S. Nat, Babu Peter, Executive Vice President (Engineering), in GoAir and former Director in Indian Airlines, and former Executive Director of Airports Authority of India, Gurcharan Bhatura.
Director (Airworthiness) at DGCA, S.N. Dwivedi, will be the Secretary to the CoI, headquartered in New Delhi.